Head
in the Clouds
Lifelong love of flying leads to space law career
by Elaine Pugh
Airplanes were a childhood fascination for Jacqueline
Serrao, and on them she hitched her dreams. "Every day of my life
from the time I knew what an airplane was, I've dreamt about flying,"
says the associate director of the National Remote Sensing and Space Law
Center.
Serrao's route to the skies, however, took longer than she intended. "It's
weird that I had to become a lawyer in order to become a pilot,"
she says. After graduating high school in San Marino, Calif., she continued
her dream as she plotted her future: undergraduate degree in English and
psychology, UCLA, 1990; international law studies at Universite de Droit,
France, 1993; juris doctorate, Golden Gate University School of Law, 1995;
and LL.M. in air and space law, McGill University Institute of Air and
Space Law in Montréal, Canada, 1999.
While studying pre-med at UCLA, Serrao had dabbled in space medicine and
was introduced to space law and its related treaties, "issues that
I had never thought about," she says. Space law intrigued her so
much that in law school she continued those interests. "My law school
only offered one course in air and space law, so I tried to tailor as
many of my research papers as possible in my other courses to address
space law issues."
Following law school, she says she was "searching for a way to do
flight training, as opposed to taking the usual lawyer track." "I
came across the University of North Dakota and their flight training program,
and the opportunity opened up for me to be a professor there."
At UND, she taught airline/airport economics and aerospace law, in addition
to developing a curriculum and teaching aerospace law over the Internet
to students at UND and throughout the United States. Meanwhile, through
UND's flight training program, she also earned her private pilot certification,
which was "as exciting as having passed the Bar," she says.
The skies continued to open for Serrao, as she seized the opportunity
to combine her interests in both space and flight, studying for her Master
of Laws at McGill. There she researched, analyzed, and compiled space
law materials in remote sensing law, international space law, space applications
law, space commercialization, and government regulation of space.
Then as an international aviation operations specialist at the Office
of International Aviation at the Federal Aviation Administration, she
created and analyzed policies related to FAA's international program.
She also wrote and formulated U.S. policy arguments for the negotiation
of bilateral international aviation agreements between the U.S. government
and the Andean Republics.
Following her work with the FAA, she practiced law as an associate at
the California firm Chevalier, Allen & Lichman, LLP. Last year, Serrao
presented speeches in aerospace finance and environmental issues at the
Colombian Ministry of Transportation's International Conference in Air
and Space Law, in Bogotá, Colombia, at the Center for International
Legal Studies Conference in Valle Nevado, Chile, and at McGill.
Since joining NRSSLC in January, Serrao says, "I'm enjoying my time
here. My job combines law, academics, government, and public service.
It's a very good mix."That's exactly what NRSSLC Director Joanne
Gabrynowicz thought when she began searching to fill the center's associate
director post and Serrao's name came to mind. Their paths had first crossed
at UND, where Gabrynowicz was also a faculty member, and they were teamed
in a professor mentorship program.
"I couldn't be happier having Jacquie here," Gabrynowicz says.
"She's a real asset to the center. Not only does she support its
space law work, but she also brings the added, and complementary, dimension
of aviation law. The center is the only one in the United States that
offers this combined expertise." Serrao says she especially enjoys
this public service aspect of her job, "and I like to live in different
areas, experience different cultures, and even the weather. It's all part
of the adventure."