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The Elisabeth Haub School of Law at �̾�����Ƶ is pleased to announce that Paul Rink will join its faculty as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Environmental Law. Prior to joining the Haub Law faculty in 2023, Professor Rink worked at the climate law firm, Our Children’s Trust, representing young people from around the world in strategic, legal efforts to secure their right to a safe climate system. He is one of four new faculty members who will be joining Haub Law this fall.

"The Elisabeth Haub School of Law has a reputation around the globe as the premier institution for environmental law,” said Professor Rink. “I look forward to sharing my passion for climate law with the Haub Law community and to collaborating with its top-tier faculty and students to develop ideas and strategies for effectively combatting the climate crisis.”

After graduating with a BS from the University of Michigan, Professor Rink spent a year and half teaching soil science and environmental science to Singaporean students at Ngee Ann Polytechnic as a Princeton in Asia Fellow. He then extended his fellowship for an additional year, working on policy advocacy at the International Water Management Institute in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Immediately after earning his JD from Yale Law School and his Masters of Environmental Management from Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, he spent time in Australia working as a forest restoration consultant for Conservation International. Following this consultancy position, Professor Rink researched the impact of business interests on international environmental law as a Fox Fellow in Mexico City before relocating to Portland, Oregon for his position as a Global Staff Attorney at Our Children’s Trust. While at Our Children’s Trust, he co-implemented a successful campaign to enshrine 100% renewable energy targets in Florida law; drafted comments responding to the Office of Management and Budget’s draft Technical Support Document on the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases; and co-developed third-party intervention filings before multiple judicial bodies, including the Mexican Collegiate Court in Administrative Matters of the First Circuit, the European Court of Human Rights, and the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea.

Professor Rink’s research interests include climate and energy law, human rights and climate change, sustainable investment and net zero policy, and administrative cost-benefit analysis in the context of the climate crisis. At Haub Law, Professor Rink will teach several courses, including Torts this coming semester. “Professor Rink brings a unique perspective to our Haub Law community,” said Elisabeth Haub School of Law at �̾�����Ƶ Dean Horace E. Anderson Jr. “He has spent time around the globe advocating for the environment and enacting positive change. The Haub Law community will benefit greatly from his unique background and learning more about his targeted research interests.”

Professor Rink has written academic articles ranging from the household economic benefits of rainwater harvesting systems to a comparative analysis of the forestry policies in Indonesia and Brazil. He has also contributed chapters to the Oxford Handbook on International Environmental Law (2021) and the 2019 Yale University Press publication, A Better Planet: 40 Big Ideas for a Sustainable Future.­ Professor Rink is originally from Gaylord, MI.