Melissa Stewart

Melissa Stewart is an Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, William S. Richardson School of Law. Her research combines theoretical and practical approaches to complex problems of international law. Her scholarship focuses on the rights of stateless persons and refugees as well as those who are seeking pathways to regular migration in the context of climate change or are vulnerable to the loss of territory due to sea-level rise.

Prior to academia, Professor Stewart spent several years in private practice at Foley Hoag, LLP where she advised clients on matters related to international law, human rights, law of the sea, international environmental law, and corporate social responsibility. She represented clients before various United Nations bodies and was co-counsel to the Republic of the Philippines in the historic South China Sea arbitration before the Permanent Court of Arbitration. She has held appointments at Georgetown University Law Center, the Center for Transnational Legal Studies in London, and will be a Visiting Fellow at the Australian National University College of Law during the summer of 2024.

Professor Stewart earned her JD and LLM from Georgetown Law and her master’s in international economic law, global governance studies from SciencesPo in Paris.