Notes on Contributors

• Pages: 9-10

NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS

Ali Buabbas is an independent scholar.

Lt Cdr Benjamin Haight is an active-duty Navy JAG who currently

serves as an Assistant General Counsel with the U.S. Department

of Defense. A native of State College, Pennsylvania, Lieutenant

Commander Haight earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Franklin

and Marshall College, a Juris Doctorate from Penn State Law, a Master

of Arts in Defense and Security Studies from the U.S. Naval War College,

and a Master of Laws in National Security Law from the Georgetown

University Law Center. He is licensed to practice law in Pennsylvania,

before the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, and

before the United States Supreme Court. He previously served as the

sole at-sea legal advisor to an amphibious ready group, advising on

operational law issues during a deployment to the Middle East and

Europe. He also served as legal counsel to a tactical organization under

United States Strategic Command. Most recently, he was a national

security instructor at the Naval Justice School, the Surface Warfare

Ocer’s School, and the United States Naval War College in Newport,

Rhode Island.

Avery Pierce is an is a third-year law student at the University of

San Diego School of Law. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political

Science from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and spent

time in Barcelona working at the Illustre Collegi de l’Advocacia de

Barcelona. During her legal internship, she engaged with Presidents of

Mediterranean bar associations to enhance awareness of international

criminal law conferences. Avery’s research explores the intersection of

environmental protection and international legal policy, focusing on

liability in cross-border mass torts. Her work highlights the U.S.’s role

in environmental degradation in Southeast Asia and advocates for the

formal inclusion of ecocide in the Rome Statute of the International

Criminal Court. She assesses the proposed ecocide amendment by

applying the Independent Expert Panel’s recommended elements to