Teaching
Courses
Education
- BA LLB (Hons), National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata (2013)
- Masters of Environmental Law, Melbourne University (2024)
Profile
Stella is a lawyer and storyteller with nine years of work experience within the not-for-profit sector in India across environment and climate policy action and advocacy. She works at the intersections of law, sociology, storytelling and art and design to advocate for democratising environmental governance. Her work has ranged across supporting research, analysis and communication of environmental law with civil society, research and international advocacy on tourism with fishworker unions, leading outreach on climate change and fisheries in Lakshadweep islands, and supporting Adivasi communities in Odisha develop rights-based responses to the mining industry. She has worked in collaboration with local governments, grassroots organisations, community members and students to advocate for community led environmental governance in India. Along with her law degrees, she holds certifications in Oral History, Facilitation and Theatre of the Oppressed.
Research Interest
- Environmental Justice
- Environmental Law
- Marine Law and Justice
- Participatory Research and Design
Publications
- Stella James et al, ‘Shifting sands: Diaries from the Gulf of Mannar National Park, Tamilnadu’ in Manoj Mishra (ed) Wildlife India @50, Rupa Publications (2022).
- ‘Yaarude Poromboke: A case study on the privatization of coastal commons for tourism in Tamilnadu’, Equitable Tourism Options (2021).
- Stella James, ‘FCA amendment takes us back to British era’, The Print (15 Aug 2023).
- Stella James et al, ‘Unpacking the protests against the draft Lakshadweep Development Authority Regulation’, Bar and Bench (19 July 2021).
- Nayana Udayashankar and Stella James, ‘In the COVID-19 pandemic, tourism is a double-edged swordfor fisherfolk’, The News Minute (11 April 2020).
- Stella James and Nayana Udayashankar, ‘The Silent Conquest: Coastal Governance in the Blue Economy’,National Law School of India Review Online (12 June 2021).
- Stella James and Nayana Udayashankar, ‘Does tourism need to be within the EIA’, Socio-Legal Review Forum (20 August 2020).