Alejandro Camacho

Professor of Law

Alejandro Camacho is a Professor of Law at UCLA School of Law, where he teaches courses in property, natural resources law, and environmental law. His research often explores the goals, structures, and processes of regulation, with a particular focus on natural resources law, public lands law, pollution control law, and land use regulation. His writing generally seeks to reconsider the role of public participation and scientific expertise in regulation, the allocation of authority between public institutions, and how the law's goals and strategies must and can be reshaped to effectively account for emerging technologies and the dynamic character of natural and human systems. Before joining UCLA, Professor Camacho was Chancellor's Professor of Law and the Faculty Director of the Center for Land, Environment, and Natural Resources at UC Irvine School of Law; an Associate Professor at the Notre Dame Law School; a research fellow at the Georgetown University Law Center; and practiced environmental and land use law. In Fall 2017, he was the Florence Rogatz Visiting Professor of Law at the Yale Law School.

Camacho received a B.A. summa cum laude in Political Science and a B.A. summa cum laude in Criminology, Law, and Society from the University of California, Irvine; a J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School; and an LL.M from Georgetown University Law Center. Professor Camacho is an elected member of the American Law Institute and an elected fellow of the American Bar Foundation; on the Board of Directors and a Scholar at the Center for Progressive Reform, a nonprofit think tank devoted to responsive government, environmental and health protections, and climate action; and the former chair of the Association of American Law Schools' Section on Natural Resources. He is a frequent public speaker and has contributed opinion pieces or interviews for various print and radio news outlets (including the Los Angeles Times, Houston Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, Denver Post, The Australian, Discover, Nature Climate Change, Bloomberg, Businessweek, HuffPost, Mother Jones, The Hill, Washington Post and National Public Radio stations).

Camacho's award-winning legal scholarship includes articles published in the Virginia Law Review, UCLA Law Review, Washington University Law Review, Emory Law Journal, BYU Law Review, North Carolina Law Review, Colorado Law Review, Ohio State Law Journal, Yale Journal on Regulation, Harvard Journal on Legislation, Stanford Environmental Law Journal, Columbia Journal of Environmental Law, Regulation & Governance and Law, Innovation, & Technology. He is the co-author of Reorganizing Government: A Functional and Dimensional Framework (NYU Press 2019); Property: Cases & Materials, Fifth Edition (Aspen 2022), and Environmental Protection: Law and Policy, Ninth Edition (Aspen 2023); and Lessons for a Warming Planet: History of U.S. Law and the Environment (forthcoming 2026). Professor Camacho's interdisciplinary research has involved collaborations with experts in ecology, land use planning, political science, computer science, genetics, philosophy, and sociology. He is the principal investigator on the Integrated and Equitable Climate Action project, which aims to align local plans with California's climate mandates while developing best practices for effective and equitable adaptation planning. His scientific publications include articles published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, BioScience, the Journal of Applied Ecology, Frontiers in Climate, and Issues in Science and Technology.

Bibliography

  • Books And Book Chapters
    • (with Brigham Daniels), in Lessons for a Warming Planet: History of U.S. Law and the Environment (NYU Press , forthcoming 2026).
    • (with Robert L. Glicksman, William W. Buzbee, Daniel R. Mandelker, and Emily Hammond), in Environmental Protection: Law and Policy (Aspen Publishers, 2023). Book Info.
    • (with Robert L. Glicksman, William W. Buzbee, Daniel R. Mandelker, and Emily Hammond), in Teacher's Manual, Environmental Protection Law & Policy, 9th edition (Aspen Publishing, 2023).
    • The Endangered Species Act, in Global Climate Change and U.S. Law (edited by Michael B. Gerrard, Jody Freeman, & Michael berger, ABA 2023). Book Info.
    • (with James Charles Smith and Edward J. Larson), in Property: Cases and Materials (Aspen Publishing, 2022). Book Info.
    • (with James Charles Smith and Edward J. Larson), in Teacher's Manual, Property: Cases & Materials.
    • (with Robert L. Glicksman), in Reorganizing Government: A Functional and Dimensional Framework (NYU Press , 2019). (reviewed by Joel A. Mintz, 5 Admin L. Rev. Accord 81-84 (2019);  P. Lermack, 57 Choice 695 (2020); Antonio Villalpando Acuña, 29 Gestion Y Politica Publica 503-509 (2020)).
      Book Info.
    • Maintaining Resilience in the Face of Climate Change (with T. Douglas Beard), in Social-Ecological Resilience and Law 235-264 (Columbia University Press, 2014). SSRN
    • Managing ecosystem effects in an era of rapid climate change, in Climate Change Law 555-566 (edited by Daniel Farber & Marjan Peeters, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2016). SSRN
    • Managing Adaptation: Developing a Learning Infrastructure in the United States’ Federal System, in Implementing Adaptation Strategies by Legal, Economic and Planning Instruments on Climate Change 41-54 (Springer, 2014). SSRN
  • Law Journal Articles And Essays
    • The Case for Addressing Ecological Risk from Emerging Biotechnologies and an Agenda for Future Reforms, (with David Dana), 85 Ohio St. L. J. 1221-50 (2025). Full Text
    • Adapting Conservation Governance under Climate Change: Lessons from Tribal Country (with Elizabeth Kronk Warner, Jason McLachlan, and Nathan Kroeze), 110 Va. L. Rev. 1549-1618. (reprinted in NADIA B. AHMAD & PATRICIA E. SALKIN, EDS., LAND USE & ENV’T L. REV.) 2025-2026 ED. (CLARK BOARDMAN CALLAGHAN forthcoming 2025).
      Full Text
    • In the Anthropocene: Adaptive Law, Ecological Health, and Biotechnologies, 15 Law, Innovation & Tech. 280-312. doi: 10.1080/17579961.2023.2184133 (2023). Full Text
    • Six Priority Recommendations for Improving Conservation under the ESA (with Melissa L. Kelly & Ya-Wei Li), 51 Envtl. L. Rep. 10785-10804 (2021). Full Text
    • Designing Regulation Across Organizations: Assessing the Functions and Dimensions of Governance (with Robert L. Glicksman), Reg. & Governance S102-S122 (2021). (peer reviewed). Full Text
    • Structured to Fail: Lessons from The Trump Administration’s Faulty Pandemic Planning and Response (with Robert L. Glicksman), 10 Mich. J. Envtl. & Admin 329-81 (2021). Full Text
    • De- and Re-constructing Public Governance for Biodiversity Conservation, 73 Vand. L. Rev. 1585-1641 (2020). Full Text
    • Beyond Preemption, Toward Metropolitan Governance (with Nicholas J. Marantz), 39 Stan. Envtl. L.J. 125-198 (2020). Full Text
    • The Trump Card: Tarnishing Planning, Democracy, and the Environment (with Robert L. Glicksman), 50 Envtl. L. Rep. 10281-89 (2020). Full Text
    • Bulldozing Infrastructure Planning and the Environment through Trump’s Executive Order 13807, 91 U. Colo. L. Rev. 511 (2020). Full Text
    • Mitigating Climate Change through Transportation and Land Use Policy (with Melissa L. Kelly, Nicholas J. Marantz, and Gabriel Weil), 49 Envtl. L. Rep. 10473-92 (2019). Full Text
    • Improving Water Quality and Ecosystem Health in California’s Marine Managed Areas (with Elizabeth Taylor and Stephanie Talavera), 48 Envtl. L. Rep. 10818-36 (2018). Full Text
    • Assessing State Laws and Resources for Endangered Species Protection (with Michael Robinson-Dorn, Asena Yildiz, and Tara Teegarden), 47 Envtl. L. Rep. 10837 (2017). Full Text
