Environmental Law Institute - National Wetlands Awards

Professor Royal C. Gardner is director of the Institute for Biodiversity Law and Policy and professor of law at Stetson University College of Law. A gifted educator and scholar, he strives to bring together disparate groups to increase national and international awareness of the need for effective legal wetland protection.

Professor Gardner’s publications focus on wetland mitigation and restoration policies, with an emphasis on mitigation banking. His work as a member of the National Research Council’s Committee on Mitigating Wetland Losses contributed to a recent reexamination of federal wetland mitigation policies.

Professor Gardner has lectured on wetland issues to audiences throughout the United States, Europe, and Africa. In 1996, he co-founded Stetson University’s Annual International Environmental Moot Court Competition, an event designed to increase international awareness of environmental concerns, including wetland protection. More than 60 teams from around the globe vie for a spot in the competition’s international finals. Professor Gardner also developed an interdisciplinary wetland seminar at Stetson University that introduces law students to wetland policy and science.

He holds leadership positions in the U.S. National Ramsar Committee and the American Bar Association, and is the North American representative to the Ramsar Scientific and Technical Review Panel.