Environmental Degrees and Programs

VLS first in nation for:

Select Areas of VLS Leadership

ENERGY & CLIMATE

VLS leads the nation in preparing students for the clean energy transition. Through deep energy law and policy curriculum, clinical and other clean energy experiential opportunities, and integration within a world class environmental law and policy program, VLS offers the deepest, most hands-on clean energy law and policy program.

Our climate law curriculum is also unparalleled, including classes on climate change adaptation and mitigation, climate and extinction, and climate and tax policy. VLS sends a delegation of students to the annual COP climate conference each year.

FOOD & AGRICULTURE

VLS offers a number of classes devoted specifically to food and agricultural law and policy coupled with environmental courses addressing issues that directly impact the food system, making our program unique in its focus on sustainable food and agriculture systems law and policy. Our Food and Agriculture Clinic and research assistant opportunities train students to develop real-world solutions for a more sustainable and just food system.

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

VLS is a national leader in environmental justice law. Currently, five different clinics and programs do casework or policy advocacy on behalf of environmental justice communities domestically and internationally. Our Environment and Natural Resources Law Clinic (ENRLC) has a formalized affiliation with Earthjustice to provide support for environmental justice communities at the local level. The ENRLC is a leader in running the annual Environmental Justice Symposium with Duke University and Yale University; the 2020 Symposium will be held at VLS. VLS also has a student-run Environmental Justice Law Society, which is one of the only (perhaps the only), such organization in the U.S.

ASIA

The U.S.-Asia Partnerships for Environmental Law program strengthens environmental governance and the rule of law in Asia by fostering learning, expertise, and experience sharing across continents. The program has trained thousands of environmental scholars, advocates, and government officials since its inception in 2006.