As the 2008-2009 Student Liaison for SEER, I attribute a tremendous amount of my success in procuring future environmental and energy law opportunities to my participation in the summer Fellowship program. I split my summer fellowship between a public interest organization and a government agency. During the summer I took classes at UNC-Chapel Hill while composing model county ordinances for the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League. I found this experience enlightening because it taught me a lot about how administrative agencies collaborate in order to achieve common goals on a municipal government level. Additionally, I composed a research guide and paper regarding the application of sewage sludge as fertilizer to rural farmlands and how the Dillon Rule affects local municipalities’ inability to govern environmental policies and regulations that the state promulgates.

The second half of my summer was spent working as a law clerk with the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office in the Environmental Enforcement Division. I worked on a variety of issues such as implementing a local erosion and sedimentation control program along the Sandhill Region of the North Carolina coast for the Fort Bragg military base, dam ownership and liability issues in Greensboro, and various well contractor disputes throughout the state. I was fortunate enough to participate in the discovery process of an important case that involved North and South Carolina riparian rights. I also attended local meetings North Carolina Department of Natural Resources meeting with the agency attorneys. These meetings allowed me to understand why various regulations are enacted and how to compose future administrative rules to protect the environment. Overall, I strongly recommend this internship to anyone considering a career in environmental, energy, land use, and/or natural resource law, because this is a tremendous opportunity in a field of law that has an enormous potential for growth in the future.

What were your responsibilities over the summer: CRPE is uniquely situated as a community-organizing/public interest law firm focusing mainly on environmental justice work. I had the amazing opportunity to experience both sides of this, from attending community meetings and townhall notice and comment meetings (led by sometimes biased-city councils) to hearing a brief the interns had worked on argued in federal court to researching groundbreaking global warming litigation.

Something memorable or rewarding about your summer experience: I have always been interested in environmental work, and my experiences at CRPE really showed me a different facet of that. I LOVED having an "on-the-ground" perspective of how different laws, regulations, and inactions affected entire communities. My favorite experience was the opportunity to attend the Indigenous Environmental Network's bi-annual gathering to discuss the main environmental issues affecting Native American/Indigenous communities. Aside from hearing truly heart-wrenching stories of tragedy, survival, and community strength, I was able to camp in the Nevada desert, pray in a traditional sweat lodge, and bathe in the local river. It was a beautiful, calming, amazing experience that I will always remember.

Being awarded the Environmental Law Fellowship was one of the most memorable and rewarding experiences of my law school career. I was so grateful to be awarded the Environmental Law Fellowship as it gave me an opportunity to work at New Mexico Legal Aid in the Land and Water Section with David Benavides and Ryan Golten. I learned so much by working with such experienced, knowledgeable and helpful attorneys who became invaluable mentors and friends.

This fellowship allowed me to build and refine the foundational legal skills that lawyers can only gain by actual experience, while allowing me to work for a cause that I am very passionate about. I interacted with clients, researched legal issues and drafted legal memorandum, and even helped with and attended several hearings. I was exposed to the wide range of subjects and duties that attorneys encounter in the environmental law field; from civil litigation, administrative law, lobbying, policy making, to community organizing. I cannot stress how valuable this experience was to me. It gave me the skills, motivation and confidence to continue to pursue a career in working for social justice and environmental justice.

I worked at the South Coast Air Quality Management District the summer of 2008. The legal department consists of the District Counsel’s office and the District Prosecutor’s office. Interns work with both.

Overall, working there was very flexible. For example, I set my own hours and days. Also, aside from the work that my direct supervisor gave us, we were encouraged to actively seek out projects from other attorneys. The work we did was mainly research and memo writing. Occasionally, we performed document review. I found that initiative was important to having a productive summer. Our supervisors’ goal with the interns was not just to put us to work writing memos but also to expose us to environmental law in general and to the kind of work that the AQMD did as a whole, beyond just the legal department’s work. We were often taken to administrative hearings, meetings, and public workshops. I enjoyed attending these meetings as it put a lot of the legal work we did for the AQMD in context. I saw how our work contributed to the agency’s larger state policy making role, and how the agency’s work impacted private citizens, industry, and other government agencies.

Working at the AQMD was a great learning experience. For someone like me who was not very familiar with administrative law at that point, this internship was incredibly helpful in helping me understand its complexity. It also gave me the chance to use and hone my research and writing skills. Moreover, it really bolstered my interest in doing environmental work. Prior to working at the AQMD, I was unsure whether I would want to go into environmental law at all. I really caught the environmental law “bug” while working there. Lastly, I enjoyed working with all the attorney and staff there. The people I met were friendly and excited to have us there. I found some great mentors there. It was also so nice to see lawyers who were happy and doing that kind of work they truly believed in.

My experience with the 2008 Environmental Fellowship program provided me with exactly what I was lacking: guidance from two experienced mentors, the opportunity to network with future colleagues in the field of environmental law, and a much-needed financial “leg-up” in order to pursue my real interest. The fellowship helped to secure me an internship with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, through which I became familiar with the enforcement of environmental law and the accompanying policy goals that directed it. Most importantly, the Fellowship provided me with the opportunity to become acquainted with many of the leading lawyers in New York’s environmental practice, and introduced a much-valued relationship with my mentors.

