Pia Kohler, Ph.D.

piamkohler@gmail.com


Assistant Professor

Williams College

Year of PhD: 2006

Country: United States (Massachusetts)

About Me:

Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies at Williams College (Williamstown, USA). I have a PhD in International Environmental Policy (Cambridge, USA), a Masters in Environmental Sciences from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies (New Haven, USA), and a BSc in Geography and Environmental Science from McGill University (Montreal, Canada). My research is concerned with the design of science-policy interfaces, notably subsidiary expert committees providing science advice to multilateral environmental agreements (including under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification). I have also conducted research on governance arrangements for the sound management of chemicals and hazardous wastes, and on global environmental politics and negotiations more broadly. 

Research Interests

Environmental Policy

International Law & Organization

Energy And Climate Policy

Science Policy

Plastic

Environmental Treaties

Chemicals

Uncertainty And Risk

Institutional Design

Regulatory Compliance

Mercury

Ozone Layer

Persistent Organic Pollutants

Publications:

Books Written:

(2020) Science Advice and Global Environmental Governance: Expert Institutions and the Implementation of International Environmental Treaties, Anthem Press

"Science Advice and Global Environmental Governance" examines expert committees established to provide advice on science to multilateral environmental agreements. By focusing on how these institutions are sites of coproduction of knowledge and policy, this work brings to light the politics of science advice and details how these committees are contributing to an emerging global environmental constitutionalism. Grounded in participant observation, elite interviews and document analysis, this book uses the lenses of the body of experts, body of knowledge and institutional body to focus on three treaties: the Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer, the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification.