Madara Melnika is a Latvian human rights and environmental law lawyer. She is a Fulbright Alumna and has LL.M. Degrees from the University of Latvia, the University of Connecticut and the European University Institute. Her professional experience includes the Bundestag, a major law firm and the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Latvia. Currently, she pursues an interdisciplinary PhD at the European University Institute, researching the epistemic authority of NATO's environmental initiatives. She is a member of the Environmental Peacebuilding Association and an editor of the European Journal of Legal Society as well as an active commentator on Latvian and European legal and political developments.