Law and Ecology

Existing legal rules and institutions both in the U.S. and at the international level have failed to regulate resource use in an economically or environmentally effective way. As a result, we are placing heavy and increasingly unsustainable demands on natural ecosystems on land, in the air, and in our streams, rivers, lakes and oceans. The future of the planet as we know it may will depend on reversing the dangerous trend. In this seminar, we will integrate law and science as applied to the regulation of key resources -- climate, marine fisheries, forestry and biodiversity -- for which law and science must be effectively integrated for sustainable use to occur. Through a set of case studies, we will investigate the successes and failures of existing rules and institutions, and explore how they can be improved. Most of all, this seminar will be an exercise in conversation across disciplines, so that participants gain experience in bridging the law-science gap. The course will bring together both law students and graduate students in ecology or biology from Storrs, and classes will meet in alternate weeks as the law school and Storrs campus, respectively. No legal or scientific background is assumed, on an interest in engaging across disciplines to tackle real problems. Each student will write a 20-30 page research paper which he/she will present to the class in the last few weeks of the term.

Course Schedule

  • Date: Tuesday 2:00-4:00PM
  • Location: LB519

Course Information

  • Catalog number-Section number: 794-01
  • Course Type: Seminar
  • Prerequisites: None
  • Credits (min/max): 3/3
  • Notes: Meets with EEB 396-036.
  • Subjects:

Enrollment

  • Enrollment status: Open
  • Current enrollment/capacity: 4/18
  • Reserve population/capacity: 0/0
  • Waitlist enrollment/capacity: 0/50

Grading

  • Grade basis: Graded
  • Satisifies Writing Requirement: No
  • Exam type: NO EXAM