James Salzman is Distinguished Professor of Environmental Law with joint appointments at the UCLA School of Law and at the Bren School of the Environment at UC Santa Barbara. In twelve books and more than 100 articles and book chapters, his broad-ranging scholarship has addressed topics spanning drinking water, trade and environment conflicts, policy instrument design, and creating markets for ecosystem services. He frequently appears as a media commentator and has lectured on environmental policy on every continent.
His book Drinking Water: A History, was praised as a Recommended Read by Scientific American and reviewed in the New York Times and Washington Post. His book Mine!: How the Hidden Rules of Ownership Control Our Lives was published in March 2021.