The International Environmental Law stream, launched in 2025, begins with a two-week introductory course, the first week of which is taken jointly with students in the other two streams. Classes in the IEL stream then consider the governance of oceans, air and space; international environmental law; and the international legal response to climate change.

Courses

  • Introduction to International Law in the Anthropocene (3 credits)
  • The Law of Oceans, Air and Space (3 credits)
  • International Environmental and Climate Law (3 credits)

Course Descriptions

Expected Field Study Destinations 

  • International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (Hamburg)
  • Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (Bonn)
  • Secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (Bonn)
  • Secretariat of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (Bonn)
  • United Nations Environment Programme (Geneva)
  • International Institute for Sustainable Development (Geneva)
  • CITES Secretariat (Geneva)
  • World Trade Organization (Geneva)
  • Canadian Mission (Geneva)
  • Palais des Nations (Geneva)

2025 Instructors (Full Bios) 

Ms. Alison Mitchell is a former lawyer and diplomat at Global Affairs Canada, specializing in the law of armed conflict, international human rights law, international criminal law, targeted sanctions, and the law of the sea. Prior to joining Canada's foreign ministry, she worked in the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court.

Dr. Usha Natarajan is Law and Political Economy Faculty Fellow at Yale Law School, Visiting Professor at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Honorary Fellow at the University of the West Indies (Mona), and Senior Fellow at Melbourne Law School. She was Associate Professor of International Law at the American University in Cairo from 2010 to 2020, and she has also held fellowships at Columbia, McGill, York, UBC, and Dalhousie, and worked with the United Nations, UNDP, UNESCO, and the World Bank.

Professor Stephan Hobe is the director of the Institute of Air Law, Space Law and Cyber Law and Co-Director of the International Investment Law Centre at the University of Cologne. He has written books and articles on public international law, European law, German public law, international investment law, cyber law, air law, and space law. 
Ms. Keely Hunter is a legal officer in Canada’s Foreign Service, where she is specialized in oceans law, particularly maritime limits and boundaries.  Before joining the International Law Bureau at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, Ms. Hunter served as a management consular officer and worked as an immigration officer at Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada. 
Mr. Graham MacVannel is a diplomat and legal officer at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development specialized in international civil aviation law, space law and international science, technology, and innovation agreements. From 2016 to 2022, he was legal counsel at the Department of Justice. He has served as a representative for Canada to the Legal Committee of the International Civil Aviation Organization and as legal counsel in Canadian international treaty negotiation delegations. 
Dr. Michael Mehling is Deputy Director of the MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research and a Professor at the University of Strathclyde Law School. Dr Mehling focuses on comparative and international climate policy design and implementation, including its intersections with environmental, energy, and trade policy. He has advised decision makers in over a dozen countriesand served as an expert in several climate litigation cases. His research has been published in the leading peer-reviewed journals on international law, environmental law and policy, and climate and energy policy. 
Professor Christina Voigt is Full Professor of Law at the University of Oslo, Norway. She is a leading expert in international environmental law and chair of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law. As lead negotiator for the Norwegian government on REDD+ and principal legal advisor in the UN climate change negotiations, she participated in the negotiation of the Paris Agreement and its Rulebook. She is IUCN lead legal counsel in climate change advisory proceedings before the International Court of Justice, the Inter-American Court on Human Rights, and the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea.