Summer at the Environmental Law Center

SESSION 1: THREE-WEEK SESSION

May 26 – June 11

Exam Weekend: June 13 – 14

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Ecology

(3 credits)

Monday, June 1 – Thursday, June 4; and
Monday, June 8 – Thursday, June 11

Mon. and Wed. 9 a.m. – 12 p.m.; Tues. and Thurs. 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Course Description:

Ecology is an integrative science that can provide insight into many contemporary environmental problems. Through visits to a variety of field sites in central Vermont, readings, and lectures, this course will explore the principles of ecology using a hands-on, interdisciplinary approach. Course work stresses the inventorying of biotic and physical components of a landscape (pieces), examining how these pieces are distributed (patterns), and determining what forces drive these patterns (processes). Topics will include interpreting the natural and cultural histories of a landscape, biodiversity conservation, and the scientific method, among others. This course requires minimal previous scientific understanding. This is a limited enrollment course.

Instructors:

• Naya Banerjee, Naturalist and Field Ecologist
• Tom Lautzenheiser, Senior Conservation Ecologist, Central/West, Massachusetts Audubon Society

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Ocean and Coastal Law

(3 credits)

Tuesday, May 26 – Friday, May 29;
Monday, June 1 – Thursday, June 4; and
Monday, June 8 – Thursday, June 11

9 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Course Description:

This course examines the laws we use to manage human use of natural resources found in the ocean and along our coasts. These resources include, among other things, fish, marine mammals, marshes, and beaches, and they are located within some of the most interesting and threatened ecosystems on Earth. The course begins with an introduction to the International Law of the Sea and to U.S. law regulating commercial and recreational marine fisheries. The oceans are the quintessential public space, and the laws governing their use illustrate the challenges of managing publicly owned resources that have traditionally been open to all. Unlike the oceans, the coasts are a dense mix of public and private lands and resources. The second part of the course covers coastal law – the common law doctrines and modern statutes that attempt to balance the rights of private and public landowners in a way that is fair, efficient and sustainable. Understanding these rules and the policies behind them is critical to the effective practice of real estate and environmental law in coastal states such as California, New York, Massachusetts, Florida, and Texas.

Instructor:

• Josh Eagle, Solomon Blatt Professor, Joseph F. Rice School of Law, University of South Carolina

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Three Essentials of the Electric Grid

(Three 1-credit modules)

Module A:
Three Essentials of the Electric Grid: Engineering

(1 credit)

Tuesday, May 26 – Friday, May 29

9 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Course Description:

Ecology is an integrative science that can provide insight into many contemporary environmental problems. Through visits to a variety of field sites in central Vermont, readings, and lectures, this course will explore the principles of ecology using a hands-on, interdisciplinary approach. Course work stresses the inventorying of biotic and physical components of a landscape (pieces), examining how these pieces are distributed (patterns), and determining what forces drive these patterns (processes). Topics will include interpreting the natural and cultural histories of a landscape, biodiversity conservation, and the scientific method, among others. This course requires minimal previous scientific understanding. This is a limited enrollment course.

Instructor:

• Chris Root, Industry Advisor, Danovo Energy Solutions

Module B:
Three Essentials of the Electric Grid: Business

(1 credit)

Monday, June 1 – Thursday, June 4

9 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Course Description:

This module will explore the key aspects related to the finances of the electric grid with a particular focus on understanding energy project finance and economics, including how they relate to a utility’s revenue requirement. The course will introduce students to basic financial statements, the importance of understanding tax impacts, and how to construct and evaluate a basic financial model for a distributed energy project, such as a solar or energy storage resource.

Instructor:

• Steven Letendre, Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs, Fermata Energy

Module C:
Three Essentials of the Electric Grid: Legal

(1 credit)

Monday, June 8 – Thursday, June 11

9 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Course Description:

With the rise of AI and recognizing the urgency to address the climate crisis, the U.S. will need to address both resource adequacy and the transition to a low-carbon economy. This module will examine current state and the transition in the electric power sector, exploring in practice how the power of law and policy can be used to meet specific goals. Through classroom discussion and exercises, this course will examine “hot” issues for today’s electricity regulators, stakeholders, and market participants and explore substantive policy and skills- based knowledge.

Instructor:

• Heather Payne, Carter C. Kissell Professor in Law, The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law

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Animal Protection Policy

(3 credits)

Tuesday, May 26 – Friday, May 29;
Monday, June 1 – Thursday, June 4; and
Monday, June 8 – Thursday, June 11

9 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Course Description:

This course provides an overview of how to advance protections for animals through various legislative and regulatory processes at the local, state, federal, and international levels. We will focus on how animals are used across various sectors of society, examine how social change occurs, and explore how public policy is developed and implemented within the legal landscape that shapes policy decisions.

