The Global Environmental Democracy Project prepares students to be advocates for global change by exploring the principles of public participation, freedom of information, and access to the judicial system and how those principles play out when confronting international environmental problems.
Select Presentations
- Mary Wood, Danny Billick (ENR Conservation Trust Project Fellow), and Corinne Gibson (ENR Global Environmental Democracy Project Fellow), "Atmospheric NRD Litigation," Energy and Environmental Law Society Virtual Speaker Event, Vanderbilt Law School, via Zoom (April 8, 2025)
- Mary Wood, "Using Nature-Based Solutions for Sky Cleanup," Vermont Journal of Environmental Law 25th Annual Symposium, Vermont Law and Graduate School (November 18, 2024)
- Mary Wood, "Confronting the Other Climate Imperative: An Approach to Sky Cleanup Using Natural Climate Solutions," Marie Sklodowska-Curie Energy Transition Governance and Law Webinar, University of Houston Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources Center (February 21, 2023)
- Mary Wood, "The Heat is On: Stepping It Up on Climate, Avoiding Congressional Gridlock, and Getting it Done Without Delay," Road to the White House No-Excuses Tour, University of Oregon Environmental and Natural Resources Law Center (October 6, 2021)
- Mary Wood, "Atmospheric Recovery Litigation: Making the Fossil Fuel Companies Pay for Cleaning up the Atmosphere," Bedrock Lecture Series, Spring Creek Project (May 23, 2018)
Recent Publications
- Corinne Gibson, Global Environmental Democracy Project Fellow, NCS Action Plan — Climate Superfund Bills: Funding Sky Cleanup, Environmental and Natural Resources Law Center (2025).
- Mary Wood, Sky Carbon Cleanup and Biodiversity Restoration: Devising Regional Frameworks, 25 Vermont Journal of Environmental Law 209 (Spring 2024).
- Mary Wood, Lucas Silva, et. al., A Generalizable Framework for Natural Climate Solutions, Plant and Soil: An International Journal on Plant-Soil Relationships, Springer Nature (2022).
- Mary Wood, Atmospheric Recovery Litigation: Making the Fossil Fuel Companies Pay for Cleaning Up the Atmosphere, chapter in Bearing Witness: The Human Rights Case Against Fracking and Climate Change (Kathleen Dean Moore, Tom Kern, eds.), Oregon State University Press (2021).
- Mary Wood, Atmospheric Recovery Litigation Around the World: Gaining Natural Resource Damage Awards Against Carbon Majors to Fund a Sky Cleanup for Climate Restoration, chapter in Handbook on Loss and Damage, Edward Elgar (2020)
- Mary Wood, Lucas Silva, et. al., Landscape Carbon Sequestration for Atmospheric Recovery: A Perspective on Convergence to Accelerate Carbon Sequestration, National Science Foundation (2019).
- Mary Wood and Global Environmental Democracy Project Fellows, Atmospheric Recovery and Implementation Plan Funded by Natural Resource Damage Actions Against Fossil Fuel Corporations, Environmental and Natural Resources Law Center (2018).
- Mary Wood and Global Environmental Democracy Project Fellows, Atmospheric Energy Imbalance: Threats to Oregon from Planetary Heating, Environmental and Natural Resources Law Center (2018).
- Mary Wood, Conservation Trust Project Fellows, and Global Environmental Democracy Project Fellows, A Meta-Strategy for Atmospheric Recovery: Filing Suit Against the Carbon Majors, Forcing the Managed Decline of Fossil Fuels, and Funding Climate Restoration Through Soil-Based Carbon Sequestration, Environmental and Natural Resources Law Center (2017)
Faculty
GEDP Fellows 2025-2026
Mara Abernethy, 2L
Growing up hiking in the foothills of the Colorado Rockies, Mara fell in love with the natural world. After experiencing natural disaster, she was called to critically examine the interactions of humans and the environment. As an undergraduate student, she played NCAA sports and worked at her school's Economic Policy Institute, assisting professionals developing economic strategies for Arizona governmental organizations. After college, she interned at the Colorado Attorney General's Office, spent two years managing a courtroom in Denver, and volunteered often at Denver Food Rescue, a health equity project supporting Denver communities in their efforts to alleviate food insecurity. Mara spends her free time hiking and camping across the Pacific Northwest and reading.
Liam Holt, 3L
Liam was born in Frankfurt, Germany, and has lived in Colorado, California, New York, and Spain. While in his undergraduate program at the University of Colorado, Boulder, in the mountains, Liam developed a deeper appreciation for the beauty of nature and wildlife and the need for environmental preservation. During his second year at Oregon Law, Liam was a research assistant for Professor Mary Wood and worked on a number of projects. This year, he is looking forward to continuing this work as an ENR Fellow and contributing to the environmental law community at Oregon Law.