Douglas M Johnston Lectures
16th Annual Douglas M Johnston Lecture
This lecture is tentatively scheduled for Winter 2024. Stay tuned for more information to come!
The Douglas M Johnston Lecture is an annual lecture that began in 2009 to honour the late Douglas M Johnson. Invited speakers are selected for their demonstrated leadership in the field of public policy and their interest in promoting social and environmental justice.
Douglas M Johnston was a leading teacher, scholar, and writer in the international marine and environmental law community. His numerous contributions to the Schulich School of Law included the development of the marine and environmental law program, the strengthening of the graduate program and the enhancement of the faculty's strong scholarly reputation. He published ground-breaking scholarly works on the regulation of international fisheries, the theory of ocean-boundary, treaty law and the history of international law. His last book, which he completed very shortly before he died, received a posthumous award from the American Society of International Law.
EARLIER LECTURES
15th Annual Douglas M Johnston Lecture 2023-2024
HYBRID
Date: September 14, 2023
Time: 7:15-8:45 PM
Location: Ondaatje Hall, Marion McCain Building, 6135 University Avenue
Speaker: Dr. Natalie Klein
Lecture title: Judicialization of International Marine Environmental Law
International courts and tribunals have played an important role in the development of international marine environmental law from the 1893 Bering Fur Seal Arbitration through to the current requests for advisory opinions on climate change from the International Court of Justice and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. This lecture will consider the judicial contributions to international marine environmental law, asking why the judicial path has been taken and whether it delivers the outcomes needed for the marine environment.
Dr. Natalie Klein is a Professor at UNSW Sydney’s Faculty of Law & Justice, Australia, and an Australian Research Council Future Fellow. She is currently President of the Australian Branch of the International Law Association and a Trustee for the UK-based charity, Human Rights at Sea. Professor Klein’s research focuses on law of the sea and international dispute settlement. Her recent publications include Judging the Law of the Sea (with Kate Parlett) (OUP, 2022) and the edited volume Unconventional Lawmaking in the Law of the Sea (OUP, 2022). With Rosemary Rayfuse and Aline Jaeckel, she co-edited Research Handbook on International Marine Environmental Law (2nd ed, Edward Elgar, 2023).
Co-sponsored by:
Marine & Environmental Law Institute
College of Sustainability
To register, please email sustlife@dal.ca to request the Zoom link.
For further details, click on the or contact us at MELAW@dal.ca.
14th Annual Douglas M Johnston Lecture 2022 - 2023
VIRTUAL
Date: Thursday, March 9, 2023
Time: 7:00-8:30 PM
Location: Virtual (via Zoom)
Speaker: Marcos A Orellana
Lecture title: A Human Rights-based Approach to the New Treaty on Plastic Pollution
Marcos A Orellana is the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Toxics and Human Rights. He currently directs the Global Toxics and Human Rights Project at the American University Washington College of Law. Professor Orellana has lectured in various law schools, includ-ing Melbourne, George Washington, Pretoria, Geneva, and Guadalajara. His practice as legal advisor has encompassed work with United Nations agencies, governments, and non-governmental organizations. He has intervened in cases before several international courts and tribunals. Professor Orellana has extensive experience working with civil society and indigenous peoples around the world on issues concerning global environmental justice. He also represented the eight-nation Independent Association of Latin America and the Caribbean in the negotiations of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
Sponsored by:
Marine & Environmental Law Institute
College of Sustainability
MacEachen Institute
Marine Affairs Program
To register, please email sustlife@dal.ca to request the Zoom link.
For further details, click on the or contact us at MELAW@dal.ca.
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13th Annual Douglas M Johnston Lecture 2021 - 2022
VIRTUAL
Date: January 27, 2022
Time: 7:00-8:30 PM
Location: Virtual (via Zoom)
Speaker: Cymie R. Payne, Associate Professor, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, School of Law, Rutgers University
Lecture title: Rule of Law in the High Seas? Hopes for Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction
Professor Payne is a member of the Rutgers University faculty. She has appeared as counsel before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, as expert on environmental reparations before the International Court of Justice. She is Chair of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law – Ocean Law Specialist Group. She holds a MA from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and a JD from the University of California, Berkeley, and is a Fellow of the American College of Environmental Lawyers.
