Dr. J.B. Ruhl is an American legal academic who specializes in

environmental law Environmental law is a collective term encompassing aspects of the law that provide protection to the environment. A related but distinct set of regulatory regimes, now strongly influenced by environmental legal principles, focus on the manage ...

. He is the David Daniels Allen Distinguished Chair in Law at Vanderbilt Law School. He received his B.A. and J.D. degrees from the University of Virginia as well as his LL.M. (1986) in Environmental Law from the

George Washington University Law School The George Washington University Law School (GW Law) is the law school of George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. Established in 1865, GW Law is the oldest top law school in the national capital. GW Law offers the largest range of cou ...

. He also holds a Ph.D. in Geography from Southern Illinois University. He is an elected member of the

American Law Institute The American Law Institute (ALI) is a research and advocacy group of judges, lawyers, and legal scholars established in 1923 to promote the clarification and simplification of United States common law and its adaptation to changing social needs. ...

Scholarly contributions

His books include ''The Law of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Management'' (Foundation Press, 2nd ed. 2006) and ''The Law and Policy of Ecosystem Services'' (Island Press 2007). He has written many journal articles on

and

administrative law Administrative law is the division of law that governs the activities of government agency, executive branch agencies of Forms of government, government. Administrative law concerns executive branch rule making (executive branch rules are gener ...

. His work on regulation addresses complexity theory and the law as well as the role of peer review and science in environmental regulation. As a leading authority on

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...

protection and wetlands mitigation banking, he is recognized as one of the most cited U.S. academics in environmental law.University opf Texas Professor Brian Leiter's study of most-cited law faculty, http://www.leiterrankings.com/faculty/2002faculty_impact_areas.shtml#environmental

Notes and references

American legal scholars Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Vanderbilt University Law School faculty {{US-legal-academic-bio-stub