Dr Mitchell Lennan

Biography

Mitchell is a Lecturer in Environmental Law and joined the Law School in December 2022.

His research interests revolve around the ocean, where he explores the intersections of International Law of the Sea, Climate, Biodiversity, Human Rights, and Trade Law. He is specifically interested in the international regulation of fisheries and other marine resources in the face of climate change. He is also interested in the World Trade Organization's recently adopted Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies.

As a UKRI GCRF One Ocean Hub member, Mitchell undertakes collaborative inter- and transdisciplinary research on various ocean law and governance issues. He has contributed to several consultancies for the United Nations Environment Programme, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the Secretariat for the Convention on Biological Diversity, national governments, and non-governmental organisations.

Mitchell holds a BSc (Hons) in Marine & Freshwater Biology from the University of Glasgow, an MSc in Marine Science, Policy & Law from the University of Southampton, an LLM in Global Environment & Climate Change Law from the University of Edinburgh. His PhD focused on the international legal issues arising from fish stocks shifting location due to climate change and States' obligations to adapt their fisheries conservation and management practices to a changing climate. He is working on publishing his thesis into a book. 

He has been involved in international dispute settlement as an assistant to Counsel for Republic of Maldives in Dispute concerning delimitation of the maritime boundary between Mauritius and Maldives in the Indian Ocean (Mauritius/Maldives) at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in 2020. He interned in the ITLOS Legal Office in 2018.

Mitchell is happy to discuss potential PhD projects in International Law of the Sea and International Environmental Law.

Prizes and Awards

Winner, Aldo Leucci and Ortensio Degli Atti Award (2^nd edition) for the article ‘Leveraging International Fisheries Law for Maritime Security in the Anthropocene: Addressing Conflicts in Fisheries' together with Julia Nakamura and Kyle Fawkes in ACSOMARE Yearbook on the Law of the Sea (2023).