Through case studies, strategic frameworks, and drafting exercises, students will build essential skills to develop, analyze, and advance effective animal protection laws and regulations.

Instructor:

• Nicole Paquette JD’98, Chief Impact Officer, U.S. and Canada, Humane World for Animals

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Session 1: Weekend Intensives

Wetlands Law and Regulation

(1 credit)

Friday, May 29, 1 – 5:30 p.m.;
Saturday, May 30, 10 a.m. – 3:40 p.m.; and
Sunday, May 31, 10 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Course Description:

Wetlands are among the most valuable and most contested landscapes in environmental law and policy. This one-credit, compressed-format course examines the legal and policy frameworks that govern wetlands protection and development in the United States. Students will explore federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act, the Section 404 permitting program, and the respective roles of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Environmental Protection Agency and state agencies. The course also addresses wetlands delineation, mitigation, enforcement, and recent Supreme Court and agency actions redefining the scope of “waters of the United States.” The course is designed for both law students and environmental policy students seeking to understand how environmental law operates at the intersection of science, land use, and governance. Some background material will be covered through asynchronous modules.

Instructor:

• Steven Johnson, Professor of Law, Mercer University School of Law

Climate and Environmental Sustainability

(1 credit)

Friday, June 5, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. and 3 – 5 p.m. (Burlington, VT);
Saturday, June 6, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. and 3 – 5 p.m. (South Royalton, VT)

Course Description:

This course will provide an in-depth look at current climate and sustainability regulation, as well as the issues arising from voluntary climate pledges and sustainability policies. Although the course will focus on laws in the United States, it will consider them within the broader context of international efforts. Students will develop a strong understanding of current legal requirements, the factors driving companies to develop and implement climate and sustainability policies, laws governing “greenwashing,” and best practices for complying with and anticipating legal requirements in this area.

Instructor:

• Karen McGaffey, Firmwide Lead, Energy Law, Perkins Coie, LLP

Disaster Law

(1 credit)

Friday, June 5, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. and 3 – 5 p.m. (Burlington, VT);
Saturday, June 6, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. and 3 – 5 p.m. (South Royalton, VT)

Course Description:

Climate change is intensifying the impacts of disasters, making legal and policy questions increasingly urgent. This course explores how law shapes disaster management in the U.S. and globally, framing disaster law as a broad field spanning public and private law. It will first introduce disasters as socio-natural phenomena. It will then examine U.S. public law frameworks, including federalism and emergency powers, and highlight the private law implications of disasters, including torts and property law. The course concludes by surveying public international law’s role in promoting national legal preparedness globally. Learning is reinforced through case studies and interactive exercises.

Instructor:

• Kirsten Bookmiller JD’26, Professor, Department of Government, Law, and International Relations, Millersville University of Pennsylvania

Aquaculture Law and Policy

(1 credit)

Friday, June 5, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. and 3 – 5 p.m. (Burlington, VT);
Saturday, June 6, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. and 3 – 5 p.m. (South Royalton, VT)

Course Description:

This course introduces the core legal structures governing aquaculture in the United States, with attention to how those frameworks interact with environmental protection, animal welfare, and food systems. Students will examine federal authorities, state permitting, and siting regimes. The course will explore emerging issues, including offshore finfish farming, Aquaculture Opportunity Areas, land-based systems, disease and escape risks, pollution and chemical use, and the legal treatment of aquatic animals. The course is designed for students interested in environmental law, animal law, food systems, administrative law, and public interest law. It will provide a foundation for engaging with aquaculture law as it continues to develop in the United States and beyond.

Instructor:

• Stay tuned for more details!

SESSION 2: TWO-WEEK SESSION

June 15 – 25
(No Classes on June 19)

Exam Weekend: June 27 – 28

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Land Conservation Law

(2 credits)

Monday, June 15 – Thursday, June 18; and
Monday, June 22 – Thursday, June 25

9 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Course Description:

Increasingly important in our efforts to protect ecological diversity, climate resiliency, historic places, working lands, scenic viewsheds, open spaces, and public uses of land are conservation tools and processes such as donation of conservation easements, purchase of sensitive lands, and private/public partnerships for land conservation. Students will research and review the swiftly developing body of law and legal issues accompanying the use of conservation easements and will gain a practical understanding of both the legal and nonlegal dimensions of land conservation transactions involving conservation easements. In addition, students will actively engage in the progression of a conservation easement transaction, beginning with early negotiations, drafting, and financial/ tax analysis, and proceeding along a spectrum to donation, amendment and termination evaluation, violation, and enforcement. Each student will be responsible for engaging in role-playing exercises throughout the conservation transaction process to assess various financial/tax scenarios, identify and resolve disputes related to the conservation transaction, and negotiate and draft a conservation easement.

