Hi and a warm welcome to my personal website.
I am a doctoral student at the University of Geneva (with the Department of Public International Law and International Organization), where I am currently writing my doctoral thesis in international environmental law under the supervision of Prof. Makane Moïse Mbengue.
I discovered my passion for international environmental law in my master’s studies at the University of Lucerne, where I took my first course on this subject with Prof. Thilo Marauhn. He was also the supervisor of my master thesis “The WHO as actor in international environmental law? - An analysis by example of the international waste law”, in which I analysed the interplay between environmental and health aspects in environmental issues such as waste and examined what potential the WHO has as an actor in international environmental law. In October 2021, my first article, which is based on the outcomes of my master thesis, was published in the Review of European, Comparative and International Environmental Law (RECIEL). It advocates an advancement of the “One Health” approach.
My current research draws on the Interactional Theory of International Law as well as insights from the Earth System Science, Earth System Governance, and Earth System Law literature to undertake an in-depth diagnosis of international environmental law’s deficiencies. Based on this, my doctoral thesis identifies five key areas for making international environmental law better fit for purpose in the Anthropocene: the establishment of an additional regulatory Earth system layer; the articulation of powerful values and visions capable of counterbalancing the environmentally harmful objectives and rationalities of non-environmental regulatory regimes; the introduction of more frequent and inclusive interactional fora; the streamlining of governance structures as well as making them more ecological reflexive and just; and lastly a strengthened implementation through (amongst others) a centralized monitoring and reporting system. The thesis culminates in a proposal for a new interactional governance framework between hard and soft law, designed to operationalize these adjustments and to enable international environmental law to better secure the habitability of the Earth system for all human and non-human beings.
Alongside my doctorate, I work as an environmental lawyer in an environmental management consultancy in Zurich and advise clients on diverse matters of environmental law such as contaminated site and waste law, water protection law, and climate law. I am also an active member of the IUCN WCEL Soil and Sustainable Agriculture Law Specialist Group which is currently working on a new Global Legal Instrument on Soil Security. Dance, music and being outside in nature give me balance in life.