About

Copyright picture: Veikko Somerpuro

I am the Principal Investigator of the “Toxic Crimes Project” (funded by the Kone Foundation and Academy of Finland). In our research group, we explore how legal experts push for accountability for the destruction of the environment during armed conflict. Part of the project focuses on environmental harm and environmental monitoring during the war in Ukraine.

I completed my BSc and MSc in Anthropology at the University of Amsterdam (2007) and my PhD in Sociology in 2015 at the University of Helsinki. In my previous projects, I have worked on strategic litigation at international courts on behalf of victims of grave violations and legal mobilization under authoritarianism. I am currently working as a University Researcher at the Erik CastrĂ©n Institute for International Law and Human Rights, University of Helsinki, Finland.

Previously, I had positions at the Liu Institute for Global Issues, University of British Columbia, Canada, and the Aleksanteri Institute for Russian and East European Studies at the University of Helsinki, Finland. In 2017, I completed a visiting fellowship at the Danish National Research Foundation’s Centre of Excellence for International Courts “iCourts”.