Professor Wil Burns, Santa Clara University School of Law

Biography

Virtual Lecture

Discussion List   (Professor Burns will join the discussion list from March 22 - 26)

Professor Wil Burns teaches at Santa Clara Law School.  He holds a PhD in International Environmental Law, with a focus on climate change law and is the former Co-Chair of the International Environmental Law interest group of the American Society of International Law. He has taught at Williams College, Colby College, and the Monterey Institute of International Studies of Middlebury College.

Prior to becoming an academic, he served as Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs for the State of Wisconsin and worked in the non-governmental sector for twenty years, including as Executive Director of the Pacific Center for International Studies, a think-tank that focused on implementation of international wildlife treaty regimes, including the Convention on Biological Diversity and International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling. He has published over 75 articles in law, science, and policy journals and has co-edited four books. His current areas of research focus are: climate geoengineering; international climate change litigation; adaptation strategies to address climate change, with a focus on the potential role of microinsurance; the effectiveness of international treaty regimes to conserve cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises); and how to effectively operationalize the precautionary principle in international environmental treaty regimes.