RESEARCH & WRITING
Following undergraduate (B.Sc.) and graduate (M.E.Sc.) training in the environmental sciences, I pursued an interdisciplinary Ph.D. which drew from the disciplines of Global Environmental Politics (and International Relations), Science and Technology Studies, and Negotiations Theory.
My research has generally followed two arcs: one on the governance of hazardous chemicals and wastes, the other on science-policy interfaces especially in global environmental politics. My book (Anthem Press 2020) brings these two research interests together in the case study on the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and its POPs Review Committee. Below you'll find information on a selection of my published work.
More recently, to mark the 50th Anniversary of the 1972 Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment, I have published two short pieces on science-policy interfaces in global environmental governance:
Science for Just Solutions, in Anniversary Issue of Down to Earth, May 16 2022 (PDF available upon request)
Science Policy Interfaces: From Warning to Solutions, January 24, 2022, in IISD's Still Only One Earth: Lessons from 50 years of UN sustainable development policy (edited by Pam Chasek)
Expert Institutions and the Implementation of
International Environmental Treaties.
Pia M. Kohler, Anthem Press 2020
"Science Advice and Global Environmental Governance takes the reader behind the scenes of multilateral environmental agreements on ozone, chemicals and desertification, and into the advisory committees where the actions of experts and scientists help shape treaty implementation. Prof. Kohler draws on two decades of studying these committees to provide a unique and fascinating look at how their actions influence efforts to govern the global environment."
--Noelle Eckley Selin, Associate Professor, Director of the Technology and Policy Program,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
"This book is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand how science advisory committees shape multilateral environmental agreements. The author provides a compelling blend of historical and empirical insights on both global environmental politics and in science-policy interfaces and advances these field in important ways."
--Silke Beck, Deputy Head, Department of Environmental Politics, Leipzig University, Germany