The duties and responsibilities that come with the Fellowship are simple: Be available, and take full advantage of the opportunities presented. Future fellows should know that many of these opportunities present themselves through the Fellowship, but it is up to each individual to derive the full benefit from them. An invitation to a reception or an annual meeting might be extended, but it is up to the fellow to not only attend, but mingle and make themselves known. Similarly, a mere pairing with a mentor could become stay just that in name, but with friendly outreach, the relationship could develop into a deeper connection and well of support.

I learned about the Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment (CRPE) and Luke Cole, its Executive Director, my 1L year. Their reputation precedes them, and it was an honor and privilege to have received an ABA fellowship to fund an internship with CRPE my 2L summer. I primarily assisted with Clean Air Act litigation on behalf of residents in the San Joaquin Valley. My work focused on dairies in the Central Valley that had not met permitting, offsets, and technology requirements at the local, state, and federal level, and the disproportionate burden this neglect imposed on the health of poor and minority communities. I conducted legal research, wrote memos, and drafted motions—not unusual work for a law school summer internship.

What set this internship apart were the passionate, committed, and very smart staff and fellow interns with whom I worked; the multifaceted experience CRPE created for its summer interns; and the interdisciplinary appeal of environmental justice work. Besides the environmental law issues, there are civil rights and human rights components to environmental justice, and accordingly, the staff and interns came to CRPE from some of these different angles. This diversity of interests, combined with the intelligence, passion, and humor of the staff and my co-interns, created an exciting and collegial work environment. All of us interns were also encouraged to attend community meetings, panel discussions, and conferences related to environmental justice in general, and to specific environmental justice matters affecting the communities on whose behalf we were working. These additional opportunities were just as important to my understanding of environmental justice as the legal work.

Of course, I certainly would not have been able to work at CRPE without this fellowship. The ABA's Section on Environmental, Energy, and Resource Law and the California State Bar's section on Environmental Law offered not just money to us fellows throughout the summer, but also support and encouragement. We were assigned mentors, who offered advice about law school and career development, and we had an opportunity to meet each other as well. I continue to receive this support and am grateful to be part of this community in what is a continually evolving and ever exciting field of law.

In reflecting upon my Fellowship experience a few words immediately come to mind- interesting, stimulating, inspiring, and rewarding. Working at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency I had the opportunity to participate in a wide variety of projects, ranging from addressing public comments on proposed Agency actions to managing and negotiating civil penalty cases. The level of responsibility that I was entrusted with gave me a feel for the work that a practicing attorney is engaged in. The issues I was exposed to at E.P.A. solidified my desire to pursue a career in environmental law.

The Fellowship program as a whole, from the brownbag lunches on a variety of subjects to the mentorship program, provided me with a greater knowledge in the area, a tremendous amount of experience in the field, and the support and encouragement necessary to continue to pursue my interest in environmental law. As a result of my phenomenal experience through the Fellowship program, I have accepted an offer to resume working at the E.P.A. as a legal extern this spring.

I was honored to be awarded the 2008 Environmental Law Diversity Fellowship and to have the opportunity to spend the summer at Land Loss Prevention Project in Durham, North Carolina. Growing up in Eastern North Carolina, I have always felt a strong connection to the land, and was glad I was able to help rural landowners preserve their land. During my time at Land Loss, I learned how the organization helps low income farmers with almost every aspect of the land management including negotiating federal loans, educating farmers on sustainable farming practices, and avoiding foreclosures. Most of my assignments involved conducting preliminary legal research on the issues found in the new cases Land Loss took in and presenting them to the senior attorneys via memorandums. I conducted research on a variety of issues including involuntary annexation, zoning and land use regulations, and economic development projects. I was happy to work alongside dedicated attorneys who were willing to go to great lengths – including driving 4 hours – to help rural farmers! I am looking forward to a career in environmental law and credit this fellowship opportunity for opening the doors for me!

My internship experience at the New York State Attorney General’s Office would not have been the same if not for my participation in, and the assistance provided by, the 2008 Fellowship in Environmental Law. Working in the NYS Attorney General’s Environmental Protection Bureau (EPB) was a proper introduction to environmental law. Here, I had the great opportunity to observe the legal process from the government enforcement perspective by working closely with some of the best lawyers in the field. The tasks assigned from the bureau’s prosecution, defense, and toxics regulation sections were useful, pertinent, and rewarding to one pursuing a career in environmental law. These assignments further honed my legal research and writing skills through memorandum and policy analyses, where I was able to finally apply my undergraduate biology/environmental studies degree in a legal manner. Most importantly, the EPB integrated me into all aspects of the office’s responsibilities, which ranged from editing and analyzing legal documents to attending hearings and appellate arguments.

In addition to helping me secure this internship, the Fellowship also provided other rewarding opportunities that lasted beyond my 1L summer. From inviting its fellows to Environmental Section receptions and annual meetings to informal get-togethers, the program introduced me to environmental attorneys who continue to provide meaningful mentoring. These intangible benefits are invaluable to my personal and professional development, and I am truly grateful for these newly-established relationships. Based on my rewarding experience, I would definitely recommend this Fellowship to future fellows.