Where did you attend university for your undergraduate degree? Law School? Any other degrees/ schooling?
I’ve been to the University of Alberta, University of Calgary, Yale University and McGill University.
When did you come to UBC as a professor?
January 2016
What courses will you be teaching at Allard in 2019-2020?
Administrative Law and Environmental Law
What are your research interests?
I’m interested in how the law protects (and fails to protect) human and ecological communities from catastrophic environmental harm. I’m interested in the legal processes that we use for determining environmental risks. I’m interested in the participatory rights of individuals and communities who will bear environmental burdens.
What is or was your non-law dream job?
Artisanal jam producer.
What is your favourite judicial decision and why?
Why courts and judges? I work on issues where the courts tend not to be the primary sites of legal innovation. I take my inspiration from sites of law making like: the Great Bear Rainforest Agreements and the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry. That said, Rand J’s judgment in Roncarelli v Duplessis and the L’Heureux-Dubé J.’s majority decision in Baker v Canada (Citizenship and Immigration) are foundations of the rule of law in Canada. This is enough to make them favourites, even if they are not creative or original choices.
What is your favourite book or movie?
I just watched the HBO mini-series on Chernobyl and found it completely captivating and haunting. (See research interests above.)
What’s a UBC Campus hidden gem that more people should know about?
Tower Beach – a short walk down the hill from the law school for seal and whale watching — take advantage! The Nitobe Garden, where you might find a heron peacefully contemplating its reflection.
Anything else you would like to share with the class of 2022?
Squeeze everything you can out of your law school experience. Ask questions, be curious. Law school will feel intense, but will go by in a blink.