Instructor:

• Jessica Jay JD/MSEL’97, Founding Partner, Conservation Law, P.C.

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Biodiversity Protection

(2 credits)

Tuesday, June 16 – Thursday, June 18; and
Monday, June 22 – Thursday, June 25

8:30 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Course Description:

Across the globe, wildlife and its habitat are increasingly threatened by human-caused habitat destruction, exploitation, poaching, illegal trade, invasive species, disease, and climate change. This course examines what biodiversity is, the growing threats to it, and U.S. and international laws to combat those threats. The course focuses on statutes, case law, environmental ethics, and current controversies to highlight legal, scientific, and political strategies for protecting biodiversity. Particular emphasis is placed on the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

Instructor:

• David Takacs, Professor of Law, UC Law San Francisco

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Environmental Justice

(2 credits)

Monday, June 15 – Thursday, June 18; and
Monday, June 22 – Thursday, June 25

1 p.m. – 4 p.m.

Course Description:

Since 1979, the environmental justice movement is aimed at avoiding, minimizing, or mitigating is proportionately adverse human health and environmental impacts, including social and economic impacts, on minority, indigenous, and/or low-income communities, and for those communities to be engaged meaningfully in environmental decision-making processes. This course examines this environmental and public health problem. It explores how environmental justice concerns are framed and addressed/resolved through, among other things, acts of civil disobedience; federal, state and local government initiatives; litigation; citizens’ suits; public comment letters; collaborative problem solving; and alternative dispute resolution. This course examines the extrinsic link between environmental justice and sustainable development, and how the EPA, the ABA, and NGOs have been engaged in a number of initiatives to secure sustainable communities for all in the U.S.

Instructor:

• Veronica Eady, Interim Executive Director, West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project

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Session 2: Weekend Intensive

June 20 – 21

Decarbonizing the Building Sector

(1 credit)

Course Description:

Thermal energy use in the building sector is one of the largest sources of air pollution emissions. Our current reliance on fossil fuels exposes families and businesses to global fuel price volatility while disproportionately burdening low-income households. Transitioning to lower carbon alternatives can substantially mitigate air emissions and reduce the export of building heating dollars, stimulate local employment, and strengthen state economies. Decarbonizing the Building Sector will be a fast look at the major factors underlying the changes that need to occur in the building sector in the legislative, energy planning, procurement, and program management areas. After completing this course, students will be familiar with the sector’s major thermal transformation issues and be better prepared to engage on this important policy topic.

Instructor:

• David Farnsworth JD/MSL’93, Retired Principal, The Regulatory Assistance Project

SESSION 3A: ONE-WEEK SESSION

July 6 – 9

Exam Weekend: July 11 – 12

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Animal Undercover Investigations 

(2 credits)

Monday, July 6 – Thursday, July 9

9 a.m. – 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. – 4 p.m.

Course Description:

What are undercover investigations? Why do animal advocacy organizations conduct them? In this course, students will explore a variety of legal considerations as they relate to conducting undercover investigations of animal operations. Specifically, students will examine the intersection of criminal law, tort, and ethical issues, as well as what does and does not constitute actionable animal cruelty.

We will discuss evidentiary issues, taking action, pursuing litigation, and corporate liability. We will examine how undercover investigations have changed the legal landscape for animals as well as the methods by which the industry has pushed back at this animal advocacy tactic. Throughout the course, we will discuss the ways in which undercover investigations and resultant prosecutions implicate social justice issues, assessing whether the stated goal of deterrent effect outweighs the potential disparate impact on individual low-wage workers.

Instructor:

• Meg York JD’15, Director, LGBTQ+ Family Law and Policy; Senior Policy Counsel, Family Equity

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International Climate Litigation 

(1 credit)

Monday, July 6 – Thursday, July 9

9 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Course Description:

This course examines the rapidly evolving field of international climate litigation. Students will explore legal actions addressing climate change across various jurisdictions and tribunals, including the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS). A focal point of the course will be an in-depth examination of the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion on the obligations of states in respect of climate change, currently under advisement with a judgment expected in 2025. The course also addresses structural attributes and examples of climate litigation in foreign jurisdictions such as the Netherlands, Colombia, Pakistan, Germany, and Australia. The course emphasizes skill development, enabling students to effectively address emerging issues in this dynamic field. It will likely include a simulated argument before an international tribunal, providing practical experience in international legal proceedings. No prior exposure to international law, climate law and policy, comparative law, or international tribunals is expected or required.

