Student Status
PhD Candidate
Email/Phone
meghanlrobinson@gmail.com
778 988 9790
Cohort
2020
B.A. (Hons.) in Theatre & Global Development Studies, Queen’s University, 2014
M.Sc. in Outdoor Education, University of Edinburgh, 2016
My name is Meghan Robinson and I grew up on the unceded and ancestral territory of the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ and. Sḵwx̱wú7mesh speaking peoples, the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. My ancestry takes me back to County Mayo, on the coast of Ireland. I have a 9 month old daughter, Aoife, who is dutifully protected by our dog Marshall (not so much by our two cats, however). I try and spend as much time outside in the woods or in the ocean with my little one as I possibly can, so that she may one day become a strong, fearless guardian and steward of our natural world.
My PhD focuses on the relationship between law, lore and the environment. I am working with the Maori in Aotearoa to answer whether extending legal personhood to atua (Maori environmental deities) could enhance healthy relationships between humans and the more than human world. I am studying the interactions between state law and Indigenous legal orders to determine how divergent legal orders might work together more respectfully in regards to environmental protection/legislation.
Awards
Four Year Fellowship (4YF) Award, University of British Columbia
President’s Academic Excellence Initiative PhD Award, University of British Columbia
Indigenous legal orders, state law, cosmology, environmental ethic, rights of nature.