About Doug Marshall
Doug Marshall created TrueNorth Consulting LLC in 2009. He was appointed Adjunct Professor, DePaul College of Law, International Aviation Law Institute, Chicago, Illinois, teaching the first drone law course offered in an American law school (2015-2018). Previously he was Division Manager, UAS Regulations & Standards Development at the Physical Science Laboratory, New Mexico State University (2010-2014), and for the 12 years before that was Professor of Aviation at the University of North Dakota, where he was instrumental in the establishment of the UAS Commercial Aviation degree program as well leading and managing a number of UAS research efforts.
Doug has been engaged full time in UAS-related activities for over 18 years. He served on RTCA SC-203, ASTM F-38 and SAE G-10 committees, the AUVSI Advocacy Committee, the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program UAS Expert Group, the Small UAS Aviation Rulemaking Committee, the Micro UAS Aviation Rulemaking Committee, the Part 91 Working Group serving the UAS Aviation Rulemaking Committee, AIAA’s Legal Aspects of Aeronautics and Astronautics Technical Committee (past Chair), and the UAS Program Committee. He chaired the ASTM F38.02.01 Task Group on Standards for Operations Over People, and served as a United States TAG delegate to ISO TC 20/SC 16, UAS Subcommittee. While employed at the University of North Dakota and New Mexico State University he was Principal Investigator on several research grants awarded by the Department of Defense, NASA, and the FAA.
Doug also served on the Steering Committee, Civil Applications of Unmanned Aerial Systems Conference, Boulder, CO. and many other programs dedicated to the development of UA systems and has delivered numerous presentations and served on panels on domestic and international aviation regulations, privacy and airspace issues at conferences around the world.
Doug is co-editor of five books related to aviation and aviation law, co-author and co-editor of “Introduction to Unmanned Aircraft Systems” (CRC Press, Editions 1, 2 & 3), author of UAS Integration into Civil Airspace: Policy, Regulations and Strategy (Wiley, 2022), consulting editor of An Illustrated Dictionary of Aviation (McGraw-Hill, 2002) and is the author of dozens of published media and law journal articles on aviation law, regulations and remotely piloted aircraft. He has been interviewed as a UAS and aviation law expert by the Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, Bloomberg News, Canadian Television, the Detroit Free Press, and has lectured at three law schools on UAS and aviation related topics. He also serves as subject matter expert for the government of Denmark, reviewing grant proposals relating to unmanned (uncrewed) aircraft systems.
Doug was recipient of the Federal Aviation Administration, Center of Excellence for General Aviation Research “2008 Outstanding Faculty of the Year” award “For Outstanding Achievement in Transportation Research and Education,” January 10, 2009.
He was also recipient of the 2009 “Catherine Fargeon Award” presented by UVS International “On behalf of the international UAS community in recognition of his personal commitment & contribution to promoting the insertion of unmanned aircraft systems into non-segregated airspace,” June 9, 2009, in Paris, France.
Doug was awarded his Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of California, Santa Barbara and his Juris Doctor from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. He also holds a commercial pilot’s certificate and has co-owned two GA aircraft.
In his pre-academia life he practiced in the fields of maritime and aviation related litigation and employment law and was president and general counsel of a commuter airline.