Randall S. Abate is the inaugural Rechnitz Family / Urban Coast Institute Endowed Chair in Marine and Environmental Law and Policy at Monmouth University in New Jersey and a Professor in the Department of Political Science and Sociology. He is also Director of the Institute for Global Understanding at Monmouth. He teaches courses in domestic and international environmental law, constitutional law, and animal law. Prior to joining the Monmouth faculty in August 2018, Professor Abate had 24 years of full-time law teaching experience at six U.S. law schools, most recently as a Professor of Law from 2009-2018 at Florida A&M University College of Law in Orlando, Florida. He has taught international and comparative law courses—and delivered invited lectures—on environmental and animal law topics in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Cayman Islands, China, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, the Netherlands, Norway, Qatar, Serbia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and Vanuatu. Professor Abate has delivered invited lectures on climate justice and animal law topics at several of the top law schools in the world, including Harvard, Cambridge, Oxford, Yale, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Sydney, the University of Melbourne, the University of Toronto, the London School of Economics, University College London, Seoul National University, and China University of Political Science and Law.

Professor Abate has published more than thirty law journal articles and book chapters on environmental law topics, with a recent emphasis on climate change law and justice. He is the author of CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE VOICELESS: PROTECTING FUTURE GENERATIONS, WILDLIFE, AND NATURAL RESOURCES (Cambridge University Press 2019); editor of WHAT CAN ANIMAL LAW LEARN FROM ENVIRONMENTAL LAW? (ELI Press, 2d ed.  2020), CLIMATE JUSTICE: CASE STUDIES IN GLOBAL AND REGIONAL GOVERNANCE CHALLENGES (ELI Press 2016), and CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS ON OCEAN AND COASTAL LAW: U.S. AND INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES (Oxford University Press 2015); and co-editor of CLIMATE CHANGE AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES: THE SEARCH FOR LEGAL REMEDIES (Edward Elgar 2013).

Early in his career, Professor Abate handled environmental law matters at two law firms in Manhattan. He holds a B.A. from the University of Rochester and a J.D. and M.S.E.L. (Environmental Law and Policy) from Vermont Law School.