Dr Daria Shapovalova

Biography

Daria joined the School of Law in 2017 and is a senior lecturer in energy law. She is the director of the Centre for Energy Law and coordinator of the Just Transitions Lab. Daria's research focuses on the intersection of energy law, climate change, and just transition, particularly in the fossil fuel-dependent regions. Her work examines the legal implications of fossil fuel phase-out, and the role of law in managing sustainable and equitable transitions in communities impacted by energy transition. Daria is a Co-I on a number of interdisciplinary projects including JUST-Systems: Systems Approaches for Accelerating a Just Transition (UKRI, 2025-2030, £5.7 mln); and TRANSECTS: TRANSitions in Energy for Coastal communities over Time and Space (UKRI and DEFRA, 2024-2028, £2.2 mln). She has previously led  funded projects, including  'A Just Transition for Workers and Communities in the North East of Scotland’ (Uplift, 2022-2024, £100,000).

Daria holds an LLB (National Law Academy of Ukraine, 2012) and an LLM in Public International Law (University of Groningen, 2013),  and a PhD in Law (University of Aberdeen, 2017). She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a member of the UK Environmental Law Association, the World Commission of Environmental Law, and the International Law Association. Daria is the Chair of the Scottish Arctic Network (2023-2025) bringing together over 200 Arctic researchers and practitioners. With strong connections to the North East of Scotland, Daria is on the boards of the Ukrainian Hub Aberdeen and the North East Climate Action Network Hub, in addition to her role as the University's representative on Sustainable City and Community Empowerment groups at the Aberdeen City Council.

Prizes and Awards

2024 Principal's Excellence Award Winner - Best Overall Course

Research Overview

Daria's research focuses on the intersection of energy law, climate change, and just transition, particularly in the fossil fuel-dependent regions. Her work examines the legal implications of fossil fuel phase-out, and the role of law in managing sustainable and equitable transitions in communities impacted by energy transition. Daria is a Co-I on a number of interdisciplinary projects including JUST-Systems: Systems Approaches for Accelerating a Just Transition (UKRI, 2025-2030, £5.7 mln); and TRANSECTS: TRANSitions in Energy for Coastal communities over Time and Space (UKRI and DEFRA, 2024-2028, £2.2 mln). She has previously led  funded projects, including  'A Just Transition for Workers and Communities in the North East of Scotland’ (Uplift, 2022-2024, £100,000).

Interdisciplinary and community-facing work is central to Daria's research, as she leads projects funded by the Scottish Government Just Transition Fund and the Just Transition Commission, examining the governance of just transitions in the North East of Scotland and the role of deliberative democracy in community engagement.

Critical approaches to the role of law in facilitating sustainability transformations, stakeholder and community engagement, as well as the use of mixed methods for legal research are at the core of Daria’s work as she is currently preparing a manuscript on fossil fuels phase-out and just transition.

Funding and Grants

Ongoing:

1) Co-I, 'JUST SYSTEMS: Systems Approaches for Accelerating a Just Transition' (2025-2030) UKRI, £5, 705, 834

2) Co-I, 'TRANSECTS: TRANSitions in Energy for Coastal Communities Over Time and Space' (2024-2028) UKRI and DEFRA, £2,259,133

3) Co-I 'Advancing Community Climate Deliberative Participatory Democracy within the North East Scotland/Just Transition Communities Project' (2022-2205) Scottish Government Just Transition Fund, £127, 250 

Completed:

1) Co-I, 'Nuclear Decommissioning and Just Transition in Dounreay' (2024) Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and National Decommissioning Centre, £44, 448

2) PI, 'A Just Transition for Workers and Communities in the North East of Scotland' (2022-2024) Uplift, £100,000

3) Co-I, 'Transitions in an Energy City: The role of Civil Society in Securing a Just Transition in Aberdeen' (2022) Pump Prime, £9,500 

4) PI, ‘Just Energy Transition in Scotland and the Arctic: Managing Environmental and Social Impacts of Low-Carbon Energy Projects’ (2021) Scottish Government Arctic Connections Fund, £7,070 

5) Co-I, '(Un)earthing New Pathways for a Justice Transition: Cultivating Hope and Food on Contested Terrains in Scotland, Amazon, and the Arctic' (2021) SUUI, £13,500 

Non-course Teaching Responsibilities

Daria supervises research students in international, environmental, energy, and climate law.

Currently she supervises PhD students:

Alina Holzhausen, Human Rights-Based Climate Change Litigation (first supervisor)

Liliyana Kalinova, On the Provision of Environmental Law for Mars (second supervisor)