Zealous Advocacy For Biodiversity

On our final day, the highlight was meeting with local attorney, Jeff Weiss, who opened the class' eyes to the challenges, complications, and successes of litigating on behalf of biodiversity. My class describes our discussion with Jeff as well as the rest of their last day in paradise:

After lecture this morning, we went to Estate Nazareth to speak with Jeff Weiss, a well-respected attorney popularly known as a “bulldog” for his tenacity. We learned about his efforts to protect the Virgin Islands Tree Boa as well as his part in the Trust for Public Lands’ acquisition of 400+ acres of rainforest near Maho Bay, St. John. Jeff was kind enough to host us at his beautiful home and offered insights into the difficulties, frustrations, and joys that come with biodiversity litigation. Since class lectures were over, we had some free time so we chose to spend it at Magen’s Bay, enjoying the clear green water, the talcum-soft white sand, and beautiful coastal vegetation and tropical fish. We capped off our trip with an excellent dinner, during which we revisited what we had learned about biodiversity science, policy, and law, not to mention how much we hope the law can successfully preserve biodiversity into the future.

A “Little Ditty” authored by Kasey Barton
We will miss our Virgin Islands trip,
Especially Jeff B. James with his witty quip,
And heading out on capt’n Ron’s boat,
Snorkeling with the fish, all afloat.
Learning creative ways to preserve biodiversity made it’s mark,
Thank goodness no one got eaten by a shark!
Widening our short strides to keep up with Torrance,
Here we come, back to good ole Lawrence!

Tomorrow, the class will head back to Lawrence to begin working on their Biodiversity Law papers. Thanks to all of the wonderful local Virgin Islanders (people and creatures alike) who made the fieldtrip such a wonderful experience.

Humpback Whalesongs

Steve Prosterman, who runs the diving program at the University of the Virgin Islands, escorted us out into the wide Caribbean Sea, where he showed us fabulous endangered Elkhorn and Staghorn Coral, and introduced us to the haunting calls of the Humpback Whale. Here's their description:

One of the highlights of the trip occurred today during our third snorkeling trip with Steve Prosterman from the University of the Virgin Islands. We anchored at a reef-friendly buoy, which is part of the buoy system started by Steve in an effort to preserve the remaining coral in the Virgin Islands from needless damage from boat anchors. The law of the Virgin Islands has since been altered to encourage a buoy system. The buoy system helps to preserve biodiversity because the buoys are permanently fixed to the ocean bottom, whereas boat anchors often drag across coral reefs, ripping up the coral as it they do. Steve showed us endangered Elkhorn and Staghorn Coral. We also had the opportunity to dive down about 3-4 meters, and then hear the beautiful songs and calls of wintering Humpback Whales. It was interesting to see the differences in biodiversity between this sight and the previous sights we had snorkeled, which were shallower, warmer, and didn’t have as many different types of fish, coral, crustaceans, molluscs, and other creatures. We topped the night off with a delicious homemade dinner of Falafel, Hummus and Pitas!

Tomorrow - our last day of Biodiversity Law class - we will meet with Jeff Weiss, one the Virgin Islands' best litigators, and a champion of endangered species.

Donkeys, Mongeese, And Rats, Oh My!

The class woke up early this morning, jumped in the Deep Thinker (a fast catamaran), and headed across the Virgin Islands Channel to the British Virgin Islands. As the students explain,

We started the day with a trip to the British Virgin Islands ("BVI") to meet up with Susan Zaluski, who directs the recently-founded Jost Van Dyke Preservation Society. We were struck by how different Jost Van Dyke, one of the smaller, Western BVI, was from St. Thomas. It was much less densly inhabited, with very little noise, traffic, or pollution. Susan talked to us about the Preservation Society’s conservation goals, including controlling the mongoose, donkey, and goat populations, and educating the public about biodiversity and its preservation. We took a boat from Jost Van Dyke to Sandy Cay, a brand-new national park of the BVI, where we took a beautiful hike around this tiny tropical island, and learned about the Preservation Society’s efforts to balance the eccentric horticultural provisions of Laurance Rockefeller's will (for example, the invasive coconut palms must be fertilized once a year, and native termites must be exterminated with pesticide) and the mission of a National Park to preserve biodiversity and the natural beauty of the Cay. We also observed how the eradication of invasive, non-native, rats have allowed the native population of ground skinks to repopulate the Cay. After snorkeling around Sandy Cay, we took the Deep Thinker over to a nearby mangrove-aproned shoreline, where we were able to see starfish, sea urchins, the largest one cell organism, the Pearl of the Sea, octopi, and juvenile coral reef fish (who hide from larger predatory fish amongst the mangrove roots) up close. We were very fortunate to also observe a few Hawksbill or Green Sea Turtles (we're not sure which), who feed on the Turtle Grass found in the bay. We finished up the night with a delicious homemade dinner of Tacos!

