معرفی
Natalie Baird is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Canterbury, where she has been a faculty member since 2007. She serves as Co-Director of Postgraduate Studies in Law and is a member of the Law Faculty's Leadership Team. Her academic career is complemented by significant practical experience, having previously worked in the New Zealand public service at the Crown Law Office, Cabinet Office, and Law Commission, as well as with the Cambodian Defenders' Project in Phnom Penh.
Her educational background includes a BA and LLB (Hons) from the University of Canterbury and an LLM from Columbia University. She holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Tertiary Teaching and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
Natalie's research centers on international human rights, disaster law, refugee law, and Pacific legal studies, with particular focus on the Universal Periodic Review mechanism, West Papua issues, statelessness, and climate mobility in the Pacific. Her work consistently addresses the intersection of human rights with disaster management and migration. Her recent publications demonstrate a strong commitment to addressing contemporary challenges in human rights implementation, particularly in the Asia-Pacific context where regional human rights systems are less developed.
She has received notable recognition including the Canterbury Fellowship at Cambridge, which provided $30,000 for research at the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law. Her editorial work for the New Zealand Yearbook of International Law further demonstrates her standing in the field.
Natalie has supervised numerous graduate students across a wide range of topics including disaster risk reduction in Melanesia, children's rights and climate change, deportation law, citizenship issues, and transitional justice. She has led significant research projects including 'Dimensions of Citizenship in Aotearoa | New Zealand' and 'Female academics in New Zealand law schools,' and secured funding such as the 'Developing a Law Student Profile: Phase 5' grant from Ako Aotearoa.
She teaches across multiple law courses including International Human Rights Law, Immigration and Refugee Law, Pacific Legal Studies, and Disasters and the Law, bringing her extensive research expertise directly into the classroom.