    • Legal Adaptive Capacity: How Program Goals and Processes Shape Federal Land Adaptation to Climate Change (with Robert L. Glicksman), 87 U. Colo. L. Rev. 711-826 (2016). Full Text
    • Emerging Regulatory Experiments in Permit Process Coordination for Endangered Species and Aquatic Resources in California (with Elizabeth Taylor, Melissa Kelly, & Stephanie Talavera), 46 Envtl. L. Rep. 10131 (2016). Full Text
    • Lessons from Area-Wide Multi-Agency Habitat Conservation Plans in California (with Elizabeth Taylor and Melissa Kelly), 46 Envtl. L. Rep. 10222 (2016). Full Text
    • Going the Way of the Dodo: De-Extinction, Dualisms, and Reframing Conservation, 92 Wash. U. L. Rev. 849-906 (2015).  (reprinted in David L. Callies & J.B. Ruhl, eds., LAND USE & ENV’T L. REV. 319-378 (Thomson Reuters 2016-2017) (peer reviewed)).
      Full Text
    • Functional Government in 3-D (with Robert L. Glicksman), 51 Harv. J. on Legis. 19-88 (2014). Full Text
    • Community Benefits Agreements: A Symptom, Not the Antidote, of Bilateral Land Use Regulation, 78 Brooklyn L. Rev. 355-383 (2013). Full Text
    • A Learning Collaboratory: Improving Federal Climate Change Adaptation Planning, 2011 BYU L. Rev. 1821-61. Full Text
    • Assisted Migration: Redefining Nature and Natural Resource Law under Climate Change, 27 Yale J. On Reg. 171-255 (2010). (reprinted in A. Daniel Tarlock & David L. Callies eds., LAND USE & ENV’T L. REV. (Thomson West 2011) (peer reviewed)).
      Full Text
    • Collaborative Planning and Adaptive Management in Glen Canyon: A Cautionary Tale (with Lawrence Susskind & Todd Schenk), 35 Colum. J. Envtl. L. 1-55 (2010). Full Text
    • Adapting Governance to Climate Change: Managing Uncertainty through a Learning Infrastructure, 59 Emory L. J. 1-77 (2009). (excerpted in JOEL A. MINTZ, ET AL., A PRACTICAL INTRODUCTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL LAW (CAROLINA ACADEMIC PRESS) (2017) Full Text
    • Beyond Conjecture: Learning about Ecosystem Management from the Glen Canyon Dam Experiment, 8 Nev. L. J. 942-963 (2008). (invited) Full Text
    • Can Regulation Evolve? Lessons from a Study in Maladaptive Management, 55 UCLA L. Rev. 293-358. (reprinted in J. B. RUHL, ED., PROPERTY LAW (EDWARD ELGAR PUBLISHING) (2020)).
      Full Text
    • Mustering the Missing Voices: A Collaborative Model for Fostering Equality, Community Involvement and Adaptive Planning in Land Use Decisions, Installment Two, 24 Stan. Envtl. L.J. 269- (2005). (reprinted in Patricia Salkin ed., ZONING & PLAN. L. HANDBOOK 945-1017 (Thomson West 2006) (peer reviewed)).
      Full Text
    • Mustering the Missing Voices: A Collaborative Model for Fostering Equality, Community Involvement and Adaptive Planning in Land Use Decisions, Installment One, 24 Stan. Envtl. L.J. 3-69 (2005). (reprinted in A. Daniel Tarlock & David L Callies eds., LAND USE & ENV’T L. REV. 119-181 (Thomson West 2006) (peer reviewed)) (reprinted in Patricia Salkin ed., ZONING & PLAN. L. HANDBOOK 863-943 (Thomson West 2006) (peer reviewed)).
      Full Text
  • Science Articles
    • Ecological replacement of functionally extinct native coral species may be the only way to revitalize Caribbean reefs, 122 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. __ (2025).
    • Regulatory Fragmentation: An Unexamined Barrier to Species Conservation Under Climate Change  (with Jason S. McLachlan), 3 Frontiers in Climate 735608 (2021). doi: 10.3389/fclim.2021.735608 (reprinted in J.B. RUHL, ET AL., EDS., COORDINATING CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION AS RISK MANAGEMENT 54-61 (2022).
      Full Text
    • Governing Complexity: Integrating science, governance, and law to manage accelerating change in the globalized commons  (with Barbara Cosens, J.B. Ruhl, Niko Soininen, Lance Gunderson, Brian Chaffin, Robin Craig, Holly Doremus, Robert Glicksman, Rhett Larson, Antti Belinskij, Jukka Simila, Anna-Stiina Heiskanen, and Thorsten Blenckner), 118 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.. e2102798118 (2021). Full Text
    • Managed Relocation: Integrating the Scientific, Regulatory, and Ethical Challenges (with Mark Schwartz et al.), 62 BioScience 732-743 (2012). Full Text
    • A Critical Assessment of Collaborative Adaptive Management in Practice  (with Lawrence Susskind and Todd Schenk), 49 J. Applied Ecology 47-51 (2011). Full Text