Tomorrow we visit the Maclean Marine Laboratory, and then head offshore to a couple of small cays (islands) with thriving endangered Elkhorn and Staghorn coral. Watch for the class' report.

Saving Rainforest On Saint John

Day three of Biodiversity Law began early, checking a live-trapline for Cuban Tree Frogs. Then, we popped over to the island of Saint John to see a huge newly-preserved swatch of rainforest near Maho Bay. The students explain:

We woke up extra early today to meet Renata Platenberg at the top of the trailhead at Magen's Bay to hike down to Magen's Bay Beach. The watershed above Magen's Bay Beach is owned by the Nature Conservancy, which also maintains a trail through the rainforest in that area. We went to observe Renata collecting data on invasive Cuban tree frogs that threaten the native frogs on the island. We found a lot of Cuban tree frogs in the artificial habitats as we descended through different types of rainforest and mangroves down to the beach. We were lucky enough to enjoy a short swim in the clear, clear blue waters before we hopped the ferry to St. John to visit with John Garrison of the Trust for Public Land. John described the recent acquisition of a 420-acre parcel of the island for conservation purposes. The Trust for Public Land used rules of property law cleverly to secure the entire parcel despite the parcel being an undivided interest. The land will ultimately be conveyed
to the National Park Service so that it can become part of the Virgin Islands National Park, which covers over half of St. John. This trip showed us another way of using the law to preserve biodiversity.

Tomorrow we head across The Channel to Britain - The British Virgin Island of Jost Van Dyke - to visit the Jost Van Dyke Preservation Society.

Coral Reef Law 101

The second day of Biodiversity Law centered on a day-long visit to Botany Bay, one of the last large tracts of (mostly) undeveloped land on Saint Thomas. The students report:

First we went to the Botany Bay Estates, a large parcel of privately-owned land closed to the public. We walked around Little St. Thomas, a nature preserve, where we saw a variety of wildlife such as soldier crabs, pelicans, and corals. At Mermaid's Chair we snorkeled(many of us for the first time) and saw numerous species of fish and corals. Particularly exciting was a school of juvenile yellow jacks, which covered the bay floor beneath us and provided plenty of hunting opportunities for the pelicans above. We also found it interesting to see how different types of coral grew on other types, which showed how many species depend on each other. While there we met with Linda Keen, who gave us an idea of the difficulties of managing the proper balance between development and biodiversity conservation. Later in the day we collected samples of leaves from three different locations in order to look at biodiversity at different elevations on the island. We sorted the leaves, then compared and contrasted the species richness, evenness, and diversity at each elevation.

Tomorrow we will do a Cuban Tree Frog census and meet with the Trust for Public Lands on Saint John.

First Day In Paradise

KU Law School's Biodiversity Law class arrived in the Virgin Islands late last night. The first day of the fieldtrip was a revelation to the students. Here is their first nightly eyewitness report:

We awoke to a breathtaking view of Saint Thomas and the Caribbean Sea, probably one of the most spectacular views in the Virgin Islands. We were privileged to attend the inauguration and swearing-in ceremony of the 28th Legislature of the United States Virgin Islands ("USVI") as the invited guests of Senate President, Senator Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg. It was interesting to see the Islanders' pride in their government and their culture. It was also fascinating to see Senator Donastorg, a politician who has championed many biodiversity (and other environmental) issues in the islands.

During the afternoon we visited Dr. Renata Platenberg, a biologist at the USVI Fish and Wildlife Service ("FWS"). She told us about some of the problems the FWS has enforcing biodiversity laws, and showed us a Virgin Islands Tree Boa, a snake whose plight is especially interesting and important to the Virgin Islands. We also learned about Magen's Bay, a gorgeous bay, beach, and watershed that is well managed by a publicly-owned authority, though operated independently from the USVI government. In addition to housing rare mangrove flats and lowland wetlands, Magen's Bay possesses a gorgeous, white sandy beach that is consistently ranked as one of the ten most beautiful in the world.

Adjoining Magen's Bay is a large section of land containing a large diversity of tropical forest trees, other plants, animals, and other organisms. The habitat ranges from mature, native seasonal rainforest species to invasive Royal Palms (originally planted to be part of a botanical garden featuring trees from around the world). This land is protected by a conservation easement held by the Nature Conservancy. Later this week we will have an opportunity to hike through this uniquely diverse, and fortunately protected, habitat.

Tomorrow is our first marine biodiversity survey. Snorkling - WOOO!

Stay tuned for another report tomorrow evening.

