Robin Kundis Craig
William H. Leary Professor of Law
After earning a Ph.D. at U.C. Santa Barbara in English literature, Robin Craig attended the Lewis & Clark School of Law in Portland, Oregon. There, she worked for the Natural Resources Section, General Counsel Division, of the Oregon Department of Justice, which allowed her to work on a variety of environmental law issues, from Clean Water Act work to CERCLA cleanups to salmon and tribal issues to the intersection of state tax law and environmental law. After graduation, she stayed in Portland to clerk for two years for U.S. District Judge Robert Jones
Craig previously taught at the Lewis & Clark School of Law, Western New England College School of Law in Springfield, Massachusetts, Indiana University-Indianapolis School of Law, and the Florida State University School of Law. Her areas of professional expertise include Property, Environmental Law, Ocean & Coastal Law, Administrative Law, Water Law, Toxic Torts, and Civil Procedure.
At the College of Law, Craig teaches Property to first-year students and Environmental Law, Water Law, Ocean & Coastal Law, and Toxic Torts to upper-division students. She participates in many of the Stegner Center's activities and events.
Craig's research focuses on "all things water," especially the impact of climate change on freshwater resources and the oceans and the intersection of water and energy law; she also has written several articles and book chapters on constitutional environmental law, administrative law, and statutory interpretation. She is the author or co-author of four books--Comparative Ocean Governance: Place-Based Protections in an Era of Climate Change (2012), Environmental Law in Context (3rd ed. 2012), Toxic and Environmental Torts (2010), and The Clean Water Act and the Constitution (2nd ed. 2009) -- and is currently working on a new water law textbook, Modern Water Law, with Professors Bob Adler and Noah Hall, due out in late 2013. Her publications also include over 50 law review articles and book chapters.
Craig has served on three successive National Research Council committees on the Clean Water Act and the Mississippi River and currently works as a research consultant to the Environmental Defense Fund. She is active in the American Bar Association's Section on Environment, Energy, and Resources, where she is currently serving on the Executive Council and helping to plan the 2013 Annual Water Law Conference.
Scholarship Highlights
Blog Posts
Books
Modern Water Law: Private Property, Public Rights, and Environmental Protection (Noah D. Hall and Robert Alder, Foundation Press: forthcoming 2013)
Comparative Ocean Governance: Placed-Based Protections in an Era of Climate Change (Edward Elgar Publishing: June 2012)
Activing as if Tomorrow Matters: Accelerating the Transition to Sustainability (Contributing Author, John C. Dernbach, Principal Author, Environmental Law Institute: June 2012)
Berkshire Encyclopedia of Sustainability, Vol. 5: Ecosystem Management and Sustainability (John Copeland Nagle, Bruce Pardy, Oswald Schmitz & William Smith, Eds.) (2011)
The Clean Water Act and the Constitution: Second Revised Edition (Environmental Law Institute: 2009)
- First Edition: (ELI 2004)
Book Chapters
Coastal Water Quality Protection in Ocean and Coastal Law and Policy (Second Edition, Donald C. Baur, Tim Eichenberg, & Michael Sutton, Eds., American Bar Association: Forthcoming 2013)
Energy System Impacts in The Law of Adaptation to Climate Change: U.S. and International Aspects (Michael Gerrard & Katrina Kuh, Eds., American Bar Association: forthcoming 2012)
Marine Protected Areas and the Resilience of Marine Ecosystems (Terry Hughes) in Resilience and the Law, (Ahjond S. Garmestani & Craig R. Allen, Columbia University Press: forthcoming 2012)
New Sustainable Governance Institutions for Estuaries and Coasts (J. B. Ruhl) in Ecological Economics of Estuaries and Coasts (2012)
Standing in Principles of Constitutional Environmental Law (James R. May, Ed., 195-216 American Bar Association: 2011)
Procedural Due Process in Principles of Constitutional Environmental Law (James R. May, Ed., 277-302, American Bar Association: 2011)
The Atmosphere, the Oceans, Climate, and Ecosystem Services, in Climate Change: A Reader (William H. Rodgers, Jr., Michael Robinson-Dorn, Jennifer K. Barcelos, & Anna T. Moritz, Eds., 261-273 Carolina Academic Press: 2011)
Law Review and Journal Articles, Not Symposium
Federalism Climate Change, and Section 101(g) of the Clean Water Act: Bridging the Water Allocation/Water Quality Divide in Twenty-First Century Water Management (submission expected Spring 2013)
Australia's Emerging Nonpoint Source Water Pollution Problems and the U.S. Regulatory Experience: Lessons and Cautions (Anna Roberts) (Submission to U.S. Law Reviews expected Spring 2013)
Public Health, Private Property, and the Police Power: Community Values, Private Rights, and the Management of Risk (submission expected Fall 2012 or Spring 2013)
Regulatory Reform Requirements to Address Diffuse -Source Water Quality Problems in Australia - Learning from Experiences in the USA (Anna Roberts) (submitted to Australian Ecology Journals Summer 2012)
