Four of Professor Keith Hirokawa's five pending publications for 2011 concern "ecosystem services" - the convergence of economics and ecology to estimate the economic value attributable to functioning ecosystems.

"Because ecosystems provide clean water, clean air, flood protection and other basic and necessary services to human well-being, it is essential that we understand the costs of losing or ignoring these services," explained Professor Hirokawa.

Professor Hirokawa's forthcoming publications related to ecosystem services include: "Three Stories about Nature: Property, the Environment, and Ecosystem Services" in the Mercer Law Review; "Sustainability and the Urban Forest: An Ecosystem Services Perspective" in the University of New Mexico School of Law's Natural Resources Journal; "Disaster and Ecosystem Services: From the Cuyahoga to the Deepwater Horizon" in the Albany Law Review; and "Sustaining Ecosystem Services through Local Environmental Law" in the Pace Environmental Law Review's Special Issue, Rediscovering Sustainable Development Law. 

The first piece was selected through a blind, peer-review process for presentation on the panel, "New Voices on Cutting Edge Issues in Natural Resources and Environmental Law," at the Natural Resources Law session during the 2011 Annual Meeting of the American Association of Law Schools.

Professor Hirokawa's fifth article, "Property as Capture and Care," will be published in the Albany Law Review. This article explores opportunities to view property law from the perspectives of care, collaboration, and community - principles that focus on relationships with land, rather than the competition to capture it and exclude others. 

These articles are consistent with Professor Hirokawa's ongoing research on the tension between property and the treatment of natural resources, particularly the manner in which perspectives on nature and property are constructed through law.

At Albany Law School, Professor Hirokawa teaches Property, Natural Resources Law, State and Local Environmental Law, and a seminar on Environmental Law, Policy and Ethics. Before relocating to the Capital Region, he was an associate professor at Texas Wesleyan University School of Law, where he focused on environmental and natural resources law, land use, property law and jurisprudence.

Professor Hirokawa serves on the Council of the American Bar Association State and Local Government Law Section and as an issue editor for the NYSBA Environmental Law Section's publication, The New York Environmental Lawyer. He earned his law degree and master's degree from the University of Connecticut, and his L.L.M. from Lewis and Clark Law School. He continues his involvement community groups and nonprofit organizations, serving in a variety of capacities as counsel, advisor and board member.