News
ISPE Faculty Spotlight
Marc Miller: Working on the edge
April 18, 2008
By Stephanie Doster
Marc Miller
Marc Miller radiates enthusiasm for his work like the Arizona sun emits heat.
“I am delighted to be at a university where there are literally hundreds of people working from within disciplines—but with interests focused on problems and ideas—on issues of environmental science and policy,” said Miller, who joined The University of Arizona in 2005 as the Ralph W. Bilby Professor of Law. “Much more interesting, effective, and profound results happen when there is such a rich community. This kind of intellectual community produces greater value for students and for society.”
He’s working with colleagues from around the university as co-editor of The Edge, the working title of an environmental science, law, and policy book series. With series co-editors Jonathan Overpeck and Barbara Morehouse, Miller wants to allow scientists and scholars themselves to deliver timely, cutting-edge information to decision makers and the general public. At the same time, the series attends to deeper themes and issues so that the books will have continuing value. The public and officials need a sophisticated yet understandable and accessible analysis of the issues to make the best decisions, said Miller, who has championed the series and been one of its visionaries.
Climate change illustrates Miller’s point. The majority of Americans are convinced that the climate change that is under way is a human-caused phenomenon with significant potential threats to society and the economy, but they have no idea what to do about it.
“People have been provoked, they have a concern, but at the next level, do you respond personally? Politically? Socially? Is collective action necessary?” Miller asked. “It seems like this series is a real opportunity to provide critical, defining information and ideas for those sorts of discussions.”
The first volume in the series will explore the multi-faceted environmental issues that straddle the border between the United States and Mexico, from endangered species to border security. The issue will be edited by Laura Lopez-Hoffman, who has a joint faculty appointment in the School of Natural Resources and the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy, Karl Flessa from Geosciences, and Bob Varady from the Udall Center. A second authors’ meeting will take place at Biosphere 2 in late May, and the volume should be in press not long after that.
“Among the really interesting things the book does is push the conception of what a border or boundary really is, and how decisions in a localized area can have very far-reaching physical, environmental, social, and political effects,” Miller said. “The border is not only porous; it is an enormously complex and multi-layered concept.”
A second volume, on the role of states and localities in addressing climate change is in the works, building on a major conference at the law school’s new Rehnquist Center.
Miller, who has taught courses on public lands and natural resources, and on law and biodiversity, has experience compiling volumes and completing books on a variety of topics, from sentencing in criminal law—his “other” scholarly community—to harmful invasive species. One book, Galapagos Conservation: Exploring Sustainability, which he co-authored, should be published next year. He also has collaborated on papers and articles with UA law colleagues who work on environmental issues, including David Adelman (on the regulation of invasive species, one of Miller’s long-term interests) and Kirsten Engel (on federalism and climate change), and he teaches a graduate course on sustainability and environmental policy with Carol Rose.
“Arizona Law has one of the strongest groups on the environment and policy at any law school in the country,” he said.
While law is a critical framework for social policy and a powerful lens on many environmental issues, the great opportunity for the law school—for faculty and students, and for the community—comes from the wealth of environmental science and policy programs and researchers on campus. That’s why the UA is as natural a home for the series as, say, the Sonoran Desert is for saguaros, Miller said. The series is a collaborative project of the James E. Rogers College of Law, the Institute for the Study of Planet Earth, the Biosphere 2 Institute, and the University of Arizona Press.
While editors and authors for books in The Edge series could come from anywhere—from other universities, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), or government—Miller expects many of the editors and authors to be from the UA as a natural reflection of institutional strength. Miller and his colleagues have been consulting with colleagues throughout the university for advice on creating the series, and will continue to do so now that the first books are under way.
Miller also envisions an educational website derived from the volumes, and hopes to see the books translated into Spanish and Chinese. On top of that, he hopes to work with colleagues to compile Hot Hot Hot, an annual volume of four of five of the best articles on climate change science and policy, revised and expanded to reach a wide audience.
“The central goal of the entire project,” he said, “is to change policy, change policy makers’ understanding of the science, and, over time, change the decisions that are made by voters, politicians, and executive branch officials.”