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CSDLP Team

Director

Co-Directors

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.

 

 

Co-Directors

Dr Jia Wang

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Dr Jia Wang is a Co-Director of CSDLP. She is an Associate Professor of Intellectual Property Law whose research focuses on the protection of intangible cultural heritage and Indigenous communications within the framework of Just Transition. Wang's work critically examines how IP law can support the safeguarding of traditional knowledge and cultural expressions, with a particular emphasis on the roles of young people and women. Their research explores the intersections of intellectual property, climate change, and sustainable development, seeking to ensure that IP systems contribute to equitable, culturally sensitive solutions for marginalised communities in the face of environmental and social transformation.

 

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. 

 

 

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

 

Ghulam Mustafa Kamran

Mustafa has completed his LLB (Hons), and LLM (International Law and Governance and International Environmental Law), and is now a PhD student at Durham Law School. As a Research Associate at CSDLP, he is working on several ongoing projects and gathers reports. Mustafa was one of the delegates who attended COP28 under the University's Observer NGO status. His research is focused on recognising, understanding, and protecting inherent human conscience under the notion of human dignity in International Human Rights Law, and highlighting its significance for the achievement of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. During his legal studies at Durham, he has developed a keen interest in studying the normative forces of international law that develop state obligations and is inspired by CSDLP’s mission of intergenerational preparedness and is passionate about the Centre's objectives of advancing the UN SDGs for safer and fairer future. Mustafa is also closely working with the JusTN0W Team. As a non-conventional student, and having work experience with different businesses internationally, Mustafa brings a variety of skills to the team.

 

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