Katharine (K.K.) DuVivier

After four years as the first woman exploration geologist worldwide for a French mineral company, K.K. DuVivier attended law school at the University of Denver (DU). She finished law school in 1982 and practiced natural resources law as an associate first at the firm of Sherman & Howard and then at Arnold & Porter’s Denver-based office. She later worked as an Assistant City Attorney for the City and County of Denver and as the Reporter of Decisions for the Colorado Court of Appeals.

Professor DuVivier started full-time teaching at the University of Colorado School of Law in 1990, and she joined the faculty at DU in 2000. Her awards include the 2013 Sturm Faculty Excellence Award for “Best Professor”; Sturm Mentorship Award 2013-2014; Hughes-Ruud Research Professor 2015; American Association of Law School’s DU Teacher of the Year 2015; the Robert B. Yegge Excellence in Teaching Award from DU in 2018; the Clyde O. Martz Award from the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation in 2019; and the MICDS Distinguished Alumni Award in 2020.

Professor DuVivier is currently the John A. Carver Chair in Natural Resources Law at DU and has taught a variety of subjects over the years, including Energy Law, Renewable Energy Law, Civil Procedure, Trusts & Estates, Mining Law, Legal Research & Writing, Local Government, and Environmental Law. Using her science background, Professor DuVivier has taught interdisciplinary courses and received a National Science Foundation award to partner with an atmospheric scientist and an economist to address wind farm impacts. From 2000-2006, she was Director of DU Law’s Lawyering Process Program, and from 2009-2010, she was Director of DU Law’s Environmental and Natural Resources Law Program. She also has taught energy and renewable energy courses as a visiting professor at Lewis & Clark Law School and at the University of Houston Law Center.

The numerous legal articles and book chapters Professor DuVivier has authored or co-authored have placed her in the top ten percent of Authors on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) measured by all-time downloads: http://ssrn.com/author=725005. She is sole author of two books. The Renewable Energy Reader (Carolina Academic Press 2011) was the first devoted exclusively to U.S. renewable energy law. Her second book, Energy Law Basics (Carolina Academic Press 2017), spans a wide spectrum of energy issues. In addition, Professor DuVivier co-authored an interdisciplinary work published in NATURE ENERGY on November 26, 2018: Costs and consequences of wake effects arising from uncoordinated wind energy development, J. K. Lundquist, K. K. DuVivier, D. Kaffine, J. M. Tomaszewski, NATURE ENERGY: https://rdcu.be/bb0aS

Professor DuVivier currently serves as a liaison for Citizens Climate Lobby, coordinates the Colorado Solar and Storage Coalition, and serves on the International Advisory Board of the Sustainable Development Strategies Group.

Professor DuVivier’s former home in Denver was built following German Passive House principles. Because the home was so efficient and achieved net positive energy without a furnace, it was frequently featured in sustainability tours and won the Colorado Renewable Energy Society’s “Renewable Energy and Sustainable Design in Buildings” Award for the Residential-New Construction category in 2012.

Professor DuVivier continues to research, write, and present in numerous national and international forums. Her current focus is on energy and renewable energy law, with a special emphasis on wind, solar, energy efficiency, distributed generation, and microgrids alternatives.

Courses