About

Dr. Craig Kauffman is a Professor of Political Science and Environmental Studies at the University of Oregon. His work focuses on environmental politics, ecological law, rights of nature, and sustainable development. He is the author of numerous articles and books, including The Politics of Rights of Nature (MIT Press, 2022). He serves as Principal Investigator of the EJM (funded by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and Environment Now), and led an international team of researchers to develop the platform in 2021. He is also a member of the UN Harmony with Nature Network and a founding member of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature (GARN) Academic Hub.

Cat Haas

Managing Director

Cat Haas is a legal researcher and the Director of the Eco Jurisprudence Monitor, where she has led the project’s research, partnerships, and strategic development since 2022. Her work focuses on comparative ecological law, global network-building, multilateral engagement, and integrating art, storytelling, and innovative design into the EJM research and public-facing tools. She holds an MA from the University of North Carolina, where her research examined pluriversal ontology in the development and globalization of the Rights of Nature movement. Cat is a member of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law and serves on the Steering Committee of the GARN Academic Hub.

Louis Charron

Technology & Design

Louis Charron is a designer specialized in science communication, helping scientists translate complex ideas for broad audiences through storytelling, branding, and digital design. He holds an MFA from École des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, and was a Designer and Research Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Senseable City Lab from 2017–2019. He has since collaborated with labs at MIT, Dartmouth, and the University of British Columbia, focusing on visual identities, websites, and animation. Louis supports the EJM’s design and visualizations to help make Earth law accessible and engaging through creative, narrative-driven media.

Carine Gibert

Education Ambassador & Arts Curator

Carine Gibert is the Founder of Grounded in Motion, a practice dedicated to ecological arts and educational curations that centre the Earth. At the Eco Jurisprudence Monitor, she serves as Curator of Ecological Arts & Learning, where she integrates art, pedagogy, and ecology into transformative installations and educational programs. Her work bridges creative expression with systemic ecological awareness, offering learning pathways that invite communities to reimagine their relationship with the living world.

Montserrat Anguiano

Communications Manager

Montserrat Anguiano is a digital marketing and communications specialist with a degree in International Business. She supports the Eco Jurisprudence Monitor’s communications, social media strategy, and engagement to strengthen the visibility and impact of ecological law initiatives worldwide. Based in Quintana Roo, Mexico, Montserrat is also a dedicated activist and environmentalist focused on sea turtle conservation and plastic pollution awareness, working to promote sustainability and environmental responsibility among individuals, organizations, and businesses.

Chiara Grimes

Research Fellow

Chiara Grimes is a Georgetown graduate and second-year MPA student at George Mason University, concentrating in Environmental Science and Public Policy. Her research has examined Black womanhood and Indigenous autonomy in connection with colonial violence, urban biodiversity and ecological inequality in D.C. parkland. She has a strong interest in eco-feminist studies and is passionate about cultivating a culture that values the environment for its inherent worth. Chiara seeks to advance gender justice and Harmony with Nature, with plans to pursue a PhD on women leadership in Rights of Nature movement and policy in the US.

Advisory Board

The EJM Advisory Board is composed of global experts and leaders in ecological law, Indigenous legal traditions, and environmental governance. The Board provides strategic guidance and helps ensure the Monitor’s development remains grounded, ethical, and responsive to the global Earth law movement.

Alex Putzer

NYU | German Ocean Foundation

Alex Putzer is a researcher on the rights of nature in cities affiliated with the NYU School of Law and the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. A postdoctoral Fulbright-Schuman Alumni at the NYU Department of Environmental Studies, Alex wrote his dissertation at Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies in Italy, including affiliations with MIT, UPenn, and The New School in the United States. As a United Nations Harmony with Nature Expert, a 2023 UNESCO Fellow in Anticipation and Transformation, and a member of the EJM Advisory Board, Alex is eager to discover yet unidentified questions for his research and beyond.

