Nickie Vlavianos
Assistant Professor
LL.M. (Calgary), LL.B. (Alberta), B.A. Hons. (Saskatchewan)
Member of the Alberta Bar
Office: MFH4314
Telephone: 403.220.8790
Email: nvlavian@ucalgary.ca
Nickie joined the Faculty of Law in July 2007. She was on a half-time secondment arrangement with the Canadian Institute of Resources Law at the University of Calgary from 2007-2010. Prior to joining the Faculty, Nickie was a Research Associate at the Canadian Institute of Resources Law from 2001 to 2007. Before that, she practiced law in Calgary and served as legal counsel to Madam Justice C. Hunt of the Alberta Court of Appeal. In 1996-1997, Nickie articled with the Courts of Appeal and Queen’s Bench in Calgary. In 2000, she completed a Master of Laws degree with a specialization in environmental and oil and gas law. Her thesis, which was awarded the Governor General’s Gold Medal, considered the liability regimes for well abandonment, reclamation, releases of substances, and contaminated sites in Alberta. In 2002, she was a visiting assistant professor with the Faculty of Law.
Nickie teaches Law 404: Property, Law 531: Environmental Law, and Law 645: Pollution Control and Waste Management Law.
In 2011, through a generous grant from the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation Grants Program, Nickie prepared course materials for a new course in Pollution Control and Waste Management Law (PCWML). They are available upon request. The materials begin with introductions to several key questions in PCWML including: what is “pollution”? what is “waste”? how have they thus far been “controlled” and “managed”? what are the alternative approaches? what role does the precautionary principle play? The materials then focus on a number of specific topic areas. While the focus is primarily Canadian law, some of the topics require consideration of international law. The Table of Contents for the materials is as follows: (1) Introductory Concepts; (2) The Precautionary Principle; (3) Creating Liability Regimes for Pollution and Waste Management; (4) Contaminated Sites Liability; (5) Offshore Oil and Gas Drilling and Spills Liability; (6) Assessing Environmental Damages; (7) Human Rights and Environmental Pollution; (8) Pollution and Drinking Water; (9) Manure Management; (10) Abandonment and Reclamation; (11) Transboundary Pollution; (12) Municipal Solid Waste Management; and (13) Confronting the World’s Ocean Garbage Patches.
Nickie's research interests are in the areas of energy, natural resources, environmental, and property law. She is the current editor of the Canada Energy Law Service - Federal (Thomson/Carswell). Her publications and research include work on such topics as: public participation in energy, natural resources and environmental decision making; theories of environmental liability, including the polluter pays principle; liability regimes for the clean up of environmental damage; the role of human rights law in natural resources development; the constitutional jurisdiction of administrative tribunals; the role of municipalities in natural resources and renewable energy development; the legal and regulatory framework for oil and gas, including oil sands, development in Alberta; and the role and mandate of Canada’s National Energy Board.
Nickie is the Visiting Speakers / Events Coordinator and also serves on the Admissions Committee and Graduate Studies Committee within the Faculty of Law. She is also on the Board of Directors for the Canadian Institute of Resources Law.
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