Ocean Governance for the 21st Century: Making Marine Zoning Climate Changes Adaptable, 36:2 Harvard Environmental Law Review (June 2012)
Marine Biodiversity and Climate Change, 4 Diversity 224-238 (May 2012), available online at http://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/4/2/224
Agencies Interpreting Courts Interpreting Statutes: The Chevron Conundrum of a Divided Supreme Court, 61 Emory Law Journal 1-68 (Fall 2011)
Climate Change and the Puget Sound: Building the Legal Framework for Adaptation (Robert L. Glicksman, Catherine O'Neill, Yee Huang, William L. Andreen, Victor Byers Flatt, William Funk, Dale d. Goble, Alice-Kaswan, & Robert R.M. Verchick):
- Center for Progressive Reform White Paper, available at http://www.progressivereform.org/articles/Puget_Sound_Adaptation_1108.pdf
- Published at 2 Climate Law (IOS Press) 299-344 (2011)
The Gulf Oil Spill and National Marine Sanctuaries, 40:11 Environmental Law Reporter News & Analysis 11074 (November 2010)
Constitutional Contours for the Design and Implementation of Multistate Renewable Energy Programs, 81:3 University of Colorado Law Review 771 (Summer 2010)
Law Review Articles, Symposium
Climate Change Adaptation, the Clean Water Act, and Energy: An application of Principled Flexibility, George Washingrton Journal of Energy & Environmental Law (forthcoming 2013). Invited contribution from the George Washington University School of Law's symposium, The Clean Water Act at 40
CERCLA and Federalism: An Overview, Southwestern Law Review (forthcoming Fall 2012). Invited contribution to the SOUTHWESTERN LAW REVIEW SYMPOSIUM: CERCLA AND THE FUTURE OF LIABILITY-BASED ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION
Defining Riparian Rights as "Property" through Takings Litigation: Is There a Property Right to Environmental Quality? 42:1 Environmental Law 115-155 (Winter 2012). Invited contribution to the LEWIS & CLARK FALL SYMPOSIUM: 21st Century Water Law
Legal Remedies for Marine Oil Spills and Long-Term Ecological Resilience: A Match Made in Hell. 2011 BYU Law Review 1863 (Fall 2011). Invited contribution to the 2010 BYU LAW REVIEW SYMPOSIUM: Disasters and the Environment
Public Trust and Public Necessity Defenses to Taking Liability for Sea-Level Rise Responses on the Gulf Coast, 26:2 Journal of Land Use & Environmental Law 395 (Spring 2011)(Sea Grant Symposium on Takings on the Gulf Coast)
Avoiding the Jellyfish Sea, or, What Do We Mean by Sustainable Oceans, Anyway? 31:1 Utah Environmental Law Review (formerly Journal of Land, Resources, & Environmental Law) 17 (Spring 2011). Invited contribution to the 15th Wallace Stegner Center Symposium: The Challenge of Sustainability
Adapting Water Law to Public Necessity: Reframing Climate Change Adaptation as Emergency Preparedness and Response, 11:4 Vermont Journal of Environmental Law 709 (Symposium 2010)
Water Supply, Desalination, Climate Changes, and Energy Policy, 22 Pacific McGeorge Global Business & Development Law Journal 225 (Spring 2010) (symposium)
Climate Change Comes to the Clean Water Act: Now What?, 1:1 Washington & Lee Journal of Energy, Climate, and Environment 7 (2010), available at http://law.wlu.edu/jece/page.asp?pageid=1082 (invited submission for the inaugural & symposium issue: Climate Policy for the Obama Administration)
A Public Health Approach to Sea-Level Rise: Starting Points for Climate Change Adaptation, 15:2 Widener Law Review 521 (2010) (invited submission for the 2008 Widener Law Review Symposium: Living with Climate Change: Legal Challenges in a Warmer World)
Selected Talks and Presentations
"The Death of Sustainability" Fall Symposium: The Next Generation of Environmental and Natural Resources Law, University of Akron School of Law, Akron, OH. September 28-29, 2012
"Water and Human Health". Guest Lecture, "Human Health and the Environment". College of Medicine, university of Utah. September 26, 2012
"The Death of Sustainability in Water Resources Management". Climate Change Panel. 2012 Annual Meeting of the Association of Environmental & Engineering Geologist. Salt Lake City, UT. September 20, 2012
"Designing Administrative Law for Adaptive Management". Faculty Workshop. University of Tulsa School of Law, Tulsa, OK. September 14, 2012
Senior Commentator. Junior Environmental Workshop. University of Washington School of Law, Seattle, WA. July 18-20, 2012
"The Law of Ocean Jurisdiction". Guest Lecture, "Ocean Environments". Department of Geography, University of Utah, June 26, 2012
"Hot Topics in U.S. Constitutional Environmental Law". 2012 National Environmental, Energy, and Resources Law Summit. Canadian Bar Association, Vancouver, B.C., Canada, April 26-27, 2012
"Climate Change Adaptation, the Clean Water Act, and Energy: An Application of Principled Flexibility". The Clean Water Act at 40. George Washington University School of Law, Washington, D.C., March 22-23, 2012
"Ocean Governance in the 21st Century: Structure and Challenges". Silent Spring at 50: The Legacy of Rachel Carson. Seventeenth Annual Symposium of the Wallace Stegner Center, University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law, Salt Lake City, UT, March 9-10, 2012.