Alessandro Pelizzon

University of the Sunshine Coast

Alessandro Pelizzon is a Professor of Law at the University of the Sunshine Coast, specializing in ecological jurisprudence and legal ontologies. He helped develop the Eco Jurisprudence Monitor in 2021, and is a leading voice in the Rights of Nature movement. He co-founded the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature in 2010, where he also serves on the Executive Committee, and is an expert member of the UN Harmony with Nature programme. Alessandro holds a LLM from the University of Turin and PhD from the University of Wollongong. His latest book Ecological Jurisprudence was published in 2025.

Pamela Martin

Costal Carolina University

Pamela Martin is a Professor of Political Science and HTC Distinguished Honors Fellow at Coastal Carolina University, where she teaches international relations, environmental politics, and sustainability. She is the Executive Director of the RISE Center, a UN University Regional Centre of Expertise, that focuses on sustainable development. She has published extensively on global environmental policy and co-authored The Politics of Rights of Nature (MIT Press) with Craig Kauffman, exploring sustainability strategies. Martin collaborates with organizations and communities to develop resilience and sustainability plans.

Linda Sheehan

Environment Now

Linda Sheehan is the Executive Director of Environment Now, a California foundation supporting work on waterways, forests, climate, and the Rights of Nature. She was formerly Senior Counsel at the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation and the co-founder and Executive Director of the Earth Law Center. Linda is an attorney with over 20 years of expertise, and has directed major regional NGOs, earning recognition as a California Coastal Hero. She has taught at Vermont Law School, advised the U.N. General Assembly, and published widely on Earth-centered law. She holds a B.S. in chemical engineering from MIT, an M.P.P. and a J.D. from U.C. Berkeley Law School.

Kelsey Leonard

University of Waterloo

Dr. Kelsey Leonard is a water scientist, legal scholar, policy expert, and enrolled citizen of the Shinnecock Nation establishing Indigenous traditions of water conservation as the foundation for international water policymaking. She is an Assistant Professor at the University of Waterloo, where her research focuses on Indigenous water justice and its climatic, territorial, and governance underpinnings. Dr. Leonard represents the Shinnecock Nation on the Mid-Atlantic Committee on the Ocean and serves on the Great Lakes Water Quality Board of the International Joint Commission. Her regional ocean policy work earned a Peter Benchley Ocean Award for Excellence.

Kai Huschke

Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund

Kai Huschke serves as Executive Director of the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF), a pioneering legal and community-organizing organization advancing community rights, Rights of Nature, and systemic legal change for over 30 years. CELDF supports communities and movements across the United States and internationally in challenging corporate harm, asserting local self-governance, and recognizing the inherent rights of ecosystems. Kai has extensive experience as a community organizer and movement strategist and teaches, presents, and writes widely on movement building, community rights, Rights of Nature, and the intersection of culture and law.

Representatives

The EJM’s country, regional, and thematic representatives are scholars, practitioners, and advocates advancing ecological jurisprudence worldwide. They strengthen the Monitor by identifying initiatives, sharing local insights, and ensuring our work reflects the legal traditions, worldviews, and ecological realities where these efforts emerge.

Austria

Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Fundamental and Human Rights

Dr. Camilla Sophia Haake

Camilla Haake is a lawyer and post-doctoral researcher working with the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Fundamental and Human Rights affiliated with the University of Vienna, and heading the Institute’s programme line “Sustainability, Development, Business, Social”. She has a doctorate in Public International Law. Her research focus is on human rights protection in Public International Law and European Union Law, particularly on intersectional issues in the areas of human rights and business and human rights and the environment. In the field of Rights of Nature, Camilla conducts research into the opportunities and challenges of establishing Rights of Nature through constitutional legislation and judicial development of the law in Austria and Germany, among other things.

