TKI Faculty Profile | Sam Johnston

Biography

Sam Johnston is Head of the Traditional Knowledge Initiative (TKI). An Australian national, he has degrees in chemistry and law and is a qualified lawyer in the Supreme Court of Victoria, Australia. At the UNU Institute for Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS), Sam works as Senior Research Fellow and his principal responsibilities are to provide strategic guidance to the Director regarding the research priorities of the Institute, develop new research activities for the Institute, and assist with fundraising efforts. Before joining UNU-IAS, he worked at the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, where he has held a variety of positions, including secretary of the second meeting of the SBSTTA, acting Principal Officer for Implementation and Communication, and acting Legal Advisor and Programme Officer for Financial Resources and Instruments. He also represented the Executive Secretary of the Convention at a wide range of diplomatic and academic conferences, including the United Nations General Assembly, Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization and the Global Environment Facility’s Participants Assembly. Prior to the Secretariat, Sam was the Jacques & Lewis Research Associate in the Department of Land Economy at the University of Cambridge (U.K.), the legal manager at Société Générale Australia Ltd and a solicitor at a major Australian commercial firm of attorneys.

Publications

A recent selection of publications related to traditional knowledge available online include:

Peer-reviewed Books and Book Chapters

• K Galloway McLean, A Ramos Castillo and S Johnston (2012) The role of Indigenous Peoples in global environmental governance: Looking through the lens of climate change in Green Economy and Good Governance for Sustainable Development: Opportunities, Promises and Concerns (2012), JA Puppim de Oliveira (Ed.) Tokyo: UNU Press. ISBN: 978-92-808-1216-9
• TM Swanson and S Johnston (2000) Global Environmental Problems and International Environmental Agreements: The Economics of International Institution Building. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, 290p. ISBN: 1-85898-751-2.

Other Publications (Articles, Conference Proceedings, Policy Briefs, etc):

• C Prip, T Gross, S Johnston and M Vierros (2010). Biodiversity Planning: An assessment of national biodiversity strategies and action plans. United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies, Yokohama, Japan.
• K Galloway McLean, A Ramos-Castillo, T Gross, S Johnston, M Vierros, R Noa (2009). Indigenous Peoples’ Global Summit on Climate Change. Report of the Indigenous Peoples' Global Summit on Climate Change, 20-24 April 2009, Anchorage, Alaska. ISBN: 978-0-9807084-2-4
• S Laird, C Monagle and S Johnston (2008). Queensland Biodiscovery Collaboration: The Griffith University AstraZeneca Partnership for Natural Product Discovery - An Access & Benefit Sharing Case Study Tokyo: UNU-IAS Report.
• S Johnston, C Monagle, J Green and R Mackenzie (2008). Internationally Funded Training in Biosafety and Biotechnology: Is It Bridging the Biotech Divide? Tokyo: UNU-IAS Report.
• T Gross, S Johnston & CV Barber (2006). A Convenção sobre Diversidade Biológica: Entendendo e Influenciando o Processo / The Convention on Biological Diversity: Understanding and Influencing the Process. Ministry of the Environment, Brasilia, United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies, Yokohama. (Published simultaneously in Portuguese and English).
• S Johnston and D Lohan (2005). International regime for bioprospecting: existing policies and emerging issues for Antarctica. Tokyo: UNU-IAS Report.
• CV Barber, S Johnston and B Tobin (2003). User measures: options for developing measures in user countries to implement the access and benefit sharing provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Tokyo: UNU-IAS Report.

Further information:

• UNU Faculty Profile