Sheila Rose Foster | |
---|---|
Occupation(s) | Legal Scholar and author |
Awards | Prose Award Winner in Architecture and Urban Planning, Association of American Publishers (AAP) Distinguished Scholar Award, Senior Faculty, International Academy of Environmental Law |
Academic background | |
Education | B.S., English J.D. |
Alma mater | University of Michigan University of California, Berkeley |
Academic work | |
Institutions | Columbia University |
Website | https://www.sheilarfoster.com/ |
Sheila Rose Foster is a legal scholar,and an author. She is a tenured Professor of Climate at the Columbia Climate School [1] .
Foster is most known her research in the areas of environmental law and justice,urban land use law and policy,and state and local government. She served as the former Clarkson Distinguished Chair in Planning at the University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning [2] and received the Senior Scholar Award by International Academy of Environmental Law. [3] She is the co-author of four books,including From the Ground Up:Environmental Racism and the Rise of the Environmental Justice Movement,and Co-Cities:Innovative Transitions Toward Just and Self-Sustaining Communities. In addition,she is a Founding Editor of SLoGLaw blog, [4] which focuses on developments in state and local government law,and is a Founding Board Member of the Journal of Climate Resilience and Climate Justice since 2022. [5]
Foster earned a Bachelor of Science degree in English from the University of Michigan,Ann Arbor and later a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from the University of California,Berkeley. [6]
Foster began her academic career at the University of California,Berkeley,School of Law,where she served as a Lecturer and Coordinator of Academic Support from 1990 to 1994. She then went on to teach at Rutgers University–Camden,New Jersey from 1994 to 2002. From there,she joined the faculty at Fordham University in New York,NY in 2002,and held an appointment as the Albert A. Walsh Professor of Real Estate,Land Use and Property Law and a University Professor until 2017. [6] From 2017 to 2023,Foster was the Scott K. Ginsburg Professor of Urban Law and Policy,and held holds a joint position as a professor of Public Policy at the McCourt Public Policy School at Georgetown University. [7] Foster served as visiting professor of climate at the Columbia Climate School during the 2023-2024 academic year,and was appointed as a tenured professor of climate in 2024 [1] .
At Fordham University,she served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs from 2008 to 2011 and as Vice Dean from 2011 to 2014. She was appointed as the (Inaugural) Associate Dean for Diversity,Equity,and Inclusion (Law) from 2021 to 2022 at Georgetown University. [8]
From 2017 to 2020,she was the chair of the advisory committee for the Global Parliament of Mayors [9] and has been a co-chair of the ongoing Equity Work Group of the New York City Mayor's Panel on Climate Change (NPCC) since her appointment in 2016. [10] She co-directs LabGov.city,an applied research project focusing on innovative forms of urban governance in cities and metropolitan regions. The "Co-City" approach is set out in her book with LabGov co-director Christian Iaione,Co-Cities:Innovative Transitions toward Just and Self-Sustaining Communities. [11]
Foster's work is focused in legal and policy fields related to environmental and climate justice,innovative resource governance regimes,and the role of subnational governments in tackling cross-border issues like climate change. [12] She has also been recognized for her contributions to the field with awards including the Georgetown Earth Commons Institute Eco Impact Award [13] and the Georgetown Environmental Initiative Award. [14]
During her early career,Foster focused on environmental justice research and authored numerous publications that critically examined environmental policy from the perspectives of distributive and procedural justice. [15] [16] [17] Her work incorporated the experiences and historical context of overburdened communities to develop a conception of justice. [18] She used her analysis to identify why certain legal remedies,such as some civil rights claims and regulatory approaches,have failed to benefit these communities. In From the Ground Up,she employed social,economic,and legal analysis to expose the root causes of environmental racism,while highlighting the transformative power of environmental justice movements on individuals,communities,institutions,and the nation. [19]
The book is regarded as one of the foundational and most essential books to read on environmental and climate justice by a number of sources. [20] [21] [22] Further,her book,The Law of Environmental Justice provided an in-depth analysis of the origins of environmental justice law and its influence on projects throughout the United States,encompassing evolving regulations and significant court rulings. [23]
Foster's research has explored three key areas centered around the theme of urban governance. This work has specifically focused on the role of cities in promoting social and economic well-being,improving global governance,and addressing issues related to climate inequality. She has written on decentralized forms of governance in cities and the role of cities in global governance,as well as innovative approaches in which cities are shaping climate change policy and fostering energy democracy. [24]
