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Centre for Sustainable Development Law and Policy
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CSDLP Team

Director

Deputy Director

Co-Director

Academic Lead for Communications & Engagement

CSDLP Management Team

Research Assistants

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Director

Professor Petra Minnerop

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Professor Petra Minnerop is a Professor of International Law at Durham Law School. She is the founder and the current Director of the Centre for Sustainable Development Law and Policy. In her administrative role at Durham University, she serves as the Chair of the UN SDG Group of the University, with responsibility for the University's reporting on Sustainability (QS) and the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (THE Impact ranking) in the academic dimension. She is head of the COP Steering Group and leads the University's engagement with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Her research areas are international environmental law and the legal development under the international climate change regime. She also works at the intersection of law and science.

 

 

Deputy Director

Adebola Adeyemi: 

Adebola is the Deputy Director of CSDLP. He is an Assistant Professor at Durham Law School and holds a PhD in Law with a focus on sustainable project finance. His research interest includes sustainable finance, renewable energy, and the role of technology in climate change adaptation strategies.

 

 

 

 

  

Co-Director

Dr John Bothwell

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Dr John Bothwell is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biosciences and a Reader in Bioenergy. Dr Bothwell is one of the Principal Investigators of the JusTN0W initiative and joined the Centre as a co-director in August 2024. He works on seaweed, primarily on their evolution and systematics, but also on their bioenergy potential and their ecological importance along the UK’s coastlines. Dr Bothwell was awarded a DPhil in Biochemistry in 2000. He held postdoctoral research fellowships in Cambridge, Plymouth, and Roscoff between 2000-2007. Dr Bothwell held a Lectureship at Queen’s University Belfast and moved to Durham in 2013. 

 

 

Academic Lead for Communications & Engagement

Dr Chien-Yi Chang

Chien-Yi v2Dr Chien-Yi Chang is an Assistant Professor of Law and an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Durham University, with interdisciplinary expertise at the intersection of law, technology and society. Her research examines the legal, social and technical dimensions of artificial intelligence and biomedical research, combining doctrinal analysis, empirical research and computational methods. She serves as Academic Lead for Communications & Engagement at the Centre for Sustainable Development Law and Policy (CSDLP), supporting the Centre’s research visibility and external engagement, including work linked to JustN0W, Durham University’s strategic interdisciplinary research project on Just Transitions to a Net Zero World.

CSDLP Management Team 

Kate Morris

JusTN0W Senior Business Development Manager

Kate joins from Newcastle University, where she was the Project Manager for the ViTAL Living Lab, a three-year project to support the RAF in its journey to Net Zero 2040. In this role, Kate was responsible for managing stakeholder relationships, securing additional leverage funding, and supporting academics in the delivery of six diverse research experiments spanning engineering and the natural sciences.
As the Senior Business Development Manager for the JusTNOW initiative, Kate will work with the academic team to design and deliver the business development strategy. This will include increasing and diversifying the project’s income streams through bid development and grant capture activities as well regional, national and international stakeholder engagement and partnership development across all sectors. 

Dr Owen Boyle

JusTN0W Project Manager

Dr Owen Boyle joined Durham University in November 2024 as Project Manager on the JusTN0W Project. He has a background in human rights law with a focus on business responsibility for human rights. He has worked in academia, in the private sector and for international organisations such as the United Nations and the Red Cross.

He has significant project management experience and has previously managed large multidisciplinary academic projects funded by the British Academy and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). 

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Research Assistants

Simeng Wang

 

Simeng Wang is currently pursuing her PhD as a full-time student at Durham Law School, with a research focus on the interaction of international investment dispute settlement (ISDS) and energy sustainablity. Prior to embarking on her PhD journey, Simeng obtained her Bachelor's degree in Law from North China Electric Power University and a Master's degree from Australian National University. She commenced her doctoral studies in October 2024, supervised by Dr Can Eken and Dr Smith Azubuike.

 

 

Carmen Tan Yu Hui

 

Carmen Tan Yu Hui is currently in her first year of her Law (LLB) studies and works with the Law School to  decolonise the curriculum. She engages in civil society work with an interest in human rights, disability awareness, and sustainable development, having worked with international bodies such as the European Union. Carmen is excited to further the CSDLP's mission of promoting and advancing the sustainable development goals.

 

 

 

 

Mansi Dwivedi