Sponsored by:
Marine & Environmental Law Institute
College of Sustainability
MacEachen Institute
Marine Affairs Program
To register, please email sustlife@dal.ca to request the Zoom link.
For further details, click on the or contact us at MELAW@dal.ca
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12th Annual Douglas M Johnston Lecture 2020 - 2021
VIRTUAL
Date: February 18, 2021
Time: 6:00-7:30 pm (Atlantic Time Zone)
Location: Virtual (via Zoom)
Featuring: Carmen G. Gonzalez and James T. Gathii both Professors of Law from Loyola University Chicago School of Law, USA
Lecture title: Race, Climate Justice and International Law
Carmen Gonzalez is a world-renowned expert in international environmental law, human rights and the environment, environmental justice, and food security, and has participated in environmental law capacity-building projects in Asia, Latin America, and the former Soviet Union. Gonzalez is the co-editor of the critically acclaimed book, Presumed Incompetent: The Intersections of Race and Class for Women in Academia (2012). Recent co-edited books include International Environmental Law and the Global South (Cambridge Univer-sity Press 2015), Energy Justice: US and International Perspectives (Edward Elgar Publish-ing, 2018), and forthcoming The Cambridge Handbook of Environmental Justice and Sus-tainable Development. She is also Professor Emerita at Seattle University School of Law.
James T. Gathii is a founding member of the Third World Approaches to International Law, (TWAIL), network and an elected member of the International Academy of International Law. He is a founding editor of the Afronomicslaw.org blog on international economic is-sues as they relate to Africa and the Global South as well as the African Journal of Interna-tional Economic Law (AfJIEL). In June 2020, he was the Grotius Lecturer at the 2020 Vir-tual Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law. He has published ex-tensively including four books: African Regional Trade Agreements as Legal Re-gimes (Cambridge University Press, 2011, Paperback 2013), War, Commerce and Interna-tional Law (Oxford University Press, 2010), The Contested Empowerment of Kenya’s Judi-ciary, 2010-2015: A Historical Institutional Analysis, (Sheria Publishing House, 2016), and the edited volume The Performance of Africa’s International Courts: Using Litigation for Political, Legal and Social Change, (Oxford University Press, 2020).
This event is co-sponsored by the Schulich School of Law, SSHRC Research Development Fund and the Marine & Environmental Law Institute at ±«Óătv University.
Co-presented by the Global Network for Human Rights & the Environment and AfronomicsLaw.
Please RSVP for this event at: https://bit.ly/39X2UiV
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11th Annual Douglas M Johnston Lecture 2019 - 2020
IN-PERSON
Date: Thursday October 10, 2020
Time: 7:00 pm (Atlantic Time Zone)
Location: Ondaatje Hall, Marion McCain Building, 6135 University Avenue, Halifax
Speaker: Dr. Dianne Saxe, President, Saxe Facts
Lecture title: The Clilmate Crisis and the Role of Carbon Pricing
Dr. Saxe is one of Canada’s leading environmental lawyers and has been recognized as one of the world’s top 25 environmental lawyers, according to Best of the Best, 2008. From 2015 to 2019, she was the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario.
This event is co-sponsored by the College of Sustainabilty and the Marine & Environmental Law Institute at ±«Óătv University.
For further details, click on the or contact us at MELAW@dal.ca.
All Welcome, free & open to the public.
10th Annual Douglas M Johnston Lecture 2018 - 2019
IN-PERSON
Date: October 18, 2018
Time: 7:00-8:30PM
Location: Ondaatje Hall, Marion McCain Building, 6135 University Avenue
Speaker: Alan Boyle, Emeritus Professor of Public Iinternational Law
Lecture title: Climate Change, Sustainable Development and Human Rights
Alan Boyle specialises in Public International Law. Educated at Oxford University, he has also taught at the University of London (Queen Mary College); University of Texas Law School; William and Mary College Law School, Virginia; the University of Paris (Paris II & X), and LUISS in Rome. He was General Editor of the International and Comparative Law Quarterly from 1998 until 2006.
He is a barrister and practises occasionally in the International Court of Justice and other international tribunals, mainly in environmental and law of the sea cases.
This event is part of the ESS Lecture Series and is co-sponsored by the College of Sustainability and the Marine & Environmental Law Institute at ±«Óătv University
For further details, click on the or contact us at MELAW@dal.ca.