Foster's work in environmental led her to focus on the concept of the "urban commons" in her research. In an article,she highlighted the lack of attention given to collective action in urban contexts despite extensive literature on self-organized natural resource management. She examined how groups of users manage common urban resources without government involvement,tracking the shift to an enabling governance model where governments support communities managing collective resources. [25] In The City as a Commons,together with Christian Iaione,she explored the potential of the commons as a framework for addressing resource challenges faced by cities,including climate change,and presented a new governance model,"urban collaborative governance," aimed at managing city resources as commons and addressing questions of political,social,and economic inequality in cities. [26] She also led a research team to survey and map over 500 collectively managed urban commons worldwide,resulting in a set of design principles applicable to governing various urban resources. [27] Her theoretical and empirical research on the "Co-City" framework and the concept of the city as a commons,with Christian Iaione,culminated in a book titled Co-Cities:Innovative Transitions to Just and Self-Sustaining Communities,which won the 2023 Prose Award in Architecture and Urban Planning. [28] As part of her research on the commons,she and her co-authors critically engaged with scholarship on the role of inequality in accessing resources. They explored the processes of commoning or decommoning via "grabbed commons," linking it to colonization and capitalist dispossessions to broaden the theoretical and empirical scope of commons scholarship. [29]
As former chair of the advisory board for the Global Parliament of Mayors (2017-2020),Foster researched the role of city networks in global governance institutions. This includes examining their efforts to shape policies on cross-border issues like migration and climate change traditionally reserved for nation-states. In a joint study,she expressed doubt that cities can influence global policymaking. However,it was argued that cities have gained more "soft power" and can address crises through international agreements,where nation-states have failed. [30] Expanding on this subject,along with Chrystie Swiney,she argued that cities are creating a type of transnational law through legal or quasi-legal agreements outside the bounds of international law. Such agreements often resemble international legal agreements,such as those for migration or climate change,but without enforcement mechanisms. [31]
Another area in her work includes local climate governance and energy democracy. This work focuses on cities' role in tackling climate change despite restraints from states and private entities. In a book chapter,she laid out the legal and policy landscape for understanding cities' roles in climate mitigation and adaptation,offering examples and discussing problems with state preemption. [32] As the co-chair of NPCC,she led the chapter on Community-Based Assessments of Adaptation and Equity in its 2019 report. This work identified ways to incorporate equity into the city's climate change vulnerability analyses and adaptation planning efforts,including tracking specific indicators of neighborhood vulnerability over time. [33]
Deborah Markowitz is the state director for The Nature Conservancy in Massachusetts. Prior to this,she served from 2011-2017 as the Secretary of the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources. She was appointed by Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin. She has also been a Visiting Professor of Environmental Policy and Leadership at the University of Vermont Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources. Markowitz was elected six times to serve as the Secretary of State of Vermont. Although she is a member of the Democratic Party,she won the nomination of both the Republican and Democratic Parties in two of her races.
Antonio Gabriel "Tony" Maestrado La Viña is at present Associate Director for climate policy and international relations and concurrently Head,Klima Center of Manila Observatory and a professor of law,philosophy,politics and governance in several universities in the Philippines. He is also a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague,the Chair of the Jurisprudence and Legal Philosophy Department of the Philippine Judicial Academy. the founding President of the Movement Against Disinformation,and the founding Chair of the Mindanao Climate Justice Resource Facility.
Dean Tony is the former Dean of the Ateneo de Manila University School of Government,co-founder of Ashoka Philippines and the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center,and a former environmental undersecretary of the Philippines. He obtained his doctorate and master of laws degrees from Yale University and his JD and AB Philosophy degrees from the University of the Philippines and Ateneo de Manila University respectively. He placed third in the 1998 bar examinations.
Robert Doyle Bullard is an American academic who is the former Dean of the Barbara Jordan - Mickey Leland School Of Public Affairs and currently Distinguished Professor at Texas Southern University. Previously Ware Professor of Sociology and Director of the Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University,Bullard is known as the "father of environmental justice". He has been a leading campaigner against environmental racism,as well as the foremost scholar of the problem,and of the Environmental Justice Movement which sprung up in the United States in the 1980s.