    • Reassessing Conservation Goals in a Changing Climate (with Holly Doremus, Jason McLachlan, & Ben Minteer), Issues in Sci & Tech 21-26 (Summer 2010). Full Text
    • Multidimensional evaluation of managed relocation (with David Richardson et al.), 106 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 9721-24 (2009). Full Text
  • Reports
    • Tap into Resilience: Pathways for Localized Water Infrastructure (with Melissa L. Kelly, Cynthia Koehler, and Caroline Koch), Cleanr Briefing Report (2021). Full Text
    • The Six Priority Recommendations for Improving Conservation under the Federal Endangered Species Act (with Melissa L. Kelly & Ya-Wei Li), Cleanr Briefing Report (2021). Full Text
    • Climate, Energy, Justice: The Policy Path to a Just Transition for an Energy-Hungry America. (with Shalanda H. Baker, William W. Buzbee, Daniel Farber, Robert L. Fischman, Victor Flatt, Robert L. Glicksman, Alice Kaswan, Alexandra B. Klass, Christine A. Klein, Sarah Krakoff, Joel A. Mintz, Uma Outka, Dave Owen, Daniel J. Rohlf, Karen Sokol, Joseph Tomain, Hannah J. Wiseman, and Sandra B. Zellmer) (2020) Full Text
    • Memo to the Next President: A Progressive Vision of Government and Protective Safeguards (with David Driesen, Robert Glicksman, Thomas McGarity, Sidney Shapiro, Joseph Tomain, Robert Verchick, and James Goodwin), Center for Progressive Reform (August 2016).
    • Making Good Use of Adaptive Management (with Holly Doremus, William L. Andreen, Daniel A. Farber, Robert L. Glicksman, Dale Goble, Bradley C. Karkkainen, Daniel Rohlf, A. Dan Tarlock, Sandra B. Zellmer, Shana Jones, and Yee Huang), Center for Progressive Reform White Paper #1104 (2011). Full Text
  • Shorter Legal And Other Publications
    • Donald Trump’s record-breaking race to wreck the planet, The Hill (August 25, 2025). Full Text
    • NEPA: The Accepted Lies and Mistakes About This Critical Environmental Law (with Robert L. Glicksman), The Revelator (June 27, 2025). Full Text
    • Governance Limitations of the Coordinated Framework’s Regulation of EMERs, in CALTECH Center for Science, Society, and Public Policy, Policy Recommendations for the Regulation of Engineered Microbes for Environmental Release (2024). Full Text
    • Inefficient and Reckless: The Danger of DOGE (with Robert L Glicksman and James Goodwin), The Hill (December 3, 2024). Full Text
    • Imagining the next 50 years of the Endangered Species Act, The hill (December 26, 2023). Full Text
    • Biden Picks Conservation Advocate Tracy Stone-Manning to Lead the Bureau of Land Management. Here are Five Priorities for Our Public Lands, CPRBLOG (April 23, 2021). Full Text
    • Opinion Analysis: Court favors deliberative-process privilege protections over FOIA transparency goals (with Melissa Kelly), SCOTUSblog (March 6, 2021). Full Text
    • Argument analysis: Court considers bright-line and case-specific standards for the Freedom of Information Act’s “deliberative process” privilege (with Melissa Kelly), SCOTUSblog (November 4, 2020). Full Text
    • Case preview: Court will consider the scope of transparency under the Freedom of Information Act’s key “deliberative process” privilege (with Melissa Kelly), SCOTUSblog (October 30, 2020). Full Text
    • The Trump Administration’s Latest Unconstitutional Power Grab (with Robert L. Glicksman), Reg. Rev. (August 24, 2020). Full Text
    • The Shape of Water After County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund (with Melissa Kelly), Reg. Rev. (July 28, 2020). (highlighted in SCOTUSblog). Full Text
    • The Trump Administration’s Pandemic Response is Structured to Fail (with Robert L. Glicksman), Reg. Rev. (May 19, 2020). Full Text
    • Trump is trying to cripple the environment and democracy (with Robert L. Glicksman), The Hill (January 18, 2020). Full Text

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02 03
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Bruin Bite - ‘Empathy in Negotiation’ with Russell Korobkin

Learn research-informed techniques for using empathy to uncover interests, build trust, create value, and avoid common pitfalls at the bargaining table.

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