Rate My Professor Robert Cutting

Robert Cutting was an Associate Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW), serving from 1991 until his retirement in 2015. He held an A.B. from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a J.D. from the University of California, Davis School of Law. Prior to joining UNCW, Cutting worked in the Santa Barbara District Attorney’s Office and for the California Air Quality Board. He began his tenure at UNCW as a lecturer in the Cameron School of Business before transitioning to become a founding member of the Department of Environmental Studies. In this role, he taught environmental law, a core course required for all Environmental Studies majors, and co-taught the first forensic environmental science course in the United States, designed for both undergraduate and graduate students to learn how to investigate environmental crimes.

Cutting architected the EVS Internship Program, which gained national recognition as a model for applied learning and significantly contributed to the growth of the Environmental Studies program. The program featured collaborations with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of Biology and Marine Biology, offering students valuable hands-on experiences. His research centered on applying fundamental property rights to environmental protection, arguing that pollution constitutes a trespass under common law traditions, thereby empowering property owners to prevent contamination. Key publications include "Thinking Outside the Box: Property Rights as a Key to Environmental Protection" (Pace Environmental Law Review, 2005), "One Man's Ceiling Is Another Man's Floor: Property Rights as the Double-Edged Sword" (Environmental Law, 2001), "The Gift That Keeps on Giving: Global Warming Meets the Common Law" (Vermont Journal of Environmental Law, 2008), "Spill the Beans: GoodGuide, Walmart and EPA Use Information as Efficient, Market-Based Environmental Regulation" (Tulane Environmental Law Journal, 2010), "Requirements for a Workable Intern/Practicum in the Environmental Sciences: Experience for Careers and Graduate School" (Journal of Geoscience Education, 2008), and "How Property Rights Can Fight Pollution" (American Scientist, 2020). These articles, published in prestigious law reviews and scientific journals, advanced discussions on market-based environmental regulation and pollution control. Colleagues described him as a leader in integrating legal service with environmental protection through his teaching and scholarly work.