Dr. David VanderZwaag

Professor of Law
Primary Researcher
Associate, Marine & Environmental Law Institute

B.A. 1971 Calvin College; M.Div. 1974 Princeton; J.D. 1980, University of Arkansas; LL.M. 1982, Dalhousie; Ph.D. 1994, University of Wales, Cardiff.

Telephone: (902) 494-1045
E-mail: david.vanderzwaag@dal.ca

Dr. David VanderZwaag holds the Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Ocean Law and Governance at  Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada. He teaches in the areas of international environmental law and law of the sea. He is the past Co-director of Dalhousie's interdisciplinary Marine Affairs Program (1986-1991) and the past Director of the Marine & Environmental Law Institute .

Dr. VanderZwaag is currently a member of the  IUCN's Commission on Environmental Law (CEL) and Co-chair of the CEL’s Specialist Group on Oceans, Coasts & Coral Reefs.  He is a Co-founder and Co-chair of the Australian-Canadian Oceans Research Network (ACORN) and has had extensive research and lecturing experience in South and Southeast Asia, the South Pacific, Europe, and the Caribbean. He is an elected member of the International Council of Environmental Law.

Dr. VanderZwaag has authored over 100 papers in the marine and environmental law field. His most recent book publications are:  Recasting Transboundary Fisheries Management Arrangements in Light of Sustainability Principles: Canadian and International Perspectives (edited with D. Russell) (Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff 2010); Understanding and Strengthening European Union-Canada Relations in Law of the Sea and Ocean Governance (co-edited with T. Koivurova, A. Chircop, E. Franckx and E.J. Molenaar) (Rovaniemi, Finland:  University of Lapland Printing Centre, 2009); Towards Principled Oceans Governance: Australian and Canadian Approaches and Challenges (edited with D.R. Rothwell) (London: Routledge Press, 2006) and Aquaculture Law and Policy: Towards Principled Access and Operations (edited with Gloria Chao) (London: Routledge Press, 2006). 

Teaching subjects:

Tort Law, International Environmental Law, Environmental Law.

Publications:

• The Fish Feud: The U.S. and Canadian Boundary Dispute (1982);
• Environmental Decision-making in a Transboundary Region, 1986 (co-editor);
• Transit Management in the Northwest Passage: Problems and Prospects, 1986 (co-editor);
• The Challenge of Arctic Shipping: Science, Environmental Assessment and Human Values, 1990 (co-editor);
• Canadian Ocean Law and Policy, 1992 (editor); Law and the Environment: Problems of Risk and Uncertainty, 1993 (co-editor);
• Canada and Marine Environmental Protection: Charting a Legal Course Towards Sustainable Development, 1995;
• Oceans Law and Policy in the Post-UNCED Era: Australian and Canadian Perspectives, 1996 (co-editor).

Research interests:

Law of the Sea, International Environmental Law, Sustainable Development Law, Ocean Development and Management, Protection of the Marine Environment, Regional Cooperation, U.S. - Canada Relations, Legal Regimes of Polar Areas, Biodiversity Protection and Global Forests, and Fisheries Law and Policy.

Courses:

• LAWS 2051 - International Environmental Law