Kostantina (Tina) Northrup is a settler Nova Scotian who was born in Toronto and raised in New Brunswick from a young age.

Before pursuing a career in law, Tina earned an MA and PhD in English literature through research on environmental writing by Canadian poets and novelists. Ultimately, her interests in environmental and climate justice inspired her to enter the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University with the goal of becoming a public-interest environmental lawyer.

Tina volunteered with East Coast Environmental Law through the Pro Bono Dalhousie program through all three years of her legal studies. After her first year of law school, she became East Coast Environmental Law’s part-time office manager, and she interned with the organization for the summer. In the years that followed, her commitment to public legal education and community collaboration led her to take on a variety of roles with the organization, contributing legal research and supporting project development, communications, and fundraising.

After finishing law school, Tina stepped into a shared articling position with East Coast Environmental Law and McKiggan Hebert. In the spring of 2020, she was called to the Nova Scotia Bar and assumed a full-time role as staff lawyer. Her areas of special interest include Aboriginal and Indigenous law in environmental contexts, laws related to climate change mitigation and adaptation (including energy law focused on the renewable energy transition), environmental assessment and decision-making, human rights in environmental contexts, and rights of nature.

Tina has provided public legal education and training in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. She teaches part-time at the Schulich School of Law, and she has supervised Schulich students undertaking Directed Research Projects and the Environmental Law Placement course.

When Tina completed her law degree at the Schulich School of Law, she received the Elizabeth May Award for Environmental Service. In addition to volunteering with East Coast Environmental Law, she has served as a Co-Chair of the Environmental Law Students’ Society at the Schulich School of Law and a Co-Chair of the Energy Action Team at the Ecology Action Centre. She has also volunteered with the Environmental Noxiousness, Racial Inequities and Community Health (“ENRICH”) Project, the Adult Literacy Program at Halifax Public Libraries, and the Out of the Cold shelter. She is currently a member of the Truth and Reconciliation Working Group of the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society and a member of the CLIMAtlantic Advisory Committee.

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