Sabrina Safrin is a former legal counsel for the Bureau of Oceans,
International Environment, and Scientific Affairs for the U.S. Department of
State and won several awards there in addition to being a visiting
scholar at the Environmental Law Institute in Washington, D.C. She joined
Rutgers in 2002 and teaches Patent Law, Contracts, and International Law and Science.
Professor Safrin earned her J.D. from Boalt Hall School of Law at the
University of California, Berkeley, and her B.A. magna cum laude from
Pomona College. She clerked for Chief Judge Mary M. Schroeder of the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and was an associate at the
San Francisco law firm of Hanson & Bridgett. For eight years she was
an attorney-adviser at the Office of the Legal Adviser, U.S. Department
of State. There she served as legal counsel for the Bureau of Oceans,
International Environment, and Scientific Affairs, where she helped
negotiate treaties and international instruments pertaining to
biotechnology, biological diversity, and marine pollution. Prior to
that, she served as legal counsel for diplomatic law and litigation and
as legal counsel for African affairs. She is a recipient of several
Department of State awards for outstanding service.
Prior to joining Rutgers, Professor Safrin was an
Open Society Institute fellow. Her publications include "Chain Reaction: How Property Begets Property" (2007) in the Notre Dame Law Review;
and "Hyperownership in a Time of Biotechnological Promise: The
International Conflict to Control the Building Blocks of Life" (2004),
which was awarded the American Society of International Law Francis Deak
Prize, and "Treaties in Collision: The Biosafety Protocol and the World
Trade Organization Agreements" (2002), both in the American Journal of International Law.
