Annecoos Wiersema
Associate Dean of Graduate & International Legal Programs
Catherine Boggs Endowed Faculty Research Scholar; Professor of Law
303-871-6525 (Office)
Office 390L, Frank H. Ricketson Law Bldg., 2255 E. Evans Ave. Denver, CO 80208
Specialization(s)
Environmental and Natural Resources Law, International Environmental Law, International Law, Environmental Law
Professional Biography
Prof. Wiersema is currently serving as Associate Dean of Graduate and International Legal Programs at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, where she is the Catherine Boggs Endowed Faculty Research Scholar and a Professor of Law. She holds an SJD from Harvard Law School and an LL.B. from The London School of Economics and Political Science. Her research focuses on international environmental law, with particular emphasis on international wildlife law, species and biodiversity conservation, and natural resources. In addition, she writes about the structure of the international environmental legal system, having addressed the role of conferences of the parties in international law-making. Prof. Wiersema was a Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard Law School in 2024 and 2025, where she taught International Environmental Law. Prof. Wiersema is Faculty Advisor to the Denver Journal of International Law and Policy, and a member of the Accountability Panel for the Wildlife Justice Commission.
Prof. Wiersema teaches International Environmental Law; Property Law; International Law; and additional courses related to international law, natural resources law, and environmental law.
Prof. Wiersema received the Robert B. Yegge Excellence in Teaching Award (Law Stars) in 2022 and was voted Most Outstanding Faculty Member by students in 2015. At the Sturm College of Law, she served as Executive Associate Dean of Academic Affairs from 2022 to 2024 and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs from 2019 to 2022. She has also served as Director and Ved P. Nanda Chair for the International Legal Studies Program (2013-2015) and as Co-Director of the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Program (2017-2021). Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, Prof. Wiersema was an Assistant Professor at The Ohio State University Michael E. Moritz College of Law and worked in the Denver office of Arnold and Porter LLP as a litigation associate. She was the George W. Foley, Jr. Fellow in Environmental Law at Harvard Law School from 1999-2000 and spent time as a Visiting Scholar at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2001.
Degree(s)
- SJD, International and Environmental Law, Harvard Law School, 2004
- LLB (Hons), Law, The London School of Economics, 1998
- BA (Hons), English, University of Southampton, 1992
Featured Publications
- Incomplete Bans and Uncertain Markets in Wildlife Trade, 12 U. PA. ASIAN L. REV. 65 (2016).
- Wildlife Law: Cases and Materials, co-authored with Dale Goble, Eric Biber, and Federico Cheever (3d ed., 2016).
- The Precautionary Principle in Environmental Governance, in Research Handbook on Fundamental Principles in Environmental Law 449 (Douglas Fisher ed., Edward Elgar Publishing, 2016). in Research Handbook on Fundamental Principles in Environmental Law 449 (Douglas Fisher ed., Edward Elgar Publishing, 2016).
- Uncertainty, Precaution, and Adaptive Management in Wildlife Trade, 36 MICH. J. INT’L L. 375 (2015).
- Climate Change, Forests, and International Law: REDD’s Descent into Irrelevance, 47 Vanderbilt Journal of Transactional Law 1 (2014) (selected for re-publication in Environmental Law and Climate Change (Jonathan Verschuuren ed., 2015).
Additional Publications
- Uncertainty and Markets for Endangered Species under CITES, 23(3) Review of European, Comparative & International Environmental Law 239 (2013).
- What Can the WTO Learn from International Environmental Law?, Panel: Risk, Science and Law in the WTO, 104 AM. SOC’Y INT’L L. PROC. 23 (2010).
- The Scope of the Secretariat’s Powers Regarding the Submissions Procedure of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation under General Principles of International Law, co-authored with Anne-Marie Slaughter, 27 NORTH AMERICAN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW AND POLICY SERIES 1 (2010).
- The New International Law-Makers? Conferences of the Parties to Multilateral Environmental Agreements, 31 MICH. J. INT’L L. 231 (2009).
- Conferences of the Parties to Multilateral Environmental Treaties: The New International Law-Makers?, Panel: New Voices: Re-Thinking the Sources of International Law, 103 AM. SOC’Y INT’L L. PROC. 74 (2009).
- Adversaries or Partners? Science and the Precautionary Principle in International Wildlife Treaty Regimes, 11(4) J. INT’L WILDLIFE L. & POL’Y 211 (2008).
- A Train without Tracks: Re-Thinking the Place of Law and Goals in Environmental and Natural Resources Law, 38 ENVTL. L. 1239 (2008).
- Sharing Common Ground: A Cautionary Tale on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Protection of Biological Diversity, in LINKING HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE ENVIRONMENT 162 (R. Picolloti & J.D. Taillant eds. 2003).
- Book Note, 23 HARV. ENVTL. L. REV. 571 (1999) (reviewing MOSTAFA K. TOLBA, GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL DIPLOMACY: NEGOTIATING ENVIRONMENTAL AGREEMENTS FOR THE WORLD, 1973-1992 (1998)).