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9th Annual Douglas M Johnston Lecture 2017 - 2018
IN-PERSON
Date: November 2, 2017
Time: 7:00-8:30PM
Location: Ondaatje Hall, Marion McCain Building, 6135 University Avenue
Speaker: Mary J. Simon, QC, OC Special Arctic Representative to Canada's Minister of Indigenous & Northern Affairs
Lecture title: Building Arctic Leadership: Prosperous People and a Healthy Environment
Mary Simon has advanced critical social, economic and human rights issues for Canadian Inuit regionally, nationally and internationally. She recently published with recommendations on education, infrastructure and environmental protection in Canada’s Arctic. Mary lives in Kuujjuaq, Nunavik (Arctic Quebec) and is an Officer of the Order of Canada, Recipient of the National Order of Quebec and countless other prestigious international honours.
This event is part of the ESS Lecture Series and is co-sponsored by the College of Sustainability and the Marine & Environmental Law Institute at ±«Óătv University.
For further details, click on the or contact us at MELAW@dal.ca.
All Welcome, free & open to the public.
8th Annual Douglas M Johnston Lecture 2016 - 2017
IN-PERSON
Date: November 17, 2016
Time: 7:00 - 8:30 PM
Location: Ondaatje Hall, Marion McCain Arts & Social Science building, 6135 University Avenue
Speaker: Elizabeth Mrema, Director Division of Environmental Law and Conventions (DELC), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Lecture title: Progressive Global Environmental Constitutionalism and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
Elizabeth Maruma Mrema has worked for the United Nations Environmental Programme for over two decades, focusing primarily on the development, implementation and enforcement of environ-mental laws. A lawyer and career diplomat by training, Mrema has worked as the principal legal officer and Director in the Division of Environmental law and Conventions and previously as Deputy Director in the Division of Environmental Policy Implementation both in UNEP, Nairobi and before then as Executive Secretary of the UNEP Convention on Migratory Species of Wild Animals in Bonn, Germany. Before her work with UNEP, Mrema served as Senior Legal Counsel with the Tanzania Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
The state of the global environment is deteriorating, despite the expanding body of international environmental law. Today, three quarters of the world’s constitutions contain references to environmental provisions. What does this mean as we focus on delivering on the environmental dimension of Agenda 2030? Tentatively titled “Progressive Environmental Constitutionalism and the 2030 Agenda”, this talk will highlight that, although it is still a relatively new concept, there is a discernible trend towards the constitutionalisation of environmental care that enables the identification of the emergence of a specialised focused form of constitutionalism that is solely concerned with environmental matters.
Environmental constitutionalism, which "represents the confluence of constitutional law, international law, human rights, and environmental law" embodies a transformative approach that relies on constitutions to provide for the architecture of environmental governance and improve environmental protection through various constitutional features such as fundamental rights and duties, principles of environmental governance, and the rule of law. Given prevailing socio-political, environmental and economic conditions as well as the immensely divergent legal cultures of a kaleidoscopic world, what do the specific elements and reach of environmental constitutionalism in different countries look like?
The talk will explain, using a few country examples, why this is an important apex of regulatory phenomenon, both at the analytical and normative levels, and how it can be (and is being) used especially with a view to strengthening the institutions of environmental law and governance in the context of implementing Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development.
Co-sponsored by:
Marine & Environmental Law Institute
College of Sustainability
For further details, click on the or contact us at MELAW@dal.ca.
All Welcome, free & open to the public.
7th Annual Douglas M Johnston Lecture 2015 - 2016
IN-PERSON
Date: October 8, 2015
Time: 7:00 - 8:30 PM
Location: Ondaatje Hall, Marion McCain Arts & Social Science building, 6135 University Avenue
Speaker: Dr. Elliot A .Norse, PhD, Founder & Chief Scientist, Marine Conservation Institute
Lecture title: The Global Ocean Refuge System: What if You’re Not Part of the Solution?
