Co-Founder

Dr. Wil Burns is the Co-Founding Director of the Institute for Responsible Carbon Removal at American University, a research center that focuses on social science aspects of carbon dioxide removal, including law and governance, ethics and justice and the role of public engagement and deliberation. Previously, he served as the Associate Director of the Environmental Policy & Culture program at Northwestern University and the Founding Director of the Energy Policy & Climate program at Johns Hopkins University. He also taught at the University of Chicago, Stanford University, and the University of California-Berkeley. Prior to entering academia, he served as Assistant Secretary of State for Policy for the state of Wisconsin and worked in the environmental non-profit sector for more than twenty years.

His community service includes having served as Co-Chair of the International Environmental Law Section of the American Branch of the International Law Association, and President of the Association of Environmental Studies & Sciences (AESS). He was the 2019 recipient of AESS’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Scholarship and Service in the field. He received his Ph.D. in International Law from the University of Wales-Cardiff School of Law and is the author of more than 90 publications.