Curriculum VitaeBiography
Sarah’s work spans research on the ocean’s seafloor to its uppermost polar region, and she has played a role in the negotiation of multiple environmental agreements. A former meteorologist and U.S. Air Force Officer, she managed an operational floor of scientists responsible for providing weather support to military bases west of the Mississippi. Her experience at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Stanford University’s Center for Ocean Solutions, and Monterey Bay Aquarium contributed to her ocean law and policy expertise. Sarah teaches several environmental law courses and serves as the head of an observer delegation to the international climate negotiations, where her students support small island nations.
Sarah received a JD from Vermont Law School, a MS in Environmental Studies from the College of Charleston, and a BS in Oceanography from the U.S. Naval Academy. She holds an Honorary Research Associate position at the University of Oxford, collaborating with the Oxford Seascape Ecology Lab, and is published in cross-disciplinary journals such as Science and the Stanford Environmental Law Journal. When she's not fighting for the ocean, she enjoys exploring Lake Champlain and the St. Lawrence Seaway watersheds with her young family.
Publications
Articles
An Upwelling of Support for the Ocean-Climate-Biodiversity Nexus: Progress toward Institutionalization at COP26 (with Caroline Fullam, Aaron L. Strong, and Angelique Pouponneau) Sustainability and Climate Change Vol. 14, No. 6 (December 2021).
"A Framework for Operationalizing Climate-Just Ocean Commitments Under the Paris Agreement" (with Cheng, L., Pouponneau, A., Taylor, S., Wedding, L.) Frontiers Climate Law and Policy (October 28, 2021).
Wedding, L.M., Reiblich, J. Gourlie, D., Reiter, S., E. Hartge and A. Guerry. Coastal ecosystem service and climate adaptation policy assessment. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLICY (in prep).
Melius, M., Reiter, S., Newkirk, S., The Coastal Act, Power Plants, and the Case for “Undevelopment,” 18 VT. J. ENVT’L L. 4 (2017).
Legal Advocacy
Chapters
Presentations
Panel Moderator, Ocean/Water Pollution Panel, Vermont Journal of Environmental Law Symposium: The World of Waste in a Wasteful World (October 16, 2021).
Moderator, “A World of Waste in a Wasteful World: Ocean/Water Pollution Panel,” Vermont Journal of Environmental Law Symposium. (October 2021).
"From California to the Clarion Clipperton Zone, a deep dive on the evolution, design principles and function of networks of marine protected areas, with a focus on how ecological law can play a role in ongoing treaty negotiations for marine biodiversity on the high seas," EL&G Webinar Series, Ecological Law and Governance Association (June 2021).
"The New High Seas Treaty," Environmental Studies Program, Dartmouth College, November 17, 2020.
Assessing Ambition and Conditionality in Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement, MSc in Biodiversity, Conservation and Management program, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford (November 11, 2020).
"International Ocean Governance - Applications at the Science-Policy Interface," MSc in Biodiversity, Conservation and Management program, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford (October 28, 2020).
Moderator, "Nature-Based Solutions," Vermont Journal of Environmental Law Annual Symposium, Vermont Law School (October 16, 2020).
“An Ocean-Climate Strategy to Achieve Ocean-Climate Health,” 11th Annual Colloquium on Environmental Scholarship, Vermont Law School, (September 26, 2020).
"The Future of the Public Trust: The Muddied Waters of Rockweed Management in Maine,” Ocean and Coastal Law Journal Symposium on Innovations and Aquaculture and Law, Bath, Maine (March 27, 2020).
Awards & Accomplishments
Awards, Honors or Grants
Honorary Research Associate, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford (June 2019)