PEOPLE

Maria Arvaniti is Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Bologna. Previously, she was  a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Centre of Economic Research, D-MTEC, ETH Zürich. Maria works on a variety of applied theory topics, mostly related to environmental applications.  Her current research focuses on behavioural anomalies such as temptation preferences and present bias, the strategic aspects of such problems and the design of optimal policies. Maria also works on topics related to environmental agreements and strategic delegation as well as the optimal management of natural resources in the presence of regime shifts.  She has published in international journals such as Journal of Environmental Economics and Management and Journal of Mathematical Economics. Maria has a PhD in Economics from the University of Warwick and a Bachelor in International and European Economic Relations from Athens University of Economics and Business.

Marco Balboni is Full Professor in the Department of Political and Social Sciences at the University of Bologna. His main research interests include the role of the EU in promoting the principles of the rule of law in the international arena, international refugee law and EU immigration law, international and EU non-discrimination law, the role of the domestic courts in the implementation of EU law. Among other activities, he is member of the scientific board of the legal academic review Diritto, Immigrazione e Cittadinanza; member of the PhD Commission on European Law - University of Bologna; founding member of the University's multidisciplinary research group on gender studies Almagender – IRT. In the previous years, he has been deputy for teaching of the Department of Social and Political Sciences; coordinator of the undergraduate program of the International and Diplomatic Science’s program of the University of Bologna - Forli campus (2014-2020); member of the Equality Committee of the University of Bologna (Comitato Unico di Garanzia) (2014-2017); responsible for the University of Bologna of the Italian National Focal Point of the EU Agency on Fundamental Rights (Wien) (2011-2014).

 Marco Borraccetti is Associate Professor of European Union Law at Alma Mater Studiorum – Universita’ di Bologna; he is Co-director of the European Regional Master Programme in Democracy and Human Rights in South East Europe (GC/SEE ERMA) and Coordinator of MIGLAB-Studi sulle migrazioni (MIGLAB-Studies on migration), a Center of the Department of Political and Social Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum – Universita’ di Bologna. He is also representing the University of Bologna at the Global Campus of Human Rights, where he is Member of the Global Campus Council.

His main research interests are migration, borders management and trafficking in human beings from a EU law perspective.

His activities are included in the following ERC Sector: Constitutions, human rights, comparative law, humanitarian law, anti-discrimination law (SH2_4); International relations, global and transnational governance (SH2_5); Environmental and climate change, societal impact and policy (SH2_7); Political systems, governance (SH2_1.

Tracy Hester is Instructional Associate Professor of Law at the University of Houston Law Center, where he co-directs the Law Center’s Environment, Energy & Natural Resources Law Center and the University of Houston’s Center for Carbon Management in Energy. He is a recognized expert on the innovative application of environmental laws to emerging technologies and unanticipated risks, including climate engineering, deep decarbonization (particularly in energy production), nanoscale materials and microplastics, and climate liability. In Fall 2019, Prof. Hester taught the first U.S. law school course on Climate Intervention Law, which focused on emerging climate engineering technologies and legal challenges. He also originated an innovative Environmental Practicum that matches students with multiple leading environmental attorneys to work on practical projects and to develop creative legal initiatives, and has created an Environmental Appellate Advocacy Institute to identify and participate in cases affecting core interests of environmental law. Prior to joining the University of Houston Law Center, Prof. Hester practiced for 25 years and served as a partner in Bracewell LLP for sixteen years. He led that firm's Houston environmental group.

Giorgia Pavani is Full Professor of Comparative Constitutional Law in the Department of Political and Social Sciences at the University of Bologna, where she  holds the SO_CITIES ( "A new paradigm of solidarity and sustainable cities in the European framework") Jean Monnet Chair (2021-2024) as well as co-ordinates various EU-funded research projects. Her main research interests and teaching are in local government and decentralization; in this regard, she has particularly focused on judicial power, comparative methods, public media and broadcasting, constitutional review, and election law. 

