Annecoos Wiersema
Associate Dean of Graduate & International Legal Programs
Catherine Boggs Endowed Faculty Research Scholar; Professor of Law
303-871-6525 (Office)
Frank H. Ricketson Law Bldg., 2255 E. Evans Ave. Denver, CO 80208
Specialization(s)
Environmental and Natural Resources Law, International Environmental Law, International Law, Environmental Law
Professional Biography
Prof. Wiersema's research focuses on international environmental law, with particular emphasis on international wildlife law, species and biodiversity conservation, and forest conservation. Her most recent work addresses debates about markets for endangered species and the REDD+ program under the international climate change regime. In addition, she writes about the structure of the international environmental legal system, having addressed the role of conferences of the parties in international law-making. Prof. Wiersema's work breaks down the traditional division of local, national, and international perspectives and is deeply informed by theories of ecological complexity and scientific uncertainty. Prof. Wiersema is a member of the Accountability Panel for the Wildlife Justice Commission, a member of the Board of Editors for the Journal of International Wildlife Law and Policy, and a member of the IUCN's World Commission on Environmental Law.
Prof. Wiersema was Director of the International Legal Studies Program at the Sturm College of Law from 2013-2015 and held the Ved P. Nanda Chair. Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, Prof. Wiersema was an Assistant Professor at The Ohio State University Michael E. Moritz College of Law and worked in the Denver office of Arnold and Porter LLP as a litigation associate. She was the George W. Foley, Jr. Fellow in Environmental Law at Harvard Law School from 1999-2000 and spent time as a Visiting Scholar at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2001.
Degree(s)
- SJD, International and Environmental Law, Harvard Law School, 2004
- LLB (Hons), Law, The London School of Economics, 1998
- BA (Hons), English, University of Southampton, 1992
Featured Publications
- Incomplete Bans and Uncertain Markets in Wildlife Trade, 12 U. PA. ASIAN L. REV. 65 (2016).
- Wildlife Law: Cases and Materials, co-authored with Dale Goble, Eric Biber, and Federico Cheever (3d ed., 2016).
- The Precautionary Principle in Environmental Governance, in Research Handbook on Fundamental Principles in Environmental Law 449 (Douglas Fisher ed., Edward Elgar Publishing, 2016). in Research Handbook on Fundamental Principles in Environmental Law 449 (Douglas Fisher ed., Edward Elgar Publishing, 2016).
- Uncertainty, Precaution, and Adaptive Management in Wildlife Trade, 36 MICH. J. INT’L L. 375 (2015).
- Climate Change, Forests, and International Law: REDD’s Descent into Irrelevance, 47 Vanderbilt Journal of Transactional Law 1 (2014) (selected for re-publication in Environmental Law and Climate Change (Jonathan Verschuuren ed., 2015).
Additional Publications
- Uncertainty and Markets for Endangered Species under CITES, 23(3) Review of European, Comparative & International Environmental Law 239 (2013).
- What Can the WTO Learn from International Environmental Law?, Panel: Risk, Science and Law in the WTO, 104 AM. SOC’Y INT’L L. PROC. 23 (2010).
- The Scope of the Secretariat’s Powers Regarding the Submissions Procedure of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation under General Principles of International Law, co-authored with Anne-Marie Slaughter, 27 NORTH AMERICAN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW AND POLICY SERIES 1 (2010).
- The New International Law-Makers? Conferences of the Parties to Multilateral Environmental Agreements, 31 MICH. J. INT’L L. 231 (2009).
- Conferences of the Parties to Multilateral Environmental Treaties: The New International Law-Makers?, Panel: New Voices: Re-Thinking the Sources of International Law, 103 AM. SOC’Y INT’L L. PROC. 74 (2009).
- Adversaries or Partners? Science and the Precautionary Principle in International Wildlife Treaty Regimes, 11(4) J. INT’L WILDLIFE L. & POL’Y 211 (2008).
- A Train without Tracks: Re-Thinking the Place of Law and Goals in Environmental and Natural Resources Law, 38 ENVTL. L. 1239 (2008).
- Sharing Common Ground: A Cautionary Tale on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Protection of Biological Diversity, in LINKING HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE ENVIRONMENT 162 (R. Picolloti & J.D. Taillant eds. 2003).
- Book Note, 23 HARV. ENVTL. L. REV. 571 (1999) (reviewing MOSTAFA K. TOLBA, GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL DIPLOMACY: NEGOTIATING ENVIRONMENTAL AGREEMENTS FOR THE WORLD, 1973-1992 (1998)).
