College of Law

Zsea Bowmani

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Zsea Bowmani joined the University of Toledo College of Law in August 2022 as an Assistant Professor of Law.  Bowmani is a legal scholar and civil rights attorney working at the intersections of environment, race, gender, sexual orientation, human rights, and the law. He will teach constitutional law, environmental law, and environmental justice. 

Prior to joining Toledo Law, Bowmani taught environmental law and policy at Santa Clara University School of Law and the College of Arts & Sciences, where he led multidisciplinary teams to conduct legal research and provide advocacy support for Bay Area grassroots organizations as head of the Environmental Justice Advocacy Lab. He also co-lead the Law & Advocacy Project of SCU’s Environmental Justice Initiative, which fosters community-engaged research and advocacy for social justice.  

Bowmani is a prolific scholar whose work has appeared in many journals and publications which can be found listed below. His current research investigates how Black queer feminist ecology can shape more equitable environmental laws and policies and climate change responses. Bowmani’s work is also international and includes in-country research on the impact of market liberalization on Cuba’s sustainable development and growing socioeconomic stratification, which was supported by a Hackworth Research Grant from the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics.  

Bowmani has previously worked at the ACLU of Illinois and the National LGBTQ Task Force in Washington, DC, where he worked on US Supreme Court and appellate cases and developed policies to fight discrimination in employment, schools, criminal law, and health care settings. Prior to that, Bowmani worked for UNESCO in Cambodia to protect cultural heritage in times of war, and the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative in London on decriminalizing homosexuality in former British colonies. 

Bowmani received his B.A. in History from Stanford University and his J.D. from Santa Clara University School of Law with certificates in Public International Law (with honors) and Public Interest and Social Justice Law.

• Professor Bowmani's SSRN Page