Professor Chris Wold

Specialty Area and Course Description

Climate Change and the Law

Academic Credentials

B.A. cum laude 1986 St. Olaf College

J.D. Northwestern School of Law of Lewis & Clark College

Professional Background

Chris Wold came to Northwestern School of Law of Lewis & Clark College in 1994 to bring an international environmental component to the school's environmental law program. Chris directs the law school's International Environmental Law Project, which provides students with practical experience in international environmental law, and teaches several international environmental law courses. Before coming to the law school, he was a staff attorney with the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), where he focused on international wildlife law issues and international financial institutions. He has traveled to Australia, Japan, Kenya, and Zimbabwe to participate in Meetings of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and the International Whaling Commission (IWC).

He has participated as the legal advisor to the United Kingdom at the IWC and has also worked with the Ministries of Environment in Bulgaria and Ukraine to review the country's environmental laws for consistency with international norms. He has traveled to India as part of the Narmada International Human Rights Panel to investigate environmental and human rights violations associated with a World Bank funded dam project. He remains "Of Counsel" with CIEL and also consults with the Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide-U.S. (E-LAW) to provide legal advice and assistance to a network of more than 150 public interest lawyers and scientists from 50 countries who are working to strengthen domestic environmental law. He frequently travels to Brazil and other countries to work with environmental lawyers and to advise governments on implementation of international environmental law.

He won the Bernard F. O'Rourke Award in 1990 for outstanding student writing on a natural resources topic. He has also taught at American University's Washington College of Law, Washington, D.C., as an adjunct professor. When not in his office, he is birdwatching, playing basketball, biking, or hiking.