Nate Palmer

Nate is the recipient of the Bloomsbury PhD Studentship, “Conflicts over access to water and land: evolving dimensions.” His research is focused on rights of nature; water, law and development; and the climate crisis. His supervisors, Professors Philippe Cullet (SOAS) and Penny Versa-Sanso (Birkbeck), inform the interdisciplinary approach of the project (environmental law and development studies). The central aim is to address water conflicts in relation to land in developing countries, while addressing systemic inequalities around access to land and water.

He holds a MA in Environmental Law and Sustainable Development from SOAS. He was awarded a high distinction for his dissertation, “Towards a global recognition of the rights of nature: lessons from Ecuador and India.” Previously, he received his BA in International Studies with a double minor in Development and Public Policy from the City College of New York CUNY. Here, he also worked extensively with the New York Public Interest Research Group, where he was an advocate for issues regarding clean water, the environment, consumer protection, voting rights, and homelessness.

Nate has been a Teaching Assistant in International Studies at the City College of New York. He has recently taught at SOAS in both undergraduate and graduate courses on international environmental law and water development as a Graduate Teaching Assistant. He plans on founding the SOAS Harmony with Nature Society, which will hold recruitment throughout 2022/23 and officially begin in October 2023.