Sophie Thériault is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law, Civil Law Section, of the University of Ottawa, and a member of the Barreau du Québec (2003). She is also currently Vice-Dean of Graduate Studies for the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law. Professor Theriault holds a doctoral degree from Laval University (LL.D. 2009), for which she earned a scholarship from the Trudeau Foundation. She has been a visiting scholar at the University of Washington in Seattle (2004-2005) and at the University of Victoria (2005-2007). She also served as a Law Clerk to the Honorable Louis LeBel at the Supreme Court of Canada in 2002-2003.
Professor Thériault’s research focuses on indigenous peoples’ rights in the context of natural resources extraction; indigenous environmental governance; environmental justice and environmental rights; and food security and sovereignty for indigenous peoples. In 2012, she was awarded the Canadian Association of Law Professors (CALT) scholarly paper award for the article “Les droits environnementaux dans la Charte des droits et libertés de la personne du Québec: Pistes de réflexion”, which she co-published in McGill Law Journal with Professor David Robitaille.
She is a member of the Centre interuniversitaire d’études et de recherches autochtones (CIÉRA, Université Laval), the Centre for Environmental Law and Global Sustainability (CELGS, University of Ottawa), the Human Rights Research and Education Centre (University of Ottawa), and the Chaire de recherche en droit sur la diversité et la sécurité alimentaires (held by Professor Geneviève Parent from Laval University). She is also a member of the editorial board for the Canadian Law and Society Journal.