The International Studies Association (ISA) Environmental Studies Section will present Peter M. Haas, Professor of Political Science, with the 2014 Distinguished Scholar Award at their annual meeting in Toronto, Canada on March 27, 2014.

The Distinguished Scholar Award is presented annually to an outstanding scholar whose research and teaching has made a substantial impact on the fields associated with international relations and environmental issues.

“It is gratifying to have my research recognized,” says Professor Haas.  “I am pleased to join the ranks of other distinguished scholars recognized by ISA and look forward to many more years of exploring issues of global governance and the science-policy interface.”

The award coincides with the 25th anniversary of Professor Haas’ first publication on epistemic communities -- a term he used to describe groups of experts with shared knowledge of an issue and who play significant roles in the development and structures of policies and regimes.

For more than 25 years, Professor Haas has remained a sought-after expert on global environmental governance. He has served as consultant for organizations including the United Nations Environment Programme, the United States Central Intelligence Agency Strategic Outlook Research Group, the US Department of State, the Obama Administration Energy & Environment Team, and the United States Environmental Protection Agency, among others.

Professor Haas is one of a select group of researchers chosen to collaborate on the United Nation’s Global Environment Outlook 5, a periodic report that details the global state of the environment, and he is a faculty affiliate of the Earth System Governance Project, a global research alliance of researchers and leading research institutions that specialize in the scientific study of international and national environmental governance.

Professor Haas is author of Global Environmental Governance (Island Press, 2006) and Saving the Mediterranean: The Politics of International Environmental Cooperation (Columbia, 1990). He is editor of Improving Global Environmental Governance: Best Practices for Architecture and Agency (Routledge, 2014); Controversies in Globalization (CQ Press 2009 and Sage 2012); International Environmental Governance (Ashgate, 2008); Emerging Forces in Environmental Governance (UNU Press, 2004); The International Environment in the New Global Economy (Edward Elgar, 2003); Knowledge, Power and International Policy Coordination (University of South Carolina, 1997); and Institutions for the Earth: Sources of Effective International Environmental Protection (MIT Press, 1993). His research has appeared in International Organization, Science, Global Governance, and Journal of International Studies, among others. His work has been translated into Japanese, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Korean, and Spanish.

In addition to receiving the award, ISA will honor Professor Haas with a roundtable discussion of his long history of research on global environmental issues and with a reception at the conference on March 27.Full details of the conference schedule are available on the ISA website.