Biodiversity Laws, Policies and Science in Europe, the United States and China

Dr. Giovanni Antonelli is currently the Deputy Head of the Legislative Office of the Italian Ministry of culture. Previously he worked as policy officer at the Italian Ministry for Economic Development and a postdoctoral researcher at the European University Institute. His research interests concern administrative law, environmental law, climate change, European law and Institutions.

Professor Qin Tianbao is a Luojia Professor of Law and serves as the Director of the Research Institute of Environmental Law (RIEL), Associate Dean for Research and International Affiliations for the School of Law, Deputy Director of the Research Center of the Supreme Court of China on Environmental-related Cases, Professor of the China Institute of Boundary and Ocean Studies and the European Studies Centre, Wuhan University. He is also Editor-in-Chief of the Chinese Journal of Environmental Law and a Member of the Compliance Committee of the Nagoya Protocol on ABS. Professor Qin is a Legislative Expert for China's Ministry of Environmental Protection, Ministry of Agriculture, and Hubei Provincial Parliament, and headed or participated in the drafting of several major environmental bills. He is an advisor for the Chinese negotiations on biodiversity, ocean and climate change issues; and he was a Legislative Expert for the UNEP's Division of Environmental Law and Conventions, and an Environmental Law Expert for several projects of International Institutions (GEF, UNDP, ADB) in China. He was the Head of the Environmental Rights Department of the Centre of Protection of Rights of Disadvantaged Citizens (CPRDC) which is a prestigious NGO for Human Rights in China.

Professor Maria Vittoria Ferroni is a professor of administrative law and a lawyer. Her research interests include the main area of European administrative law. She is the author of several publications on the main topics of administrativelaw.

Professor Alex Erwin teaches and conducts research in the fields of environmental law and natural resources law. Combining his legal training with his background as a wildlife biologist, his research is situated at the intersection of environmental law, genetics, and conservation. His research to date has focused on three issues: (1) wildlife conservation and management, particularly through the lens of genetics and evolutionary biology; (2) genetic engineering and related biotechnological developments, specifically as they relate to conservation and environmental protection; and, more broadly, (3) the interplay of science, law, and policy.