Center for Humans and Nature

Kathryn Kintzele, J.D.

Director of North American Global Responsibilities

Kathryn Kintzele, J.D. leads the Center for Humans and Nature’s role in international environmental law development. As Director of CHN’s Global Responsibilities Program, she explores our local and regional responsibilities to the land and peoples outside our borders. She is Co-Chair of the the Biosphere Ethics Initiative, an international soft law program that highlights ethical principles of biodiversity conservation and seeks to implement them into law and policy. Kathryn is also the Deputy Chair of the Ethics Specialist Group of the IUCN Commission on Environmental Law.  Her main body of research is comparative law, or ethical principles as found in constitutions, statutes and judicial opinions from around the world.

Kathryn was born and raised along the Indiana dunes of Lake Michigan. The social and cultural relations of humans and nature are ubiquitous in this area of steel mills, urban population and rich biodiversity. Her introduction into environmental activism came at the young age of 7 when she protested the dumping of contaminated waste into a low-income, minority neighborhood. Her passion only grew from there, and the education and experiences followed.

Kathryn received her Juris Doctorate from Valparaiso University School of Law, studying environmental law and international law. In law school, she received the Dean W. Kohloff Memorial Award for Excellence in Environmental Law. She is licensed to practice law in Indiana and in the federal courts. Kathryn has a B.A. from Indiana University in French and Political Science, with a minor in International Relations.

During undergrad, she interned with the Office of Indiana Governor Frank O’Bannon and the Office of U.S. Senator Evan Bayh. While in Washington D.C., she studied at the Graduate School of Political Management at George Washington University. Upon returning to Indiana, she became an Associate with Improving Kids Environment, analyzing the environmental and social implications of combined sewer overflow systems. Kathryn then became the Projects Coordinator for the Lake Michigan Coastal Program of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. With the program, she managed regional projects in native wetland and fen restoration. During and after law school, she served as a judicial clerk under the Honorable Kathleen B. Lang. Kathryn began with CHN in 2005 as a Research Assistant to Dr. J. Ronald Engel. Under Dr. Engel, she received invaluable guidance into the multi-disciplinary aspects of  law and policy and completed scholarly research in foundational and progressive constitutional issues.

Kathryn’s interests include comparative constitutional law, soft law development and socio-environmental justice. She continuously works to bridge the local-international gaps in our environmental, social and legal dialogues.

Current CHN Projects: Relatos: Giving Voice to Local Ethics around the World, Keeping Nature Alive: From Moral Motivations to Legal Implications, The Biosphere Ethics Initiative