Instructor:

• David A. Wirth, Professor of Law, Boston College Law School

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Renewable Energy Project Finance and Development  

(1 credit)

Monday, July 6 – Thursday, July 9

9 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Course Description:

This course will provide an in-depth look at the legal and regulatory issues associated with the development and project financing of renewable energy projects such as wind, hydro, solar, and battery storage. After completing this course, students will have a solid understanding of how to help vet the economics of renewable projects and get them permitted, financed, built, hooked up to the grid, and operational.

Instructors:

• Brian Potts JD’04, Partner, Husch Blackwell
• Karen McGaffey, Firmwide Lead, Energy Law, Perkins Coie, LLP

SESSION 3B: ONE-WEEK SESSION

July 13 – 16

Exam Weekend: July 18 – 19

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Managing Environmental and Energy Disputes  

(1 credit)

Monday, July 13 – Thursday, July 16

9 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Course Description:

It is not what you say, it is what they hear! This insight is one of the key discoveries of the last century. From marketing strategies to neuroscience research, we have come to realize that what we communicate is not received as basic facts. This class explores how best to lift audiences from entrenched positions, and rethink the best alternatives to hotly disputed issues.

The above claims are particularly true to resolving public disputes on energy and the environment. One of the most effective ways to resolve disputes is through stories and fables. We will attack this problem through reading two books, Donald Phillips’ “Lincoln on Leadership” and Bruce Piasecki’s “Wealth and Climate Competitiveness.” Both short, but full of cases about communication and result.

Both books share an emphasis on the known successful paths of resolving disputes, namely, refocusing conflicted audiences thru hinting, encouraging risk taking, and using humor as a strategy to deflect criticism. People are more influenced by illustration and storytelling than first thought. This week-long discussion group focuses on the take aways of sequencing these skills in resolving disputes. Lincoln is the master at all this, and the second book is to apply it to troubling modern myths making the disputes more tense.

Instructor:

• Bruce Piasecki, President and Founder, AHC Group, Inc.

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Farmworkers and the Law

(1 credit)

Monday, July 13 – Thursday, July 16

9 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Course Description:

There are over two million farmworkers growing, tending, harvesting, and packing agricultural products in the United States yet they have long been excluded from core labor protections. This course looks at the ways law and policy have failed these essential workers and the movements, campaigns, and worker-led initiatives seeking to address these deficits. The course materials bring together sociological insights with legal analysis to ensure students understand the context in which law and policy operate. Focus areas include wage and hour law, the H-2A visa program, the joint employer standard, occupational health and safety, and worker-led organizing efforts.

Instructor:

• Emma Scott, Director of the Food and Agriculture Clinic; Associate Professor; Vermont Law and Graduate School

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Federal Environmental Policy Under Trump II 

(1 credit)

Monday, July 13 – Thursday, July 16

9 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Course Description:

In this course, we will survey the second Trump Administration’s ongoing efforts broadly to alter federal environmental policy, including its efforts to undo numerous Biden Administration rules and broadly to reverse or terminate numerous federal climate policies. We will examine the roles of legislation, litigation, rulemaking and public advocacy for supporters and opponents of these efforts. Course requirements will include readings, participation in class discussions, and a short paper.

Instructor:

• Sean Donahue, Partner, Donahue, Goldberg, & Littleton

SESSION 4A: ONE-WEEK SESSION

July 20 – 23

Exam Weekend: July 25 – 26

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Environmental Governance in the Developing World 

(1 credit)

Monday, July 20 – Thursday, July 23

1 p.m. – 4 p.m.

Course Description:

This course introduces students to the challenges faced by developing countries in creating, implementing and enforcing effective environmental laws and policies. It compares systems of environmental governance in developing countries with a particular focus on countries in Asia and Africa. Many of these countries, despite accounting for only small shares of global environmental problems like climate change, are among the principal victims of them. Building on the work of Vermont Law’s U.S.-Asia Partnership, this course examines several case studies that illustrate how environmental law and policy is evolving in the developing world.

