Maxine A. Burkett

Maxine Burkett is a Professor of Law at the William S. Richardson School of Law, University of Hawai’i at Manoa.

Maxine Burkett is a Professor of Law at the William S. Richardson School of Law, where she has been on faculty since 2009. At Richardson, she teaches Climate Change Law and Policy, Torts, Ocean and Coastal Law, and International Law. An expert in the law and policy of climate change, she has written extensively in diverse areas of climate change law with a particular focus on climate justice — exploring policy responses to climate change’s impacts on vulnerable communities in the United States and globally.

Maxine returned to the Richardson faculty in 2025 after serving in senior roles in at the State Department and the White House. Most recently, she served as the Assistant Director for Climate, Oceans, and Equity at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. From January 2022 through July 2023, she served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oceans, Fisheries, and Polar Affairs in the Department of State’s Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs (OES). At OES, she oversaw the formulation and implementation of U.S. foreign policy on a broad range of international issues concerning the oceans, the Arctic, the Antarctic, and marine conservation. Prior to that appointment, she served as a Senior Advisor to Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, where her portfolio included climate-related migration, climate security, bilateral relationships with island nations, and Indigenous Peoples’ engagement. While at the State Department, Maxine served concurrently as a Visiting Professor at Harvard Medical School’s Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, where she advanced research on climate justice and public health.

Maxine received her B.A. from Williams College, which awarded her the Bicentennial Medal for Distinguished Achievement in 2016, and Exeter College, Oxford University. She received her J.D. from Berkeley Law, University of California, and served as a law clerk for the Honorable Susan Illston of the United States District Court, Northern District of California.