Dr. Mekhala Dave (she/her) is a Vienna-based lawyer and art scholar. She integrates legal practice with transdisciplinary research bridging art, law, and science. She holds a PhD in Art History/Curatorial Studies from the University of Applied Arts Vienna, where her doctoral research explored decolonial ocean epistemologies through contemporary art and curatorial practice. Building on this intersection, her expertise is in deep-sea mining and ocean governance, with participation at the International Seabed Authority and UN ocean-climate conferences. Currently, she is a Research Associate at ASCOMARE, leading EU-projects on the blue economy in maritime law and policy. She is a member of the Confluence of European Water Bodies advocating for nature’s legal rights, and the Deep Currents Collective, which envisions the deep seabed as a relational world sustaining human and more-than-human life. Dr. Dave has published widely, presented internationally, and developed curatorial projects connecting research and practice through cross-sector collaboration.