Joseph A. MacDougald

Professor-in-Residence and Executive Director, Center for Energy and Environmental Law

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Education/Professional Certification

JD, UConn School of Law
BA, Brown University

Expertise

Climate Change and Environmental Law, Renewable Energy Law, Land Use Law

Biography

Joseph A. MacDougald, professor-in-residence, Strasser fellow in environmental law, is the executive director of UConn Law’s Center for Energy & Environmental Law (CEEL), the director of the LLM in Energy & Environmental Law, and the faculty advisor to the Energy & Environmental Law Society.

Professor MacDougald teaches and researches many aspects of environmental and energy law with a primary emphasis on climate change and its interaction with different levels of government. As an Executive Board member and director of applied research at the Connecticut Institute for Resilience and Climate Adaptation, he has helped guide research projects exploring policy responses to sea level rise at a state and municipal level.  He has published works and given presentations on topics ranging from resilience policy and national security, sea level rise, climate change and insurance, the Clean Air Act and automobile emissions, and President Theodore Roosevelt’s environmental legacy.

He teaches courses in climate, constitutional, renewable energy, environmental, and land use law as well as the CEEL field placement clinic. He is also the coach for UConn Law’s National Environmental Moot Court team. Along with the other CEEL faculty, he has helped facilitate numerous conferences on campus on topics ranging from electric vehicles, to fracking, to international climate agreements.

He previously held a lecturer’s appointment to Yale University’s School of Forestry & Environmental Studies.

Professor MacDougald received his BA in mathematics from Brown University, MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business, JD from UConn School of Law, and Masters in Environmental Management from the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies.

Prior to joining the full-time faculty, Professor MacDougald led an international biomaterials company in several senior executive positions. A resident of Madison, Connecticut, Joe spent nearly 20 years in municipal elected and appointed offices, including selectman, chairman of the Board of Finance, and Planning and Zoning Commission chairman.

Professor MacDougald has been active on several charitable and volunteer boards. He currently serves on the boards of the UConn Law School Alumni Association, the Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy, and the Connecticut Fund for the Environment. He is the current president of the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies Alumni Association Board.