Rita Guerreiro Teixeira is an Assistant Professor of Public International Law at the Department of International and European Law. She teaches courses on international environmental law, general international law and research methodologies to master and bachelor students.  

Before joining Utrecht University, Rita was a postdoctoral researcher at the Erik Castrén Institute, University of Helsinki, and a member of the ERC-funded project PRIVIGO - Intergovernmental Organizations between Mission and Market. Prior to that, she was a junior researcher at the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies and has had visiting fellowship at the Amsterdam Centre for International Law and the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law. 

Rita has obtained a PhD in public international law from KU Leuven in 2023 with a dissertation entitled ‘How International Organisations Shape International Environmental Law through Non-binding Instruments: A Tale of Law and Authority’. She also holds an LL.M cum laude from Leiden University and a Bachelor degree from NOVA University, in Lisbon.

Rita’s main research interests include the law of international organisations, international environmental law, and law-making. She is currently working on the intersection between climate change law, science, and expertise and on the role of different actors in developing the field. She has joined the SciLex: Forum for Climate Science and International Law Exchange, an interdisciplinary initiative of lawyers and scientists working together to develop tools to advance implementation of climate obligations.

Rita is a member of the Early Career Network Co-ordinating Committee the European Society of International Law, the Belgian Society of International Law, and the Portuguese Branch of the International Law Association.