Balkans

Balkan Centre for the Rights of Nature

Zoe Lujic

Zoe is an expert in Earth Law for more than a decade, as well as a deep environmentalist and permaculturist. She has an MSc in Environmental Studies (UK, 2005) and is the founder of the international organization Earth Thrive for the Rights of Nature in the Balkans and the Mediterranean (2016). Previously, she served on the executive committee of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature (GARN) and was a founder and facilitator of the GARN Europe Hub. She organized two International Tribunals for the Rights of Nature in Serbia: European Tribunal for the Rights of Aquatic Ecosystems (2021) & 14th Local Rights of Nature Tribunal for Gold Mining in Serbia (2024). Zoe also holds a certificate of a design in permaculture (2006, London) and is a pioneer of Permaculture in Serbia.

Brazil

MAPAS

Vanessa Hasson

Vanessa Hasson is the Executive Director of NGO MAPAS and a leading advocate for the Rights of Nature in Brazil. She helped pass Brazil’s first Rights of Nature law in Bonito and has since supported similar legislation in Paudalho, Florianópolis, Serro, and many other municipalities and states. Vanessa holds a PhD in Rights of Nature and a Master’s in International Relations and Environmental Law. She is an expert member of the UN Harmony with Nature Program and author of Rights of Nature (Lumen Juris, 2nd ed. 2021) which is the first book on Rights of Nature in Brazil. Her work bridges civil society, law, and deep ecology.

Denmark

Stop Ecocide Danmark

Bart Bess

Bart Joachim Bes holds a PhD in Political Science and has conducted research in international governance. His work has been published in several political science journals, and he is co-author of the book Global Legitimacy Crisis: Decline and Revival in Multilateral Governance (Oxford University Press). With experience as a sustainability consultant and as co-leader of Stop Ecocide Denmark, he actively contributes to the debate on nature protection and rights of nature in Denmark.

Ecuador

SUNY Albany

Lourdes Aguas

Lourdes Aguas is a political sociologist whose research focuses on how the Rights of Nature framework is being deployed in Ecuador. She explores the intertwined relationship between human and nonhuman rights, particularily in participatory decision-making around environmental governance.

France

Wild Legal

Marine Calmet

Marine Calmet is a french environmental lawyer and activist, serving as spokesperson for the Or de Question collective, which fights against destructive mining projects in French Guiana. She advocates for a legal revolution inspired by the intelligence and creativity of the living world and rooted in Indigenous knowledge. In 2019, she founded Wild Legal, a groundbreaking organization dedicated to advancing the Rights of Nature in France. As an author, her books include Becoming Guardians of Nature (Tana, 2021 – European Institute of Ecology Book Prize), Decolonizing the Law (Wild Project, 2024), and Justice for the Starfish, Towards the recognition of Ocean Rights (Actes Sud, 2025).

Germany

Germany Rights of Nature Network

Christian Cray

Christian Cray is a board member of the German Rights of Nature Network, active in the areas of communication, education, and international networking. He represents the European platform of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature (GARN) and is committed to the recognition of the rights of nature at the United Nations. For over 25 years, he has been exploring approaches to a socio-ecological transformation of our society. Christian lived and worked for several years with indigenous communities and umbrella organizations in the Ecuadorian Amazon region. There, he worked for the organization Acción Ecológica and advocated for the recognition of indigenous rights and territories.

Ghana

Rights of Nature Ghana;
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology

Dickson Adom

Dickson is a socio-legal researcher exploring how the Rights of Nature framework can integrate environmental legislation in Ghana. He is assessing stakeholder perspectives on important environmental governance to inform future policy and practice. Dickson is the founder of Rights of Nature Ghana which leads advocacy and training programs across civil society organizations, government agencies (including the EPA and various Environmental Commissions) and schools and school boards. His work aims to shape a national discourse on ecological justice and inspire a new environmental stewardship in Ghana grounded in the rights of ecosystems.

