Sheila R. Foster

BIOGRAPHY:

Sheila Foster is a tenured professor of climate at the Climate School and an affiliated faculty member at Columbia Law School.

Professor Foster is a leading scholar of environmental and climate justice. She is known for her articles and books in the field, most notably From the Ground Up: Environmental Racism and the Rise of the Environmental Justice Movement (NYU Press). Her research spans a broad range of topics, including innovative resource governance regimes, land use policy, and the role of subnational governments and local leaders in addressing cross-border challenges such as climate change. 

Throughout her career, Foster has worked with local governments, federal agencies, and public officials on various issues related to environmental and climate justice. Foster led the advisory committee of the Global Parliament of Mayors from 2017-2020. She has been a member of the New York City Panel on Climate Change since 2016 and a member of the city's Environmental Justice Advisory Board since 2024. She is also the co-editor and a founding Advisory Board member of the Journal of Climate Resilience & Climate Justice (MIT Press)

In addition, Foster co-directs LabGov, an applied research laboratory associated with the Climate School. LabGov has pioneered the co-city approach that has been applied in different cities, helping to create more collaborative and community-oriented solutions for a range of urban challenges. The co-city approach is outlined in her award-winning MIT Press book, Co-Cities: Innovative Transitions toward Just and Self-Sustaining Communities.

Professor Foster's work has been recognized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)'s Academy of Environmental Law, with its 2018 Senior Scholar Award, and by the American College of Environmental Lawyers (ACOEL) which recently elected her as a fellow. She is also an elected member of the American Bar Foundation.

Professor Foster obtained her undergraduate degree in English (with honors) at the University of Michigan and her JD at the University of California, Berkeley.

Previously, Foster taught at Georgetown University as the Scott K. Ginsburg Professor of Urban Law and Policy (Law School) and Professor of Public Policy (McCourt School). Before that, she was a Distinguished University Professor and Albert A. Walsh Professor of Real Estate, Land Use, and Property Law at Fordham University.