Dr Mitchell Lennan

Biography

Dr Mitchell Lennan joined the Law School as a Lecturer in December 2022.

He teaches and researches Public International Law, focusing on Law of the Sea and Environmental Law. He is interested in the international regulation of fisheries and marine biodiversity in the context of global environmental change. He has also contributed to several consultancies in International Environmental Law for the United Nations Environment Programme, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the World Trade Organization, 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, and an LLM in Global Environment & Climate Change Law from the University of Edinburgh. His PhD at the University of Strathclyde focused on the international legal obligations to adapt fisheries conservation and management measures to the effects of climate change.

He has participated in international dispute settlement, serving as Assistant to Counsel for the Republic of Maldives in the Dispute concerning delimitation of the maritime boundary between Mauritius and Maldives in the Indian Ocean (Mauritius/Maldives) before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in 2020. He also interned in the ITLOS Legal Office in 2018.

Dr Lennan was previously a Researcher with the UKRI GCRF One Ocean Hub, where he worked on a range of inter- and transdisciplinary projects on inclusive ocean governance. He has held positions at the University of Strathclyde and City St George's, University of London. He is Assistant Editor of the International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law and regularly represents the University at United Nations climate meetings.

Mitchell welcomes enquiries regarding potential PhD projects related to his areas of research.

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).