Research Interests

Karen Scott researches in the areas of the law of the sea, international environmental law and Polar Law. Much of her research focuses on climate change and its intersection with and impact on these areas of law. Karen also researches in the area of international environmental governance, in particular the evolution of treaty law and its application to environmental regime complexes. Karen has a particular interest in international law for the Anthropocene.

Karen is Editor in Chief of Ocean Development and International Law and is on the editorial board of the Australian Yearbook of International Law. She is an Associate Editor for the Brill Research Perspectives on the Law of the Sea, a Review editor for Marine Affairs and Policy, Frontiers in Marine Science and a member of the Editorial Boards of Maritime Safety and Security Law Journal, the New Zealand Yearbook of International Law and the Journal of Water Law.

Karen is the current President of the Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law (ANZSIL).

Karen has edited five research monographs including the Research Handbook on Polar Law (with David L VanderZwaag) (Edward Elgar 2020) and the Oxford Handbook on the Law of the Sea (with Donald R Rothwell, Alex Oude Elferink and Tim Stephens (Oxford University Press, 2015). She has published over 70 journal articles and book chapters in her research areas.