Jörn is WorldFish Director for Sustainable Aquatic Food Systems. He also holds the position of Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Ocean and Society, Kiel University, and serves as an adjunct professor at the Marine Affairs Program at Dalhousie University. He served as the Chair of the Science Committee at the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea from 2020 to 2024, overseeing the science network of over 3500 active scientists.

His primary focus is working on social-ecological systems, marine and fisheries ecology, inter- and transdisciplinary concepts, knowledge co-production, and serious games (www.ecoocean.de, www.go-jelly.de). He has worked in the Baltic and North Sea, Senegal, Cabo Verde, Haida Gwaii (Canada), Sitka (USA) and Peru.

His active roles include membership in the Group of Experts for the World Ocean Assessment. Additionally, he participates in the high‐level stakeholder advisory board for the Empowering Women within the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development project.