Professor Rob Fowler

University of South Australia

Rob Fowler is an Adjunct Professor in the Law School at the University of South Australia. He is in his fortieth year of active involvement in the field of environmental law, having commenced his academic career in 1975 at the Law School at the University of Adelaide. Whilst there, he was a co-founder of the Australian Centre for Environmental Law (ACEL), a unique collaboration across three laws schools: Adelaide, Sydney and ANU. He was involved through ACEL in the development of the first coursework Masters in Environmental Law programs in Australia. He also served as Dean of the Law School from 1995-98.

In 2000, he joined the University of South Australia, where he was appointed to a special Chair in International Environmental Law. In the period until 2005, he led an AUSAID-funded training program in environmental law and enforcement for Indonesia which resulted in the training in both Australia and Indonesia of some 1500 Indonesian judges, prosecutors, investigators, academics and NGO representatives. He also developed and delivered a range of professional training courses for the South Australian Environment Protection Authority during this time. From 2005 until 2008, Rob served as a research program leader in CRC CARE - a Cooperative Research Centre based at UniSA dedicated to research on site contamination.

After retiring from his Chair position in 2008, Rob was appointed as an Adjunct Professor in the Law School at UniSA, where he has continued to teach environmental law. He also serves as a member of the Law School’s Advisory Board.

Rob has been a member of the Board of the SA Environment Protection Authority since July 2011. He is also engaged in a voluntary capacity with a number of non-government organizations. From 2008 – 2013, he served as the Chair of the Governing Board of the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law, an international network of some 180 law schools involved in teaching and research in environmental law. Since stepping down as Chair of the Academy, he has continued to serve on its Governing Board as the regional representative for Oceania. He is also a Vice President, Board member and Councillor of the Australian Conservation Foundation and served as President of the Conservation Council of South Australia from 2011-2014. Rob also served from 2001-2009 as Chair of the South Australian Environmental Defender’s Office.

At the end of 2014, Rob assumed a new responsibility as the Convener of the Australian Panel of Experts in Environmental Law (APEEL), a voluntary collaboration of sixteen internationally-recognized environmental law experts that is being supported by the Places You Love Alliance. The purpose of the Panel is to design the framework for the next generation of Federal environmental laws in Australia.

Over his career, Rob has published one book, four edited books, and over 100 journal articles, book chapters, conference papers and consultancy reports. He continues to research and write on various aspects of environmental law and is currently writing a book on Australian Federal Environmental Law. In November 2011, he was recognized by the Law Council of Australia with a special award for his “exceptional contribution to the development of environmental law”.