Ireland

WWF International; Barrister-at-Law

Selina Hinten-White

Selina is a Barrister-at-Law in Ireland, with expertise in environmental law, human rights, and the Rights of Nature. She serves as Legal Counsel with WWF International, advising on international labour and employment law in support of the organization’s global conservation mission. Selina is an active member of the Rights of Nature and Animals research group of the International Association for Constitutional Law (IECL), an expert member of World Animal Justice and the Global Animal Law Association, and contributes to GARN’s Legal Hub. She also serves as Associate Fellow of the Global Research Network’s Animals and Biodiversity programme and as Netherlands representative on the International Law Association’s Rights of Nature Committee. Selina is pursuing an advanced LL.M. in International Business Law at Tilburg University.

Latin America

Earth Law Center – Latin America Program

Constanza Prieto Figelist

Constanza is founder and director of the Latin America Legal Program at the Earth Law Center (ELC). She is a lawyer and leading expert on the Rights of Nature, mainly focused on protecting and conserving rivers and marine ecosystems in the Americas. She specializes in drafting ecocentric legislation, collaborating with local organizations and governments, and advising decision makers on regional legislative projects, with successful campaigns in more than five countries in the region. Constanza studied law at the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso (Chile) and has a master’s degree in private international law and international trade from the Pathéon-Assas University in Paris (France), and a master’s degree in environmental and energy law from New York University. She has been honored by International Rivers as an outstanding Women River Defenders.

Mexico

Earth Law Center – Latin America Program

Javier Ruiz

Javier is an environmental lawyer working with the Earth Law Center (ELC) on issues in environmental law, climate change, and the environmental rights of Nature defenders. He is an expert on the Rights of Nature, specialized advisor for litigation to Latin American organizations and groups, and helps draft ecocentric legislation for ELC’s Latin America Legal Program. Javier is also a member of the IUCN Commission on Environmental Law. In the academic field, he has conducted courses on the Rights of Nature, non-human animal rights, and access to environmental justice at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). Javier leads ELC’s work on implementing the Escazú Agreement by participating in the negotiations of the Escazú Agreement Conferences of the Parties.

Marine Ecosystems

Ocean Vision Legal & Ocean Rights

Michelle Bender

Michelle Bender is a global expert in Earth law and the founder of the Ocean Rights initiative, which advances Rights of Nature within the ocean policy seascape. She has helped draft RoN laws and policies in the United States, Panama, Philippines, Pacific Islands, and the international level. She is a member of the IUCN’s World Commission on Environmental Law and an expert member of the UN Harmony with Nature Program. In 2018 she was named one of 15 international Youth Ocean Leaders transforming marine protection and ocean governance by the Sustainable Ocean Alliance.

Nature Governance

Lawyers For Nature

Lawyers for Nature is a collective of lawyers, researchers, strategists, academics, activists, students, and campaigners. We have come together to work on behalf of Nature. We envision a future where the value of Nature is recognized, given the respect it deserves, and provided with the legal protections it needs to flourish. Our aim is to reimagine and, ultimately, reshape our legal system to one that protects the inherent rights of the natural world. In doing so, we will contribute to climate rebalance and foster regenerative, ecocentric legal systems that serve all life. Our work is rooted at the forefront of this paradigm shift, where Nature is given legal rights and a voice in critical decision-making processes.

Netherlands

Rechten van de Natuur

Jessica den Outer

Jessica den Outer is a leading advocate for the Rights of Nature in the Netherlands and director of Stichting Rechten van de Natuur. She has led numerous legal initiatives to protect Dutch ecosystems such as the Maas, Meuse, Waddenzee and Amelisweerd, forming the fastest-growing RoN movement in Europe. She is the author of Rechten voor de Natuur (2023), which highlights global citizen-led efforts to advance nature’s rights. Named one of the Netherlands’ top 100 sustainable young leaders, she has received the ‘Duurzame Lintje’ and serves as an expert for the UN Harmony with Nature Program.

