Jessica Vapnek

Bio

Jessica Vapnek is Associate Dean of the MSL Program, Director of the International Development Law Center, and Professor of Practice at UC Law SF. Previously, she was a Regional Technical Director for a consulting firm in San Francisco implementing rule-of-law projects around the world. In that role she managed complex international projects and helped write winning proposals. Previously, for almost 15 years, Professor Vapnek served as a Legal Officer with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome, providing policy advice to member countries, drafting legislation on agriculture and natural resources, and writing and editing a number of articles and books. Professor Vapnek has lived in Africa (she was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the former Zaire and a Fulbright Scholar in Ghana) and has worked in or traveled to 93 countries during her career. She continues to do occasional work for the UN as an expert, for example traveling to Bhutan and Malawi to review their veterinary legislative frameworks and to Nepal to evaluate a proposed draft food safety law. She speaks French, Spanish, and Italian.

Education

• University of California, Berkeley - School of Law
  J.D.

• Yale University
  B.A.

Accomplishments

• Editor in Chief
  California Law Review

• Fulbright Scholar
  Ghana

• Fulbright Specialist
  Poland

• Peace Corps Volunteer
  Democratic Republic of the Congo

Selected Scholarship

• Drafting National Food Legislation in a Globally Connected World in RESEARCH HANDBOOK ON INTERNATIONAL FOOD LAW (Michael Roberts, ed.)
  Jessica Vapnek & Melvin Spreij, Edward Elgar 2023

• Food and Agriculture Policy in BUSINESS & PUBLIC POLICY HANDBOOK
  Jessica Vapnek & Tiffany Wang, Edward Elgar 2021

• Legislative and Regulatory Frameworks for Family Farming
  Jessica Vapnek & Peter Boaz, FAO Legislative Study Series 2021

• Regulatory and Legislative Framework for Novel Foods, in FOOD FORMULATION: NOVEL INGREDIENTS AND PROCESSING TECHNIQUES
  Jessica Vapnek, Kai Purnhagen, & Ben Hillel, Wiley-Blackwell 2021

• Agricultural Legislation in International Legislative Drafting Handbook
  Jessica Vapnek, Carolina Academic Press 2020

• Gender-Silent Drafting in a Non-Binary World,
  Jessica Vapnek and Donald L. Revell, Capital Law Review 48:2 2020

• Regulating the Packaged Water Industry in Africa: Challenges and Recommendations
  Jessica Vapnek and Ashley R. Williams, 20 U. Denv. Water L. Rev. 217 2018

• Resolving Disputes and Improving Security in Post-Conflict Settings: An Example from Liberia
  Jessica Vapnek, Alfred Fofie, & Peter Boaz, Arbitration - The International Journal of Arbitration, Mediation and Dispute Management 2017

• Cultural Factors and Ethical Integrity
  Jessica Vapnek, Hastings International and Comparative Law Review 2016

• Improving Access to Justice in Developing and Post-Conflict Countries: Practical Examples from the Field
  Jessica Vapnek, Peter Boaz, & Helga Turku, Duke Forum for Law & Social Change 2016

• 21 Cost-Saving Measures for the Judiciary
  Jessica Vapnek, International Journal for Court Administration 2013

• Legislative and Regulatory Options for Animal Welfare
  Jessica Vapnek & Megan Chapman, FAO Legislative Study Series 2011

• Law for Water Management: A Guide to Concepts and Approaches
  Jessica Vapnek, Bruce Aylward, Jamie Bartram, & Christie Popp, editors, FAO Legislative Study Series 2009

• Legislatively Establishing a Health Certification Programme for Citrus
  Jessica Vapnek, FAO Legal Papers Online 2009

• Regulatory Measures Against Outbreaks of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza
  Jessica Vapnek, FAO Legal Papers Online 2009

• Designing National Pesticide Legislation
  Jessica Vapnek, Isabella Pagotto, & Margaret Kwoka, FAO Legislative Study Series 2007

• Legislative Implementation of the Food Chain Approach
  Jessica Vapnek, Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law 2007

• Development of an Analytical Tool to Assess Biosecurity Legislation
  Daniele Manzella & Jessica Vapnek, FAO Legislative Study Series 2007

• Guidelines for the Revision of National Plant Protection Legislation
  Jessica Vapnek & Daniele Manzella, FAO Legal Papers Online 2007

• Recent Trends in the Law and Policy of Bioenergy Production, Promotion and Use
  Charlotta Jull, Patricia Carmona Redondo, Victor Mosoti, & Jessica Vapnek, FAO Legislative Study Series 2007

• Making National Food Laws
  Jessica Vapnek & Melvin Spreij, Rivista di Diritto Agrario (Agrarian Law Review) 2005

• Perspectives and Guidelines on Food Legislation, with a New Model Food Law
  Jessica Vapnek & Melvin Spreij, FAO Legislative Study Series 2005

• Law and Sustainable Development Since Rio: Legal Trends in Agriculture and Natural Resource Management
  Jessica Vapnek & Mohamed Ali Mekouar, editors, FAO Legislative Study Series 2002

• Implementation of Management Plans
  Jamie Bartram, Jessica Vapnek, et al., Toxic Cyanobacteria in Water: A Guide to their Public Health Consequences, Monitoring, and Management 1999

• Institutional and Legal Measures to Combat African Swine Fever
  Jessica Vapnek, FAO Legal Papers Online 1999

• Establishing a Water Abstraction Licensing Scheme: Issues and Options
  Jessica Vapnek, FAO Legal Papers Online 1999

• The West African Drug Mule Train
  Jessica Vapnek, Criminal Law Bulletin 1996