Jacqueline Peel (Australia)
Lecturer, University of Melbourne

Jackie Peel is currently a lecturer with the Law Faculty of the University of Melbourne, Australia where she teaches in the graduate and undergraduate environmental law program. Prior to taking up an academic career in September 2000, Jackie undertook a Master of Laws at New York University as an Australian Fulbright Scholar. Her Masters studies focused on international environmental law and its linkages with other areas of international law, including trade law and human rights. Following her time at New York University, Jackie received a scholarship to undertake an internship at the United Nations International Law Commission, in Geneva. During her internship, Jackie assisted the Special Rapporteur on State Responsibility, Professor James Crawford, in drafting commentaries for the Commission's Articles on the Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts

Jackie's major area of research interest is environmental law, and particularly the international dimension of environmental regulation, though she has also published in the field of domestic environmental law. Jackie's research interest in environmental regulation goes back to her time as an undergraduate student at the University of Queensland, Australia where she undertook a joint Bachelor of Science/Bachelor of Laws course, focusing on environmental science and biotechnology in her science studies. After graduating in 1996 with first class honours and a University Medal in law, Jackie worked as a solicitor in the planning and environmental division of the Australian legal firm of Allen, Allen and Hemsley Solicitors.

Jackie's current research work draws on her inter-disciplinary background in examining linkages between science and law in the environmental field. She is currently writing a book entitled Environmental Decision-making in Circumstances of Scientific Uncertainty: the Precautionary Principle in Practice. An inter-disciplinary theme also characterises the research Jackie will be undertaking while at NYU. This will explore the role of scientific knowledge in WTO decision-making on health and environmental threats, making the argument that non-science based knowledge sources have a role to play in these decisions, especially in circumstances of scientific uncertainty.