J. Marc McGinnes (born September 27, 1941) is an environmental leader, lawyer, and educator.[1] He became a public interestenvironmental lawyer and led the founding of the Community Environmental Council (1970) and the Environmental Defense Center (1977).
In 1971, McGinnes joined the faculty of the Environmental Studies Program of theUniversity of California, Santa Barbara, one of the first undergraduate programs of its kind in the United States. In 1983, he began full-time there, developing courses for both the Environmental Studies and Law and Society programs. He also served in various campus advisory and administrative positions.[2] Since 2005, he has served in an emeritus capacity.[3] In 2016, McGinnes donated his research papers, teaching and practice papers and materials to the UCSB Library. In 2017 he developed and convened a seminar titled Hope That Works.[4]
After the 1969 Santa Barbara oil blowout and subsequent oil spill, Rep.Pete McCloskey urged McGinnes, then practicing law inSan Francisco, to go to Santa Barbara to assist in that community’s response.[5] McGinnes served as chair of the national Environmental Rights Day conference inSanta Barbara following the oil spill.[6][7][8]
In 1970, McGinnes was the founding president of the Community Environmental Council, one of the nation’s first ecology center/think tanks.[9] In 1977 he was the founding chief counsel of the Environmental Defense Center, one of the nation’s first regional public-interest environmental law firms.[10]
^Fenton, Jessica (April 9, 2015)."All Creatures Great and Small/".UCSB The Current. The Regents of the University of California. RetrievedJune 11, 2018.
^McGinnes, Marc (April 22, 2019).Book Excerpt: 'In Love with Earth'. Santa Barbara Independent, Inc.ISBN978-0999034217.{{cite book}}:|work= ignored (help)
^McGinnes, Marc (December 7, 2018).'In Love with Earth: Testimonies and Heartsongs of an Environmental Elder'. Mercury Press International.ISBN978-0999034217.
