Sue joined NARF as a staff attorney in 2012. While working in private practice, prior to joining NARF, Sue teamed with NARF to work on behalf of the Nez Perce Tribe in the Snake River Basin Adjudication in Idaho and the Klamath Tribes in the Klamath Basin Adjudication in Oregon. Both adjudications met with success—the first ending in a Congressionally-approved settlement and the latter securing resounding victories before Oregon’s Office of Administrative Hearings. After joining NARF, Sue continued to represent the Klamath Tribes as lead attorney in the Klamath County Circuit Court Klamath Basin Adjudication proceedings until 2021.

Since 2019, Sue has been Co-Director of The Implementation Project, a joint initiative of NARF and the University of Colorado Law School, that works toward implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples through education and advocacy at the Tribal, national, and international levels. Sue regularly attends, and organizes and participates in panels, at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Since 2017, Sue has represented NARF’s client the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) in international negotiations at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), seeking to secure protections for Indigenous Peoples’ traditional knowledge, traditional cultural expressions, and genetic resources. She has been an active participant in the WIPO Indigenous Caucus, including at the Diplomatic Conference in May 2024 that resulted in the adoption of the WIPO Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge (GRATK Treaty).

She is a former Director of the Indigenous Rights Project of the University of Denver’s International Human Rights Advocacy Center. Along with her former law professor, George (Rock) Pring, she has co-authored two book chapters on natural resource issues in international law. Currently, she is part of a team working on a forthcoming commentary on the GRATK Treaty to be published by Edward Elgar.

Download a high resolution headshot of Sue Noe here.

Education

• University of Denver, LL.M. in Environmental and Natural Resources Law and Policy
  • Awards for Scholastic Excellence in: (i) Economics of Natural Resources Projects; (ii) Negotiation of Natural Resources Agreements; and (iii) International Environmental Law
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, J.D.
  • Juris Doctor with High Honors
  • Staff Member, North Carolina Law Reviw
  • Member, Order of the Coif
• North Carolina State University, B.S. Computer Science
  • magna cum laude

Admissions to Practice

• State courts of Colorado, New York, and Oregon.

Publications

• Forthcoming co-authored commentary on the GRATK Treaty to be published by Edward Elgar
• Sue Noe, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), annual updates on WIPO negotiations in The Indigenous World annual updates, 2019-present
• The “Fear Factor:” Why We Should Not Allow Energy Security Rhetoric to Trump Sustainable Development, in Energy Security: Managing Risk In A Dynamic Legal And Regulatory Environment (Oxford University Press, 2004) (coauthored with George (Rock) Pring)
• The Emerging Role of Public Participation in International Law Affecting Mining, Energy, and Resources Development, in Human Rights In Natural Resource Development: Public Participation In The Sustainable Development Of Mining And Energy Resources (Oxford University Press, 2002) (coauthored with George (Rock) Pring)