Mrinalini Kochupillai

Mrinalini (Nalini) Kochupillai is currently Professor of Sustainability & Business Law at the Hanken School of Economics, Helsinki. With over 15 years of experience across 3 continents, her research & teaching span law, ethics, and the governance of emerging technologies, including blockchain, AI, and Earth observation. Her current research also explores the links between mental health and ethical decision-making. She serves as an expert member of the International Society for Digital Earth (ISDE) Working Group 3, the Task Group on AI and Geosciences of the Geoethics Commission, International Union for Geological Sciences (IUGS), and a member of the ethics board of MI4People. She has also served as a consultant to the International Technology Transfer Institute, Franklin Pierce Law Center (FPLC), the Asia Practice Committee of the Intellectual Property Organization (IPO) Education Foundation, Washington DC, and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of India. Previously, from 2020-2024, Mrinalini was an associate (guest) professor at the International Future Lab: Artificial Intelligence for Earth Observation (AI4EO), Technical University of Munich (TUM), a senior research fellow with the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition (2014-2018), and with the Chair for Business Ethics, TUM (2018-2019). She has also served as a program director and lecturer at the Munich Intellectual Property Law Center (MIPLC), and an adjunct faculty member at the EU Business School, and the FPLC. In 2023, Mrinalini won the prestigious European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant to take her groundbreaking work on "Blockchain for Biodiversity (ReSeed)" forward. The project seeks to overcome regulatory challenges under international biodiversity protection laws using features of blockchain technology. She obtained her B.A. LL.B (Hons.) degree from the National Law Institute University, Bhopal, in 2003, & an LL.M in Intellectual Property, Commerce & Technology from FPLC, University of New Hampshire in 2006. She completed her Ph.D at the Ludwig Maximilian University Munich, with a full merit-based scholarship from the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition. An active blogger and entrepreneur, Mrinalini is a founding member of SKY Campus Deutschland e.V., a non-profit promoting positive mental health and well-being, particularly in University environments. As a 1000-hour trained breathwork and wellbeing expert, she teaches mindfulness, yoga, workplace wellness, and stress management seminars as a volunteer for SKY Campus & the UN-accredited Art of Living Foundation.