Global Affiliates

Dr. Renée Martin-Nagle is an Affiliate member of the International Water Law Academy (IWLA) at Wuhan University. She currently also serves as Treasurer of the International Water Resources Association, President and CEO of A Ripple Effect LLC, Special Counsel at Eckert Seamans Cherin& Mellott LLC, Visiting Scholar at the Environmental Law Institute, Trustee and Secretary of the Board of Trustees of Mount Aloysius College, and a Member of the Municipal (water) Authority in Ebensburg PA. She has more than ten years of experience as researcher and practitioner of international water law, with a focus on groundwater.

Dr. Renée Martin-Nagle is a globally recognized groundwater expert with expertise in both national and international environmental law. Her expertise includes not only fresh groundwater, but also unconventional water resources, climate change, oceans and biodiversity. Her skills in communicating complex technical and scientific issues give her the ability to produce integrated, creative yet practical approaches to developing natural resource governance and policy structures.  Reviewers called her 2020 book, Governance of Offshore Freshwater Resources, “ground-breaking”, for being the first to propose a regime for ownership and development of the vast volumes of fresh groundwater sheltered in submerged continental shelves. As founder of the consulting company A Ripple Effect LLC, Dr. Martin-Nagle has provided consulting services, produced research and publications and spoken at international conferences on a variety of environmental, sustainability and freshwater issues.  Her publications include:

• “Offshore freshened groundwater in      continental margins”, 59 Reviews of Geophysics e2020RG000706 (2020)      (co-author; peer-reviewed) https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2020RG000706

• “Freshwater in the seabed: An opportunity      for creative solutions”, Advanced Science News (13 July 2020)  https://www.advancedsciencenews.com/freshwater-in-the-seabed-an-opportunity-for-creative-solutions/

• “Offshore aquifers: Freshwater’s final      frontier”, Groundwater Solutions Initiative for Policy and Practice      (GRIPP) (1 July 2020) https://gripp.iwmi.org/2020/07/01/offshore-aquifers-freshwaters-final-frontier/?subscribe=success#blog_subscription-2

• “Offshore      freshwater aquifers: Toward equitable distribution”, WIREsWater.      e1463, July 2020 (invitation only, peer-reviewed)https://doi.org/10.1002/wat2.1463

• “Unconventional water resources: From the      fringes to the mainstream”.       OOSKAnews (10 June 2020) https://www.ooskanews.com/story/2020/06/unconventional-water-resources-fringes-mainstream_179724

• Unconventional Water Resources (UNWater Analytical Brief,      2020) (contributor) https://www.unwater.org/publications/un-water-analytical-brief-on-unconventional-water-resources/

• The right to water for food and      agriculture      (UN FAO Legislative Study 2020) (co-author)  http://www.fao.org/3/ca8248en/ca8248en.pdf

• Governance of      Offshore Freshwater Resources (Brill 2020) (peer-reviewed) https://brill.com/view/title/56661

• “Into Uncharted Waters: Governance Of      Atmospheric Water”, OOSKAnews (30 November 2019) https://www.ooskanews.com/story/2019/11/ooskanews-voices-uncharted-waters-governance-atmospheric-water_178955

• Transboundary Offshore Aquifers: A Search      for a Governance Regime, 1.2 International Water Law Journal (2016) (peer-reviewed)  https://brill.com/view/title/33744

• Conference Synopsis: Bonn2011      Conference The Water, Energy and Food Security Nexus (2011)  http://www.water-energy-food.org/fileadmin/user_upload/files/documents/bonn2011_nexussynopsis.pdf

•  “Fossil Aquifers: A Common      Heritage of Mankind”, 2 Journal of Energy and Environmental Law 39      (2011)  https://gwujeel.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/2-1-mn.pdf

Bionote

Prior to her scholarly activities, Dr. Martin-Nagle enjoyed a 25-year career as a senior executive, manager and chief legal officer in the aviation manufacturing sector.  She established the first US legal department for Aérospatiale, and was recruited by its affiliate Airbus to establish Airbus’ first legal department in the U.S. She remained at Airbus Americas for more than 20 years, where she inaugurated corporate compliance and environmental functions.

Inspired by the birth of her first grandson to dedicate herself to environmental protection, she earned an LL.M from George Washington University Law School in environmental law, while working full-time at Airbus Americas and chairing the ABA Forum on Air and Space Law. She graduated in 2010 with honors. Her LL.M. thesis on fossil aquifers won the Jamie Grodsky Award for Environmental Law Scholarship.She retired from Airbus in 2011. Her activities in the aviation sector include serving on non-profit boards andspeaking at industry events. She has received merit awards from three women-focused aviation organizations.