Professor Carlton Waterhouse, JD
Professor of Law
Howard University
Professor Carlton Waterhouse is an international expert on environmental law and environmental justice, as well as reparations and redress for historic injustices. He lectures globally on climate justice and group based inequality. In 2019, he testified before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States and in 2018 he completed a Fulbright research fellowship in Brazil examining race and police violence. His views have been published in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and many other media outlets. His scholarship includes essays, articles, and book chapters focused on the ethical and legal dimensions of environmental justice and reparations. He is currently completing a book on Social Dominance and the Supreme Court that explores the Court’s past and current role in maintaining racial hierarchy in American society.
After completing law school at Howard University, Professor Waterhouse began his career as an attorney with the EPA, where he served in the Office of Regional Counsel in Atlanta, Georgia and the Office of General Counsel in Washington, D.C. At the EPA, he served as the chief counsel for the agency in several significant cases and as a national and regional expert on environmental justice, earning three of the Agency’s prestigious national awards.
Professor Waterhouse graduated with honors from the Candler School of Theology at Emory University with a Master of Theological Studies degree and from the Emory University Graduate School with a Ph.D. in Social Ethics. Drawing from his unique background, Professor Waterhouse examines civil rights, human rights, and environmental issues from a multidisciplinary approach. He actively participates in national, local, and international organizations protecting civil rights and addressing environmental issues like climate justice. He serves on the board of the Environmental Law Institute and is a member of the International Sustainable Development Research Society. He teaches property law as well as environmental and administrative law related courses and is building the Howard University Environmental Justice Center at the Howard University School of Law. The Environmental Justice Center conducts environmental justice research and advocacy that supports local communities confronting environmental injustices and provides policy interventions that promote environmental justice in local, national, and global arenas.
