Beth DeSombre came to Wellesley in 2001 after teaching at Colby College for six years. Her main focus is international environmental politics and law. She also works on international law and international organization. Recent projects have involved the impact of flag-of-convenience shipping, the regulation of international fisheries, and global environmental institutions generally. A new project examines the changing costs of implementing global environmental agreements.
Her first book, Domestic Sources of International Environmental Policy: Industry, Environmentalists, and U.S. Power (MIT Press, 2000) won the 2001 Chadwick F. Alger Prize for the best book published in the area of international organization, and the 2001 Lynton Caldwell Award for the best book published on environmental policy. A second edition of her textbook, The Global Environment and World Politics (Continuum, 2002) was published in early 2007. She is also the author of Flagging Standards: Globalization and Environmental, Safety, and Labor Regulations at Sea (MIT Press, 2006), and Global Environmental Institutions (Routledge, 2006).
At Wellesley she directs the Environmental Studies program, and does her best to make the institution greener. She spends most of her non-academic time playing and listening to folk music.
For more information on her research, see her c.v.
Recent courses include:
ES/POL2-214: Social Causes and Consequences of Environmental Problems
POL2-312: Environmental Policy Seminar
POL3-325: International Environmental Law
ES300: Environmental Decision Making
POL3-221: Introduction to World Politics
POL3-327: International Organization