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MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: Gabriela Oanta

Gabriela Oanta is an associate professor of public international law and international relations at the University of A Coruña, School of Law. Since 2008, her research has been focused on international law of the sea, Common Fisheries Policy, international and European marine environment, and business and human rights. She has written six books, several book chapters, and numerous articles on these themes.

Gabriela has a PhD degree in public international law and a LLM degree in European Union studies from the University of A Coruña.

  • What led you to work in human rights and the environment?

Human rights and the environment are two of the central branches of public international law and European Union law. It is impossible to devote oneself to teaching and researching in public international law and European Union law without taking them into account.

  • What have you been working on recently and/or what is your next big project?

In the last months, I edited a book on Law of the Sea and Vulnerable Persons and Groups as Papers of the International Association of the Law of the Sea (Ed. Scientifica, Napoli, 2019; ISBN: 978-88-9391-677-6). I have also coedited (with José Manuel Sobrino Heredia) La construcción jurídica de un espacio marítimo común europeo [translation: The Legal Construction of a Common European Maritime Space] (Bosch Editor, Barcelona, 2020; ISBN: 978-84-121376-4-4).

My next big project is related to the European Union and law of the sea.

  • What are the most compelling challenges in the field of human rights and the environment right now?

In my opinion, the most compelling challenge in Human Rights and the Environment today is their linkage with health. At present, due to the multiple challenges presented by the pandemic COVID-19 virus, I believe that treating animal health and human health in an integrated manner is an intrinsic part of human rights and the environment.

Feature image: Photo by Milos Prelevic on Unsplash

Dina Lupin

By Dina Lupin

Dina Lupin is the Director of the GNHRE and a Lecturer at the School of Law at the University of Southampton in the United Kingdon. Dina is an affiliated researcher in the project “Giving groups a proper say”, supported by the Austrian Science Fund and hosted at the Department of Philosophy at the University of Vienna. Dina‘s current research is on silencing and epistemic injustice in the context of consultation processes with Indigenous peoples and her latest article on this subject can be found here. In 2020, Dina’s book, “Human Dignity and the Adjudication of Environmental Rights” was published with Edward Elgar Press.

Previously Dina worked as a Post-doctoral researcher at the Faculty of Law of the University of Tilburg researching civil society organisations working on sustainable development in Ethiopia. You can read more about the research project here.

Dina was awarded her PhD in 2017 by the Department of Public and International Law at the University of Oslo. Her PhD was on the concept of human dignity in the context of environmental law and governance.

Dina completed her BA and LLB at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, and her Master of Laws, with honours, at the University of Auckland, New Zealand.

Dina previously worked as a Senior Attorney at the Centre for Environmental Rights (cer.org.za) in Cape Town. At the Centre, Dina represented a range of communities and activists in their battles for more transparent, accountable environmental and water management in the mining sector. She worked on the
legal aspects of acid mine drainage, hydraulic fracturing and was
instrumental in the facilitation of a community activist network in the field of mining and environmental justice. Dina also led the Centre’s work on improving transparency in environmental governance. As a result of her work at the Centre, Dina was included in the 2013 list of 200 Young South Africans published by the Mail and Guardian .

Dina has also worked in the Mining and Natural Resources team at Webber Wentzel, a South African law firm.