A Definition Of Biolaw

In an attempt to have "Biolaw" officially recognized as a "Section" by the American Association of Law Schools ("AALS"), June Carbone, Chris Holman, and I circulated a petition yesterday at the AALS Annual Meetings, in San Diego, to collect signatures in support of a Biolaw Section. AALS rules for Section-creation require a definition of the Section. Here is what we proposed:

Biolaw encompasses both the law of biology and the biology of law. Advances in the biological sciences, such as genetics, biochemistry, cell biology, reproductive biology, evolutionary biology, ecology, neuroscience, and the behavioral sciences, continually challenge both society and the laws that attempt to order, regulate, and protect it. Biolaw combines the use of biological science to describe, analyze, and improve the law with legal analysis of biological science, its institutions, and its implications. Biolaw integrates insights from such biologically-informed research areas as law and genetics, law and neuroscience, reproductive law, behavioral economics, cognitive psychology, law and biotechnology, biotechnology patent law, bioethics, neuroethics, food and drug law, and biodiversity law.

We hope to submit our petition to AALS tomorrow for their decision.

Outrageous advice for female lawyers

I posted earlier about this on Intlawgrrls, but am so offended that I felt the need to repost here. I am amazed that this story has gotten so little coverage. where is the outrage?

According to the Daily Mail, and Marie Claire, the law firm of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has been advising its female associates to "embrace their femininity" by wearing stilettos and skirts to work. This advice is apparently part of its efforts to help its staff "project a professional image in the workplace."

PriceWaterhouse anyone?

Twenty years after the United States found that this kind of gender stereotyping amounted to workplace discrimination, things clearly haven't changed very much. In Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins, United States Supreme Court found that the advice given the Anne Hopkins for how she might make partner, suggesting that she "walk more femininely, talk more femininely, dress more femininely, wear make-up, have her hair styled, and wear jewelry" amounted to unlawful discrimination on the basis of her gender.

Do you think that Freshfields will add this bit of sage fashion advice to the part of its website in which it touts the firm's committment to promoting equality and diversity.

Besides, why limit the advice only to the female associates? Surely male associates will also benefit from the aura of professionalism apparently created through judicious use of stilettos?

AALS Biolaw Section

I thought I would share with the wider Biolaw community an initiative that several of us are taking at the American Association of Law Schools ("AALS"): to have "Biolaw" officially recognized as a "Section", like Intellectual Property and Cyberlaw. Here is the e-mail invitation we sent law professors attending the annual AALS meetings in San Diego:

Biolaw Folks,

June Carbone, Chris Holman, and I have organized a "Biolaw" panel at this year's annual AALS meetings that we hope you will all attend. It will take place on Wednesday, January 7th, from 3:20-4:20 in Laguna, South Tower/Level 1, San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina.. The panel is entitled The Two Halves of Biolaw (Behavioral Biology and the Law of Biological Innovation), and will feature Dan Burk, Oliver Goodenough, Mark Janis, and Mark Lemley. In addition to our distinguished panel, we will be soliciting signatures from attendees to form an official "Biolaw" section at AALS. The panel is taking place as part of the Socioeconomics program, and June, Chris, and I would like to thank Socioeconomics' support in helping our fledgling attempt to gain AALS section status for Biolaw.

We have also organized an open program on Biolaw that will take place on Friday, January 9th, from 1:30-3:15 in Del Mar, South Tower/Level 3, San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina. During the open program, we will discuss the creation and organization of the "Biolaw" section.

We believe that biolaw's rapid growth as a field warrants AALS sectionhood. June, Hank Greely, Mark Lemley, Dan Burk, Oliver Goodenough, Mark Janis, and many more of you have long cultivated biolaw as a field, and these efforts have led to much recent activity. For three years now Jim Chen and I have been running the Biolaw: Law and the Life Sciences blog (www.biolaw.blogspot.com) and I've been running the Biolaw listserv (please let me know if you'd like to join). Last year the University of Louisville School of Law held its first biolaw conference, Law and the Life Sciences, and the University of Kansas School of Law just held its second annual Biolaw Conference, Biolaw: Law at the Frontiers of Biology (taped for broadcast on NPR), several weeks ago. In addition, Chris cofounded the IPBiotech listserv, and then founded Holman's Biotech IP Blog (http://holmansbiotechipblog.blogspot.com/). Along with the many contributions you have already made to biolaw, we hope you will support our AALS sectionhood petition.

We hope you are able to attend one or both of these Biolaw events. Thanks for your help moving biolaw forward.

Thank you very much,
June, Chris, and Andrew

Dr. Andrew W. Torrance
Associate Professor of Law
Research Associate, Biodiversity Institute
University of Kansas
torrance@ku.edu
http://www.law.ku.edu/faculty/faculty/torrance.shtml

Wish us luck!