Riccardo Prandini is Full Professor of Sociology of Culture and Communication in the Department of Political and Social Sciences at the University of Bologna. His research focuses on structural and cultural transformations of family in Italy, changes in national welfare systems, the juridification and constitutionalization of the private spheres, and the ontology of the social. He has published numerous articles, translations, and reports, as well as participated in various Italian and EU-funded research projects. He is a Board Member of the Società Scientifica Italiana Sociologia Cultura Comunicazione and the Director of the Master in Governance and Local Welfare Innovations and of the Welfare Community Manager Programs at the University of Bologna. 

Sabrina Ragone is Associate Professor of Comparative Public Law in the Department of Political and Social Sciences at the University of Bologna, where she is the Head of the Stakeholder and Placement Committee since May 2024. In 2023 she was awarded the Jean Monnet Chair "ROLLBACK" and, previously, the Jean Monnet Modules "EU_SOCIAL" 2022-2025 and "CRISES" 2018-2022; she is also the Principal Investigator of the 2022 “SPACE” (2023-2025) Research Project of National Relevance, funded by the Italian Ministry for University and Research. She is a member of the Council of the Centro de Altos Estudios of the Representación en la República Argentina of the University, of the Scientific Committee of the Collegio Superiore and of the Council of the Istituto di Studi Superiori. She is also a Senior Research Affiliate at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law (Heidelberg), where she pursued her research from 2015 to 2017. She was Investigadora García Pelayo at the Centro de Estudios Políticos y Constitucionales – Madrid (2012-2015), as well as visiting professor and scholar in the USA (e.g. Boston College, Michigan, Texas A&M) and in prestigious Spanish, German, French and Latin American universities.

Elizabeth Trujillo is Mary Ann & Lawrence E. Faust Professor of Law and the Founding Director of the Initiative on Global Law and Policy for the Americas (GLPA), https://www.law.uh.edu/glpa/. She teaches Contracts, Trade and Sustainable Development, and NAFTA 2.0: North American Trade after USMCA. Her research specializes in international economic law, sustainable development, energy, contracts, and international law. Immediately prior to UH, Professor Trujillo was a Professor of Law at Texas A&M University School of Law where she was also the co-convener for their new Global and Comparative Law Program and an Affiliated Faculty member with the Texas A&M University Energy Institute. She also was a Professor of Law at Suffolk University School of Law in Boston where she also served as co-director of their International Law Concentration, a Visiting Professor at Florida State University School of Law, and a Visiting Scholar at Harvard University Law School. Prior to entering academia, she worked for the Houston office of the New York law firm LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene and MacRae (later known as Dewey and LeBoeuf) in the areas of corporate law, project finance and international business transactions, with an emphasis on energy and Latin America. Her publications, which have appeared in top 50 law reviews, books, and peer-reviewed journals, examine the relationship between international trade and investment with domestic regulatory structures, specifically in the areas of energy and the environment, sustainable development, and international consumer protection law.

Chinonso Anonzie is Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Houston Law Center, where he is also a Presidential Frontier Faculty. He teaches Property Law, Environmental Law, Energy and Climate Law, and Global Environmental Justice. Before joining the University of Houston, Professor Anozie was an Assistant Professor of Law at Willamette University College of Law and a Visiting Assistant Professor of Law at Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, Arizona State University. Professor Anozie obtained his Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD) degree from SMU Dedman School of Law, where his research focused on domestic and international energy development policies and environmental harm remediation in various jurisdictions. He also holds a Master of Laws (LL.M) in Energy and Natural Resources Law from the University of Oklahoma College of Law, and a Bachelor of Laws (LL. B) from the University of Nigeria. Professor Anozie's scholarly interests are in the areas of energy, environmental law, and clean energy transition and policy. His research addresses the intersection of energy and environmental laws, regulations, and policies and their impact on energy development, particularly in disadvantaged communities. He also studies how the new energy transition laws interact with environmental justice tenets in disadvantaged communities. He is currently writing on the extraterritorial nature of U.S. energy and environmental policies and how countries react to such policies.