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PIA M. KOHLER

I am an interdisciplinary social scientist; I conduct research on global environmental politics, chemicals governance, plastics, and science-policy interfaces. I have extensive experience teaching in international relations, environmental sciences/studies and public health. I enjoy working with other academics as a coach and editor, helping them successfully, and healthfully, navigate academia's challenges. 
Originally from just outside Geneva, Switzerland, I have experience with Canadian and US university systems and am bilingual in French and English.  

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TRAINING

  • Ph.D. International Environmental Policy 
    Department of Urban Studies and Planning 
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology 
    Cambridge, MA, USA 

  • Master in Environmental Sciences 
    Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies 
    New Haven, CT, USA 

  • B.Sc. Environmental Science and
    Physical Geography 

    McGill University
    Montreal, Quebec, Canada 

  • Member of the Editorial Freelancers Association
    Member, Governance Taskforce  

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EXPERIENCE

  • Consultant: Senior Chemicals Specialist (2022-present)
    UN Environment Programme 
    Secretariat to the ad hoc open-ended working group on a
    science-policy panel to contribute further to the sound management of chemicals and waste and to prevent pollution

  • Freelance Coaching and Editing (2020-present) 

  • Senior Research Fellow (2019-2023)
    Center for Governance and Sustainability 

    UMass Boston
    Boston, MA, USA 

  • Writer and Editor (2002-2023; on leave of absence)
    Earth Negotiations Bulletin 
    International Institute for Sustainable Development 
    Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada 

  • Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies (2011-2020)
    Environmental Studies Program and Public Health ProgramWilliams College
    Williamstown, MA, USA 

  • Assistant Professor of International Relations (2006-2011)
    Political Science Department
    University of Alaska Fairbanks
    Fairbanks, AK, USA  

  • Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science (Spring 2006) 
    Political Science Department 
    Wellesley College 
    Wellesley, MA, USA 

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Expert Institutions and the Implementation of International Environmental Treaties

This book (published in November 2019, available in softcover as of March 2021) examines expert committees established to provide advice on science to multilateral environmental agreements. By focusing on how these institutions are sites of coproduction of knowledge and policy, this work brings to light the politics of science advice and details how these committees are contributing to an emerging global environmental constitutionalism. Grounded in participant observation, elite interviews and document analysis, this book uses the lenses of the body of experts, body of knowledge and institutional body to focus on three treaties: the Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer, the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification.

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