Dr Hugh Tuckfield is Founder and Executive Director of the Indo-Pacific Studies Center (IPSC), an Australia-based think tank focused on strategy, security, and governance across the Indo-Pacific. A political theorist by training, he leads IPSC programs on AUKUS and the QUAD, regional risk, and executive education, including the State of the Indo-Pacific initiative and the Emerging Leaders Forum. His research and commentary span cross-Strait dynamics, maritime security, critical technologies, and democratic governance. He has held fellowships at Oxford University and the WZB Berlin Social Science Center, and serves on the Advisory Board of the Amity Centre for BRICS Studies (India). He has published widely on Indo-Pacific affairs.

Hugh holds a PhD in Government and International Relations, a Master’s in Human Rights and Democratization, an LLB (Law), and a Bachelor of Economics. At the Manila Dialogue, he contributes a region-first perspective on strategic competition, economic statecraft, and practical pathways to a secure, free, and prosperous Indo-Pacific.

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Dr. Asyura SALLEH works with the Global Maritime Crime Programme at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime as an Associate Programme Officer where she oversees regional forums on maritime crime. She is also formerly a Special Advisor on Maritime Security at Yokosuka Council on Asia Pacific Affairs (YCAPS), Adjunct non-Resident Vasey Research Fellow at the Pacific Forum, and Co-Founder and Advisor of the Global Awareness & Impact Alliance (GAIA). Her previous policy experience lies in her work for the Stable Seas and Brunei Prime Minister’s Office. Dr. Asyura gained a Masters in War Studies from King’s College London and earned a doctorate in International Relations from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore. She has also been nominated as one of top 40 Women in Power in Malaysia by the Prestige Magazine in 2024. Dr. Salleh has a research interest in maritime security in the Asia Pacific, with a focus on transnational maritime crime and maritime governance.

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Eerishika Pankaj is the Director of the Organisation for Research on China and Asia (ORCA) and is the Convenor of ORCA’s Global Conference on New Sinology (GCNS). She is also an Editorial and Research Assistant to the Series Editor for Routledge Series on Think Asia; a 2020 Young Leader of Pacific Forum’s Young Leaders Program;  a Quad Think Tank Leader of the U.S. State Department’s Leaders Lead on Demand program; a Member of the Indo-Pacific Circle and a Council Member of the WICCI’s India-EU Business
Council. Eerishika is the co-editor of the book ‘The Future of Indian Diplomacy: Exploring Multidisciplinary Lenses’ and of the Special Issues on ‘The Dalai Lama’s Succession: Strategic Realities of the Tibet Question’ as well as ‘Building the Future of EU-India Strategic Partnership’. Primarily a China and East Asia scholar, her research at ORCA focuses on Chinese elite/party politics, the India-China border, water and power politics in the Himalayas and India’s engagements with China in various regions. She is also an Indo-Pacific scholar, with a large published body of work on Quad, maritime security, trade and supply chains. She focuses on East and Southeast Asian maritime security discourse in connection to Chinese policymaking and foreign policy.

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Gilberto Eduardo Gerardo Cojuangco Teodoro Jr. is a Filipino lawyer, politician, and business executive who has served as the 23rd Secretary of National Defense under President Bongbong Marcos since 2023. He served in the same post from 2007 to 2009 under President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

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Hafiizh Hashim holds a PhD in politics from the University of Bristol, UK. He is currently a Lecturer in the Academy of Brunei Studies, Universiti Brunei Darussalam. His main area of research focuses on ASEAN, specifically on comparative study of Southeast Asia’s security policy, the nexus between security and economic development and the international political economy. Recent publications include: Brunei Darussalam’s Economic Diversification Drive: An Assessment of the Socioeconomic and Geopolitical Challenges. Overcoming Path Dependence in Bruno Jettin and Abdul Khaled (eds.) Brunei Darussalam’ Economic Transition in a Shifting Global Asia (2025);

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Vina Nadjibulla joined the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada as Vice-President, Research & Strategy in November 2023.

In this role, she leads the Foundation’s research and programmatic activities focused on Canada’s engagement with the Indo-Pacific region. This includes overseeing APF Canada’s research agenda, fellowship programs, education and capacity-building initiatives, and regional programming through the Indo-Pacific Initiative. She also plays a key role in strategic planning, stakeholder engagement, and advancing the Foundation’s public policy impact.