Panama

Leatherback Project

Callie Veelenturf

Callie is a marine conservation biologist, National Geographic Explorer, scientist with the United Nations Harmony with Nature Programme, and Founder of The Leatherback Project and National Geographic Society’s For Nature program, which inspires high-impact conservation measures through collaborative scientific research initiatives. Callie has a special focus on marine turtles, ocean ecosystems and the Rights of Nature. She advocated for Panama’s national Rights of Nature law, sea turtle rights, and the Saboga Wildlife Refuge. Most recently, she received the 2024 Future For Nature Award, Schmidt Ocean Institute Visionary Award, and New Explorer of The Year Award from The Explorers Club, and was named a 2022 United Nations Development Programme Ocean Innovator and 2020 National Geographic Early Career Leader.

South Korea

People for Earth

Jina Im

Jina is a legal researcher committed to advancing Earth Jurisprudence and the Rights of Nature, a field she first encountered while writing her master’s thesis on standing in environmental litigation. She holds an LL.B. from Sookmyung Women’s University (South Korea) and an LL.M. in Transnational Law from the University of Bremen (Germany). Her experience includes working with Greenpeace Korea, serving as a communications facilitator for the Asia-Pacific Hub of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature (GARN), and interning with UNEP’s legal and policy unit under the Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm Conventions. Most recently, Jina is working at People for Earth, a Korean foundation dedicated to Earth Jurisprudence and the Rights of Nature.

Spain

University of Texas at Austin

Lidia Cano Pecharroman

Lidia is a lawyer and Assistant Professor at UT Austin School of Architecture and Director of the Extreme Weather Adaptation Lab at the LBJ School. She holds a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), is a Fulbright Scholar, and an expert member of the UN Harmony with Nature Program. She previously served as a Research Fellow at Columbia University’s Earth Institute, where she also earned a Master’s degree. Before that, she worked on Nature Rights and environmental conflict resolution at the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA). Lidia holds a Master’s in International Affairs and African Studies from Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and New York University, and a Law Degree from Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. She is a member of the Madrid Bar Association.

Switzerland

University of Zurich

Juliana Klose

Juliana Klose is a sustainability expert working at the intersection of ecological protection, legal innovation, and economic transformation. With experience across Swiss federal institutions, NGOs, and purpose-driven businesses, she has led projects integrating biodiversity into sustainable development strategies. Her work focuses on embedding ecological values into business and policy strategies. Juliana is currently pursuing a BSc in Biodiversity with a minor in Law at the University of Zurich. She actively supports Rights of Nature initiatives and advocates for nature as a rights-bearing partner in shaping resilient futures. Juliana is the facilitator of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature (GARN) Legal Hub. Contact her on LinkedIn

United Kingdom

UK Rights of Nature Network

Paul Powlesland

Paul is a barrister and a leading voice for Rights of Nature in the UK. In 2019, he founded the River Roding Trust, where he is an advocate of nature guardianship, becoming a guardian of the River Roding, where he lives, as well as serving as a trustee of Friends of the Thames. He brings deep legal expertise, frontline campaigning experience, and embodies how nature guardianship can provide a practical, legal, and philosophical way forward. Paul is the co-founder of Lawyers for Nature and regularly gives talks and workshops on the rights of nature, the relationship between the law and the natural world and what barristers and other lawyers should do in a time of climate and ecological emergency. He is a 2025 Churchill Fellow researching river rights frameworks globally and their translation to the UK.

United States

Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF)

Is a U.S. public-interest law nonprofit that has pioneered the Community Rights and Rights of Nature movements in the United States. Founded in 1995, CELDF works with communities, Tribal Nations, and local governments to challenge extractive and harmful corporate activities, advance local self-governance, and recognize the inherent rights of ecosystems. For three decades, CELDF has supported the development of groundbreaking local, state, and international legal frameworks, including some of the first Rights of Nature laws in the U.S. and globally. Through legal assistance, public education (including the nationally recognized Democracy School) and long-term movement building, CELDF helps communities protect their health, environment, and democratic rights. Today, CELDF remains a leading voice in transforming U.S. environmental governance toward systems that uphold justice, ecological integrity, and the rights of people and nature.