"Climate Changes and the Oceans: Protecting Special Places in an Era of Change". Seminar, Global Change & Ecosystem Center, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, March 6, 2012
Honors & Awards
University Graduate Teaching Award, Florida State University, April 19, 2011
Best Paper Award, American Bar Association Section on Environment, Energy, and Resources' Environmental Law Conference, March 19, 2011
"Stationarity is Dead" - Long Live Transformation: Five Principles for Climate Change Adaptation Law", 34:1 Harvard Environmental LAw Review 9 (2010), named one of the top 10 environmental/natural resources/land use/energy articles of 2010, to be reprinted as such in 42 Land Use & Environmental Law Review (forthcoming 2012)
Best Programs for Resources Committees for 2009-2010; Marine Resources Committee. American Bar Association Section on Environment,Energy, and Resources. Awarded September 2010.
Professional Affiliations
- Ongoing:
Scholarship Reviews in connection with tenure and promotion for numerous institutions including: University of Utah/S.J. Quinney School of Law, Indiana University - Indianapolis School of Law, University of British Columbia Faculty of Law, University of Montana School of Law, University of Vermont Law School, Southern Illinois University School of Law, Thomas Jefferson School of Law, McGeorge School of Law, Florida A&M College of Law, University of Toledo College of Law.
- August 2011-Present Consultant, Environmental Defense Fund
Helping to coordinate research for and draft a 50-state survey of state nonpoint source pollution programs.
- August 2010 - Present Executive Council, Section on Environment, Energy, and Resources, American Bar Association.
Three-year term ending August, 2013.
- August 2010 - Present Membership Committee
- October 2009 - Present Board of Directors, Environmental Advocacy, Inc.
- July 2009 - Present Committee on Clean Water Act Implementation Across the Mississippi River Basin
Water Science & Technology Board, National Reserach Council, National Academy of Sciences.
- January 2009 - Present Executive Board, Natural Resources Law Section, Association of American Law Schools
-Chair, January 2010 - January 2011
Organized writing competition for untenured faculty, with papers presented at the
2011 AALS Annual Meeting. Helped to coordinate joint field trip with Environmental Law Section.
- February 2008 - Present Apalachicola River Brainstorming Group
Help a coalition of environmental interests in Florida compose legal strategies for protecting
the water and natural resources of the ACF Basin for Florida.
- January 2008 - Present Executive Board, Environmental Law Section, Association of American Law Schools
- July 2006 - Present Advisory Board, Endangered Environmental Laws, Environmental Law Institute, Washington, D.C.
Help to advise ELI regarding various activities, including occasional Supreme Court briefing, to protect
federal environmental statutes against constitutional and other challenges.
- August 2005 - Present Constitutional Environmental Law Committee, Section on Environment, Energy, and Resources, American Bar Association
-Chair, August 2007 - August 2009
Under my leadership, the Committee was named "Best Cross-Practice Committee for 2008-2009"
and won the award for "Best Cross-Practice Committee Newsletter for 2008-2009".
-Vice Chair for Newsletter, February 2005 - August 2007; August 2009 - August 2011
- Fall 2004 - Present Maritime Law Section, Association of American Law Schools
-Chair, January 2007 - January 2008
Planned a program for the January 2008 Annual meeting entitled "Piracy on the High Seas".
Attended the 2008 Annual meeting in New York.
-Vice Chair, January 2006 - January 2007
Attended the Section panel and business meeting at the January 2007 AALS Annual Meeting in
Washington D.C.
-Secretary, January 2005 - January 2006
-Treasurer, September 2004 - January 2005
Attended presentation on the Law of the Sea Convention at the January 2005 AALS Annual Meeting.
Attended Officers breakfast at the January 2005 AALS meeting.
- August 2004 - Present Working Group on Ocean Policy, American Bar Association
Currently represents the ABA's Section on Environment, Energy, and Resources and that Section's
Marine resources Committee on this ABA-wide working group to formulate the ABA's position on,
and recommendations for, U.S. ocean policy in light of the Pew Oceans Commission's and the
U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy's reports, to enable the ABA to lobby Congress for new
legistration.
- August 2003 - Present Marine Resources Committee, Section on Environment, Energy, and Resources, American Bar Association
-Co-Chair, August 2004 - August 2007; August 2009 - August 2011
-Vice Chair for Publications, August 2007 - August 2009
-Vice Chair for Programs, Fall 2003 - Summer 2004
- August 2003 - Present Administrative Law Section, American Bar Association
- August 2006 - August 2009 Environmental Law Committee
- Fall 2004 - Present Supreme Court News Editor, Administrative & Regulatory Law News Co-Chair