Kathryn Gwiazdon

Kathryn Gwiazdon, J.D., is Executive Director, Center for Environmental Ethics and Law, a member of the Steering Committee of the Ecological Law and Governance Association, and Deputy Chair, Ethics Specialist Group, IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law. She was with the Center for Humans and Nature from 2005–12, and served as the Director of the North American Global Responsibilities program from 2009–12. During her time with CHN, and since 2005, she has worked closely with Dr. J. Ronald Engel on the Biosphere Ethics Initiative (BEI). The BEI is an international soft law program that seeks to bear witness to, highlight, and share principles of environmental ethics to guide individual, organizational, and governmental/policy decision-making at the local, regional, state, and international level. The BEI has been adopted as a foundational policy to IUCN, the world’s oldest and largest international environmental organization. In 2016 she founded the Center for Environmental Ethics and Law to serve as the permanent home, and advance the work of, the Biosphere Ethics Initiative. Kathryn has taught courses at the J.D. and LLM-level, has worked in more than 15 countries, and serves on several Boards and Steering Committees that advance new frameworks in law, ecological law, climate change justice, ecological integrity, and public health.