Heather Payne, B.S., J.D.

Heather Payne is the Carter C. Kissell Professor in Law at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law and a leader in the areas of energy law, environmental law, and evolving regulatory policy. A former chemical engineer and corporate executive, she brings a deep understanding of both the technical and economic implications of policies to address new realities in a carbon- and water-constrained world.  Professor Payne’s scholarship has appeared or will appear in several leading journals, including the UC Irvine, Florida, and UCLA Law Reviews.

Before joining the Moritz faculty, Professor Payne was on the law faculty at Seton Hall University School of Law and Fellow and Assistant Director of the Center for Climate, Energy, Environment and Economics (CE3) at the University of North Carolina School of Law. Prior to entering academia, she clerked for Judge Martha Geer on the North Carolina Court of Appeals and worked with Sears Holdings Corporation and Honeywell International. Professor Payne was a 2024 Distinguished Energy Law Scholar at Vermont Law & Graduate School and currently serves on the AALS Natural Resources & Energy Law Section Executive Committee.