Vina is a frequent commentator on Canadian foreign policy and Indo-Pacific affairs, with a particular focus on Canada’s evolving relationships with China and India, and the region’s broader security, trade, and geopolitical dynamics.

As an international security and peace-building expert, Vina has more than two decades of experience in diplomacy, political analysis, and advocacy.  She has worked with international organizations, governments, think tanks, and philanthropic institutions across Canada, the U.S., China, and Central Asia on issues ranging from conflict resolution and human rights to strategic risk and multilateral diplomacy.

She is also an Adjunct Professor at the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs at the University of British Columbia and a Senior Research Fellow at The Soufan Center in New York.

Vina holds a Master’s degree in International Affairs from Columbia University and is fluent in English, Russian, and Farsi, with intermediate proficiency in Mandarin. She is a Canadian citizen, born in the former Soviet Union, raised in Afghanistan, and educated in the United States.

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Atty. Teodoro Jose S. Matta, MNSA is the Executive Director of the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development Staff. A member of the Philippine Bar, he holds a Philosophy degree from the University of the Philippines, a Juris Doctor from San Sebastian College of Law, and a Master in National Security Administration degree from the National Defense College of the Philippines. Formerly the Provincial Legal Officer of Palawan, he brings extensive expertise in law, security, and policy-making to the implementation of the province’s Strategic Environmental Plan. Beyond his professional work, he is a passionate photographer of Palawan’s flora and fauna.

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Dr. Chi-Ting Tsai received his J.S.D. from Cornell Law School in 2010. He is currently an Associate Professor of International Law in the Department of Political Science at National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan. He also serves as Director of the Center for China Studies at National Taiwan University. Dr. Tsai’s areas of specialization include maritime security, the law of the sea, marine policy, and international human rights. Over the past five years, he has published numerous peer-reviewed journal articles, both domestically and internationally, on topics related to the Law of the Sea, including East and South China Sea disputes, maritime governance, and BBNJ Agreement.
Dr. Tsai’s recent research focuses on maritime domain awareness, maritime security and supply chains, transboundary marine protected areas, biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction, maritime autonomous surface ships, and greenhouse gas reduction in shipping. In addition to these environmental and regulatory issues, he has conducted several research projects on submarine cables and marine scientific research. Beyond academic publications, Dr. Tsai regularly contributes policy commentaries for U.S. think tanks such as the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the Global Taiwan Institute on topics concerning maritime security and lawfare. He was also a member of CSIS’s South China Sea Expert working group.

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Linar Orbista is the Program and Research Manager for Defense and Security of the Stratbase Institute, where she specializes in monitoring and engaging in high-level discussions on geopolitical and geo-economic developments in the Philippines and the broader Indo-Pacific. Her work focuses on delivering strategic insights and fostering multi-stakeholder collaboration to address critical issues shaping the nation’s policy landscape. Linar earned her bachelor’s degree in Diplomacy and International Relations with a Specialization in East and Southeast Asian Studies from the Ateneo de Manila University, where she graduated summa cum laude. Her academic research centered on China’s domestic and foreign policies, which continues to guide her analysis of regional security and international affairs.

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Dr Abe Woo is a non-resident fellow for marine environmental research at WPS. He received his PhD in Natural History Sciences from Hokkaido University. His interest of study includes systematics, taxonomy, and diversity study of marine invertebrates, focusing on the group Echinoderms. Since 2009, he has been actively uncovering the marine biodiversity and systematics of sea cucumbers across the region. He is currently serving as a senior lecturer in the Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies (CEMACS), Universiti Sains Malaysia where he is also actively leading several marine biodiversity research in the Southeast Asian region that includes several taxa of marine invertebrate. At the global front, he is a serving in several UN Decade of Ocean Science Program ECOP co-chairs and also an active contributor to the IOC Sub-Commission for the Western Pacific (WESTPAC) programmes.
Dr Woo recently graduated from the Advanced Masters in Sustainable Blue Economy from Unviersity of Trieste, Italy that focuses on science diplomacy through management and development of regional blue economy plans. He is now involved in formulating Malaysia’s Blue Economy Blueprint commissioned by the government

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