Dr Elliott A Norse has worked at the conservation science-policy interface for his entire career. After earning his BS in Biology from Brooklyn College, he studied the ecology of blue crabs in the Caribbean and the tropical East Pacific during his doctoral years at University of Southern California and his postdoctoral fellowship years at University of Iowa. Starting in 1978 he worked at the US Environmental Protection Agency, White House Council on Environmental Quality (where he defined biological diversity as conservation's overarching goal), Ecological Society of America, The Wilderness Society and Ocean Conservancy before founding Marine Conservation Institute in 1996. Elliott's 150+ publications include Global Marine Biological Diversity: A Strategy for Building Conservation into Decision Making (1993) and Marine Conservation Biology: The Science of Maintaining the Sea’s Biodiversity (2005). He is a Pew Fellow in Marine Conservation, was President of the Society for Conservation Biology's Marine Section, received the Nancy Foster Award for Habitat Conservation from the National Marine Fisheries Service, was named Brooklyn College 2008 Distinguished Alumnus and winner of the 2012 Chairman’s Medal from the Seattle Aquarium.
Co-sponsored by:
Marine & Environmental Law Institute
College of Sustainability
For further details, click on the or contact us at MELAW@dal.ca.
All Welcome, free & open to the public.
6th Annual Douglas M Johnston Lecture 2014 - 2015
IN-PERSON
Date: October 16, 2014
Time: 7:00 - 8:30 PM
Location: Ondaatje Hall, Marion McCain Building, 6135 University Avenue
Speaker: The Honourable Elizabeth May, OC, Green Party Leader, Member of Parliament for Saanich-Gulf Islands
Lecture title: How Did Canada Go From Sustainability Leader to Laggard? And How Do We Get Back on Track?
Elizabeth May is an environmentalist, writer, activist, lawyer and leader of the Green Party of Canada and Member of Parliament representing the southern Vancouver Island riding of Saanich-Gulf Islands. She is one of Canada's most respected environmentalists and social justice advocates. She has a long record as a committed and dedicated advocate – for social justice, for the environment, for human rights and for pragmatic economic solutions.
She is a graduate of ±«Óătv Law School and was admitted to the Bar in both Nova Scotia and Ontario and is the author of eight books, including the just-published Who we are: Reflections on my life and Canada (Greystone).
Co-sponsored by:
Marine & Environmental Law Institute
College of Sustainability
To register, please email sustlife@dal.ca to request the Zoom link.
For further details, click on the or contact us at MELAW@dal.ca.
View the lecture here.
All Welcome, free & open to the public.
5th Annual Douglas M Johnston Lecture 2013 - 2014
IN-PERSON
Date: October 30, 2013
Time: 4:30 - 6:00 PM
Location: Room 104, Weldon Law building, 6061 University Avenue
Reception: 6:00 PM in the Atrium
Speaker: Professor Karen Scott, University of Canterbury, New Zealand
Lecture title: International Law and the 'Mis-anthropocene': Responding to the Geoengineering Challenge
Karen N. Scott is a Professor in Law at the University of Canter-bury, New Zealand. She researches and teaches in the areas of in-ternational environmental law, law of the sea and Antarctic law and policy. She has published widely in these fields in journals such as the Michigan Journal of International Law, the Interna-tional and Comparative Law Quarterly, the Melbourne Journal of International Law and the Yearbook of International Environmen-tal Law. She has recently co-edited (with Alan D. Hemmings and Donald R. Rothwell) a collection entitled Antarctic Security in the Twenty-first Century: Legal and Policy Perspectives (Routledge, 2012). Between 2009 and 2012 she was the General Editor of the New Zealand Yearbook of International Law. She is currently the Vice-President of Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law.
Co-sponsored by: Marine & Environmental Law Institute and the Schulich Academic Excellence Fund.
For further details, click on the or contact us at MELAW@dal.ca.
All Welcome, free & open to the public.
4th Annual Douglas M Johnston Lecture 2012 - 2013
IN-PERSON
Date: October 10, 2012
Time: 5:30 - 7:00 PM
Location: Room 104, Weldon Law building, 6061 University Avenue
Reception: 7:00 PM in the Atrium
Speaker: Judge Tullio Rodolfo Treves, State University of Milan
Lecture title: The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea at Thirty: Achievements and Challenges
Professor Treves is well-known internationally for his expertise in public in-ternational law and most recently served as Judge of the International Tribu-nal for the Law of the Sea. Recently he joined Curtis Mallet-Prevost Colt & Mosle in Milan as a senior public international law consultant – his first pri-vate practice role following 40 years in academia. He also chaired the Tribu-nal’s Committee of the Whole that drafted the Rules of the Tribunal. He has advised governments all over the world in major disputes involving maritime delimitation and other public international law matters, and has acted as arbi-trator and as counsel before the International Court of Justice and internation-al arbitral tribunals.
