Thomas Baycock
Lecturer in Law
Overview
Tom is a legal researcher and educator specialising in environmental law. He joined the teaching team at the University of Exeter in January 2021 and has taught across various environmental law modules since. Tom is particularly interested in biodiversity and conservation laws, and his current doctoral research focusses on legal responses to the ongoing, exponential loss in planetary biodiversity.
Tom holds a degree in history with international relations and completed his LLM Masters of Law in September 2020 at the University of Exeter where he received the Dean’s Commendation for exceptional performance. He also has professional experience in politics.
Research
Tom is particularly interested in laws relating to wildlife and conservation. Much of his research and teaching has focussed on ‘species specific’ laws, including research on the laws surrounding shark fisheries and the illegal shark fin trade, as well as laws related to wolves and whaling. Tom has also undertaken research on the rights of nature, ecocide and on laws in the polar regions, delivering teaching across all of these subject areas.
Tom’s current doctoral research focusses on legal responses to the ongoing, exponential loss in planetary biodiversity. The research investigates how the intersections of territory, sovereignty, and spatiality prevent the application and enforcement of effective laws to conserve and protect species and habitats. The research takes an interdisciplinary approach, and engages in legal geographies as a lens to consider the relationships between species, ecosystems and conceptions of territory and jurisdiction.
Other research interests include:
- Conservation and wildlife laws
- Ecocide and environmental crime.
- Legal Personhood and Rights of Nature
- Law of the Sea
- Polar Law
- Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction
