Deborah L Curran

Deborah L Curran is a Professor and Executive Director of the Environmental Law Centre at the University of Victoria’s Faculty of Law. She specializes in water law, regional sustainability, and legal pedagogy, with a focus on integrating Indigenous legal traditions and adaptive governance. Her research examines how legal frameworks influence ecological and community resilience, particularly in watersheds and coastal regions.

Education:

• Bachelor of Arts (Honours) – Trent University (1991)
• LLB – University of Victoria (1995)
• LLM – University of California, Berkeley (2002)

Research Interests: Curran’s work spans colonial and Indigenous water law, adaptive governance, and clinical legal education. She collaborates with First Nations like Cowichan Tribes and Tsilhqot’in Nation to develop Indigenous water laws, while also analyzing municipal and provincial regulatory frameworks. Her field courses on Calvert Island (Hakai Institute) emphasize experiential learning in environmental law.

Grants & Projects: Funded projects include a three-year initiative (2015–2018) on Indigenous and colonial water law in BC, supported by partnerships with academic institutions and Indigenous communities. She supervises students on environmental law projects through the Environmental Law Centre.

Labs/Teams: Affiliated with the Indigenous Law Research Unit, Polis Project (UVic), and the Environmental Law Centre. These collaborations focus on legal pluralism, climate resilience, and policy design.