Teaching

PUBPOL 599B / LAW A525: Water Law & Policy (Autumn Quarter)

This course examines how society allocates and safeguards freshwater resources. It also explores how policy and law address leading water management challenges, including water scarcity, groundwater depletion, and freshwater ecosystem preservation. Topics covered include:

• water rights systems and how they apportion water during scarcity;

• groundwater sustainability and depletion;

• environmental and water quality protections, including the U.S. Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act, and public trust doctrine;

• water markets and private-sector involvement;

• the human right to water;

• Native American water rights;

• barriers to reform (e.g., property rights and constitutional limits against takings);

• water organizations; and

• transboundary water management across state and national borders.

These topics will be examined in the context of climate change and other growing pressures on water resources. While the focus will be on U.S. law and policy, primarily in the western United States, insights will also sometimes be drawn from international experience. The class takes a national perspective on water resource issues but will include several case studies specific to Washington and the Pacific Northwest. Graduate students from any relevant discipline are encouraged to enroll.

PUBPOL 599C / PUBPOL 499E: Natural Resources Policy (Winter Quarter)

This course offers a graduate-level or upper-level undergraduate overview of natural resources policy in the United States. Natural resources policy raises significant societal dilemmas in terms of how to efficiently, equitably, and/or sustainably manage resource use and preservation. In this class, we will survey natural resources policy regimes including fisheries, public lands, freshwater, and energy, with an emphasis on identifying shortcomings of current regimes and how they might be improved. Emphasis will be placed on analyzing and identifying the distinct roles of government agencies, legislative bodies, and judicial courts in shaping natural resources policy and management. Students will also develop basic understandings of the legal regimes and policy instruments applied in different resource policy arenas. The course is intended for students with varying backgrounds, including those in public policy, planning, marine affairs, environmental sciences, resource management, engineering, or related programs. 

PUBPOL 527: Quantitative Analysis I (Winter Quarter)

Two-quarter sequence explores how to formulate research questions, gain experience with conducting research, and learn how to assess which statistical tools or research methods are appropriate to answer different types of policy or management questions. Covers probability, descriptive statistics, hypothesis testing, and confidence intervals.