Nilufer Oral is a member of the Faculty of Law at Istanbul Bilgi University, Istanbul, Turkey and is Deputy Director of the Istanbul Bilgi Marine Research Center for the Law of the Sea. In addition to serving on the Board of the IUCN Academy for Environmental Law she co-chairs the IUCN Specialist Group on Oceans, Coasts and Coral Reefs of the Commission on Environmental Law and was elected as IUCN Regional Councillor (2012-2016).
She advises the Turkish Foreign Ministry on law of the sea, climate change and has participated as a negotiator with the Turkish Delegation in UNFCCC negotiations since 2010. She has also served as legal advisor to the Turkish Foreign Ministry Delegation at the International Maritime Organization 1998-2002.
Nilufer Oral is a Distinguished Senior Visiting Scholar at the Law of the Sea Institute, University of California School of Law, Berkeley (2011-2013).
She has published on issues related to law of the sea and protection of the marine environment.