Sebastián Rubiano-Galvis (he/him/his)

Sebastián Rubiano-Galvis is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Law, Societies, and Justice at the University of Washington. He is also a faculty affiliate of the Science, Technology, and Society Studies (STSS) Faculty Network, the Center for Environmental Politics, the Center for the Study of Demography and Ecology, and Society + Technology at UW.

His research examines the political ecologies of extraction and toxicity, as well as the politics of environmental knowledge, technology, and law in Latin America. He draws on concepts from critical environmental social sciences, science and technology studies, and socio-legal studies. His work has appeared in Geoforum, Environmental Impact Assessment Review, Ambix, International Negotiation, Triología: Ciencia, Tecnología y Sociedad, and Revista de Derecho Publico, as well as in several edited volumes. 

Over the last decade, Rubiano-Galvis’ research projects have examined the politics of environmental law and rights, the political ecology of artisanal gold mining and efforts to address its toxic impacts in the Andes and the Amazon, as well as climate displacement and climate justice pedagogy. He has also served as a legal advisor in public interest litigation cases involving the rights of indigenous peoples in the northeastern Colombian Amazon and Afro-Colombian communities on the Pacific Coast. He has collaborated with various human rights organizations and environmental nonprofits in Latin America.

Professor Rubiano-Galvis received his PhD in Environmental Science, Policy, & Management from the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to joining UW, he was a Gerardo Marín Postdoctoral Fellow and an assistant professor in the Global Studies Department at the University of San Francisco.