In political ecology and environmental policy,climate governance is the diplomacy,mechanisms and response measures "aimed at steering social systems towards preventing,mitigating or adapting to the risks posed by climate change". A definitive interpretation is complicated by the wide range of political and social science traditions that are engaged in conceiving and analysing climate governance at different levels and across different arenas. In academia,climate governance has become the concern of geographers,anthropologists,economists and business studies scholars.
Sheila Sen Jasanoff is an Indian American academic and significant contributor to the field of Science and Technology Studies. In 2021 she was elected to the American Philosophical Society. Her research has been recognized with many awards,including the 2022 Holberg Prize "for her groundbreaking research in science and technology studies."
The City University of New York School of Law is a public law school in New York City. It was founded in 1983 as part of the City University of New York. CUNY School of Law was established as a public interest law school with a curriculum focused on integrating clinical teaching methods within traditional legal studies.
Benjamin K. Sovacool is an American academic who is director of the Institute for Global Sustainability at Boston University as well as Professor of Earth and Environment at Boston University. He was formerly Director of the Danish Center for Energy Technology at the Department of Business Development and Technology and a professor of social sciences at Aarhus University. He is also professor of energy policy at the University of Sussex,where he formerly directed the Center on Innovation and Energy Demand and the Sussex Energy Group. He has written on energy policy,environmental issues,and science and technology policy. Sovacool is also the editor-in-chief of Energy Research &Social Science.
Dionysia-Theodora Avgerinopoulou is a politician regarding environmental matters,a specialized attorney in International,Environmental and Sustainable Development Law,and the recipient of the Green Star Award awarded by UNEP,OCHA,and Green Cross International for her leadership in prevention,preparedness and response to environmental emergencies.
Institute for the Study of International Migration is a private research institute located in Washington,DC. Founded in 1998 as part of Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service,it is associated with the Georgetown University Law Center. The Institute for the Study of International Migration (ISIM) is an innovative multidisciplinary center that studies the social,economic,environmental,and political dimensions of international migration.
Anja Mihr is a German political scientist and human rights researcher. She works in the areas of Transitology,Transitional Justice,Cyber Justice,Climate Justice,Governance and Human Rights Regimes. She has taught in universities in Germany,the United States,Italy,China and the Netherlands and at the OSCE Academy in Bishkek,Kyrgyzstan. Her main work focuses on human rights,governance,and transitional justice,looking at the interlinkage between institutions,and organizations and the way human rights realization can be leveraged.
Alexandra Dapolito Dunn is an American environmental lawyer and law professor,specializing in chemical and pesticide regulation,water quality issues,water treatment issues,urban development,rule of law,environmental justice,environmental conflict resolution,cooperative federalism,and implementation of the Clean Water Act and the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act. Dunn was an executive at several environmental management associations,and served as Regional Administrator for New England in the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),and Assistant Administrator for EPA's Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention.
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Farhana Sultana is a Full Professor of Geography at Syracuse University,where she is also a Research Director for the Program on Environmental Collaboration and Conflicts at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. Her research considers how water management and climate change impact society. Her first book,The Right to Water:Politics,Governance and Social Struggles,investigates the relationships between human rights and access to clean water. She is a feminist political ecologist whose work focuses on climate justice,water governance,sustainability,international development,and decolonizing global frameworks.
Deborah B. McGregor (Anishinaabe) is a Canadian environmentalist. She is an associate professor and Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Environmental Justice at Osgoode Hall Law School.
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Michele Betsill is an American political scientist. She is a professor of political science at Colorado State University,where she has also been the chair of the department. She studies climate change and sustainability policies,with a particular focus on how non-governmental actors and sub-national governments respond to climate change. She is a co-founder of the Earth System Governance Project.
Arlene S. Kanter is an American academic,lawyer and a Bond,Schoeneck &King Distinguished Professor of Law at Syracuse University College of Law. In 2005,she was named the Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor of Teaching Excellence by Syracuse University. She is the founder and director of the Disability Law and Policy Program and director of the Office of International Programs.
Anna Maria Grear is an English academic,author,and political activist. Grear is the founder of several academic and activist organisations,including the Global Network for the Study of Human Rights and the Environment (GNHRE) and the Journal of Human Rights and the Environment,where she is editor-in-chief. Grear is adjunct professor of law at The University of Waikato,New Zealand and was Professor of Law and Theory at Cardiff University until August 31,2023. She has written for such international newspapers as The Wire and Süddeutsche Zeitung.