Delcianna Winders and Michael Puma Named Haub Visiting Scholars
Pace University’s Elisabeth Haub School of Law (Haub Law) announces the 2018 Haub Visiting Scholars. Delcianna Winders and Michael Puma will join the Law School for the spring 2018 semester.
“Both Ms. Winders and Dr. Puma are leading scholars in their fields,” said Dean David Yassky. “They each bring a depth of experiences and knowledge of the environment, environmental law and policy to their work at the Law School. We are excited that our students will have the opportunity to learn from a noted animal law expert and a civil engineer about the intersection of science, policy and the law.”
“Haub Law is one of the top environmental law programs in the nation,” said Professor Jason Czarnezki, Gilbert and Sarah Kerlin Distinguished Professor of Environmental Law and Associate Dean and Executive Director of Environmental Law Programs. “We are excited to welcome Delcianna Winders and Michael Puma to our program.”
Delcianna J. Winders is currently serving as the Vice President and Deputy General Counsel for the PETA Foundation’s Captive Animal Law Enforcement division. She recently completed an Academic Fellowship at Harvard Law School. Her scholarship focuses on animal law, and specifically, the Animal Welfare Act and the Endangered Species Act. Winders received her B.A. in Legal Studies with highest honors from the University California at Santa Cruz, where she was named a Regents’ Scholar and received the Dean’s Award for outstanding achievement in Social Sciences, and her J.D. from N.Y.U. School of Law, where she was awarded the Vanderbilt Medal for outstanding contributions to the law school, named as a Robert McKay Scholar, and served as the Senior Notes Editor of the NYU Law Review. Following law school, Winders clerked for the Hon. Martha Craig Daughtrey on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and practiced animal law in a variety of settings. Winders, who will teach Animal Law during the spring 2018 semester, has previously taught it at Tulane University School of Law and Loyola University New Orleans College of Law.
"As society evolves beyond viewing animals as mere property, the law is evolving to protect them," says Delcianna Winders. "My animal law course at Haub Law will equip the next generation of lawyers with the knowledge that they need to ensure that animals receive the just treatment that they're entitled to."
Michael Puma is the Director of the Center for Climate Systems Research, part of Columbia University’s Earth Institute and the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies. His research is focused on global food security, specifically exploring how susceptible the global network of food trade is to natural and manmade disturbances.
Dr. Puma’s work on global food security lies at the interface of science, economics, policy and governance. He is currently working on building collaborations with the World Food Program and USAID through a new “Columbia World Project” on climate and food systems.
Dr. Puma received his doctorate in civil and environmental engineering from Princeton University, his Master of International Affairs in Environmental Policy Studies from Columbia University, and his a Bachelor of Science in Civil Environmental Engineering and Water Resources from Columbia University.
“I am truly excited to be a Haub Visiting Scholar at Haub Law this spring,” said Dr. Michael Puma. “It’s a tremendous opportunity to build up cross disciplinary collaboration on environmental challenges. Plus the proximity of Pace and Columbia Universities offers us the chance to establish a special, long-term relationship.”
Haub Law’s Environmental Law Program is internationally recognized and ranked third in the nation by “US News &World Report.” As previously announced, funding for the Visiting Scholars positions was made possible by a gift from the Haub family in recognition of the essential role of environmental science, informatics and other technology and allied fields towards formulating environmental policy and law.
In their roles at Haub Law, Ms. Winders and Mr. Puma will collaborate and work closely with faculty and students, teach or guest lecture classes, and engage in collaborative scholarly work with faculty, staff, and students. Their positions will run through May of 2018.