Professor Treves is concluding his tenure of more than 30 years as Professor of Public and Private International Law at the Law Faculty of the State Uni-versity of Milan and has taught at institutions in various other countries. He has also published widely on international law topics.
Co-sponsored by: Marine & Environmental Law Institute and the Schulich Academic Excellence Fund.
For further details, click on the or contact us at MELAW@dal.ca.
All Welcome, free & open to the public.
3rd Annual Douglas M Johnston Lecture 2011 - 2012
IN-PERSONIN-PERSON
Date: September 20, 2011
Time: 6:30 - 8:00 PM
Location: Room 105, Weldon Law building, 6061 University Avenue
Reception: 8:00 PM in the Atrium
Speaker: Professor Donald R Rothwell, Australian National UniverÂsity in Canberra
Lecture title: Polar Ocean Governance in the Twenty-First Century
The topic of polar ocean governance encompassed an integral part of Canada’s national identity in the CaÂnadian Arctic, and on the Antarctic, which plays a vital role in the planet’s cliÂmate, environmental and ocean systems. Though considÂered remote, harsh and inhospitable, the two regions are becoming increasingly accessible for ocean uses, promisÂing economic benefits and potential adverse effects on the polar environment. Both regions are of interest to the international community and raise questions as to their present and future governance, at the national, regional and global levels.
Professor Donald R. Rothwell is professor of International Law at the College of Law at the Australian National UniverÂsity in Canberra. He is also Assistant Head of School, Director – LLM Programs, and Deputy Director of the Australian Centre for Military Law and Justice at the College of Law. His current positions follow in the wake of several important appointments in his career, includÂing the prestigious Challis Professor of International Law and Directorship of the Sydney Centre for International and Global Law, University of Sydney. His research addresses many intersecting areas of interÂnational law with a specific focus on law of the sea, law of polar regions, and implementation of international law within Australia. He is a prolific scholar, with over 150 articles and book chapters in international and AustraÂlian publications, including 14 authored, co-authored or edited 14 books. His most recent book, co-authored with Tim Stephens and entitled The International Law of the Sea (Hart, 2010) promises to be a staple textbook for the teaching of the subject. Professor Rothwell has done extensive work on whaling issues in the Southern Ocean. He is presently working on projects assessing Antarctic security, international legal practice in Australia, and Arctic navigation, and is the current Co-Editor of the Australian Year Book of InterÂnational Law. He is a regular media commentator on international law issues and has written opinion columns for all of the major daily newspapers in Australia.
Co-sponsored by: Marine & Environmental Law Institute and the Schulich Academic Excellence Fund.
For further details, click on the or contact us at MELAW@dal.ca.
All Welcome, free & open to the public.
2nd Annual Douglas M Johnston Lecture 2010 - 2011
IN-PERSONDate: October 21, 2010 Speaker: Professor Jon Van Dyke, Richardson School of Law, University of Hawaii
Co-sponsored by: Marine & Environmental Law Institute and the Schulich Academic Excellence Fund. For further details, click on the or contact us at MELAW@dal.ca. All Welcome, free & open to the public. |
Professor Van Dyke has been on the faculty at the University of Hawaii at Manoa William S. Richardson School of Law, since 1976. He is a Member of the International Editorial Board of Marine Policy (1988-present); a Member of the Board of Advisors of the Center for International Environmental Law, Washington, D.C. (1993-present) and a Member of the International Advisory Board, Law of the Sea Institute, based at the University of California at Berkeley Law School.Launching of the First Annual Douglas M Johnston Lecture 2009 - 2010
IN-PERSON
Date: October 1, 2009
Time: 7:00 - 8:30 PM
Location: Room 104, Weldon Law building, 6061 University Avenue
Reception: 8:30 PM in the Atrium
Speaker: Professor John Norton Moore
Lecture title: Toward More Effective Counter Piracy Policy
Professor John Norton Moore is a Walter L Brown Professor of Law; Director, Center for Oceans Law and Policy; Director, Center for National Security Law, University of Virginia School of Lawformer Ambassador of the United States to the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea and Chairman of the Board of the United States Institute of Peace.
For further details, click on the or contact us at MELAW@dal.ca.
All Welcome, free & open to the public.