Bruce Myers

Bruce Myers is the principal of AELaw, a public interest law practice and consultancy located in Washington, DC. His current work at the international level includes assisting governments, nonprofits, and stakeholders seeking to protect and better manage the ocean areas and marine spaces of island states through marine protected areas (MPAs), marine spatial planning (MSP), and related policy tools. Domestically, he partners on the development of model ordinances and other materials to empower municipalities looking to strengthen local policy on plant-based protein alternatives, community composting, and climate mitigation. Bruce has also been integral to legal initiatives involving companion animals (protecting dogs from exploitation and abuse) and laboratory animals (supporting regulatory acceptance of the science-based shift away from animal testing). 

Before establishing AELaw in 2016, Bruce spent over a decade as a senior policy attorney for ELI, where he developed and managed environmental projects in the United States and abroad, with an international focus on Africa. He founded the Institute’s Industrial Agriculture Law and Policy Center. 

Bruce has for many years researched and written on the legal dimensions of animal and environmental topics. Among the issues Bruce has addressed are the protection of marine ecosystems, sensible regulation of the impacts of industrial agriculture, the promotion of alternatives to lab animal testing, and reliance on the US Constitution as a source for strong environmental protection. Representative publications include co-authorship of two chapters in the 2020 volume, What Can Animal Law Learn from Environmental Law? (2d ed.) and a chapter in the 2011 book Principles of Constitutional Environmental Law.