Instructor:

• Robert Percival, Director of the Environmental Law Program, Robert F. Stanton Professor of Law, University of Maryland

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Agriculture & Environment Field Study

(1 credit)

Monday, July 20 – Thursday, July 23

Off Campus

Course Description:

Held on a working farm at the Mountain School of Milton Academy in Vershire, Vermont, this course examines the legal frameworks that shape the U.S. agricultural sector and how government regulation of food production influences farm resilience, natural resources, sustainability, and social welfare. Through an introduction to key agricultural and environmental policies, students will develop a nuanced understanding of the complex intersections between law, agriculture, and the environment. By the end of the course, students will be able to critically articulate informed perspectives on the major policy issues that define modern agricultural governance.

Instructor:

• Sarah Everhart, Assistant Professor of Law; Director of the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic; Widener University Delaware Law School

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Global Energy Law and Policy

(1 credit)

Monday, July 20 – Thursday, July 23

9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Course Description:

Global Energy Law and Policy explores the current policy framework in a particular region outside of the United States with a focus on clean energy policies. The course will explore the region’s policy development process, the current energy policy framework, policies implementing global and regional climate commitments, and emerging issues.

Instructor:

• Arturo Brandt LLM’03, Senior Counsel, Grupo Vial Law Firm

SESSION 4B: ONE-WEEK SESSION

July 27 – 30

Exam Weekend: August 1 – 2

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Animal Welfare Science and Ethics 

(1 credit)

Monday, July 27 – Thursday, July 30

1 p.m. – 4 p.m.

Course Description:

This course will explore the long, intimate, and ever-evolving relationship between human beings and other non-human animals. The course will delve into the history and evolution of our philosophical perspective on this relationship and our scientific understanding of animal biology, ecology, psychology, and cognition. Students will be introduced to the frameworks, practice, and evolving concepts of animal welfare science and will be provided opportunities to explore their implementation. Evaluating the modern-day animal condition through the lens of various industries in which animals are directly used or indirectly impacted, including in agriculture, entertainment, research, testing, recreation, and conservation.

Through this course, students will be equipped with information and tools to help formulate informed and thoughtful ethical positions on the use and management of animals in an increasingly populated world. Understanding how to critically evaluate animal welfare situations and suggest balanced and meaningful improvements in care, management, legislation, and policies to safeguard animal welfare.

Instructor:

• Heather D. Rally, Independent Consultant

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The Rights of Nature

(1 credit)

Monday, July 27 – Thursday, July 30

Off Campus in Puerto Rico

Course Description:

Can law save the planet? This course investigates a legal movement that in recent years has been the subject of enormous interest and excitement both in the United States and abroad. Known as the Rights of Nature, this approach begins from the premise that existing environmental law is inadequate to the problems of climate change, mass extinction, and habitat loss. It proposes strategies based on granting legal personhood to aspects of nature. The course explores both the promise and problems with this strategy around the globe while also excavating the field’s origins, current practice, and future.

Instructors:

• Camila Marambio Bunster, Co-Director, Ecological Culture; Curator, New Perspectives, Para la Naturaleza
• Jose Maldonado Andreu, Adjunct Faculty, Puerto Rico University; Research Assistant, McGill University Faculty of Law

Energy Law: Professor Mijin Cha, University of California Santa Cruz

Climate Law: Madison Condon, Boston University School of Law

Environmental Law: Marianne EngelmanLado, Director of the Environmental Justice Lab at New York University School of Law

Animal Law: Kristen Stilt, Brooks McCormick Jr. Animal Law & Policy Program, Harvard Law School

Each media fellow will choose to audit a course from a selection of topics within a specific fellowship category:

• Environmental Law and Policy
• Food and Agricultural Law and Policy

Media fellows in these areas will audit one- or two-week courses in June or July 2026. These fellows will receive a one-week $625 stipend or a two-week $1,250 stipend, free housing, and a tuition waiver (travel not included).

Media fellows also take part in the “Hot Topics in Environmental Law” summer lecture series, delivering a 45-minute, informal lecture on an environmental or food and agricultural topic of their choosing. Outside of classroom time, fellows can enjoy the beauty of our campus, historic South Royalton and rural Vermont, or simply relax outdoors. Family members are welcome.

Fellowships are open to journalists who cover issues such as natural resources, energy, legal affairs, public health, food and agriculture, animal protection, and other environmental topics. They are open to staff, freelance, and independent reporters, writers, editors, and producers who are working as full-time journalists. Journalism students and teachers, public relations practitioners, and contributors to newsletters, magazines, and other media controlled by industry or government are not eligible.

Fellows are selected based on the quality of their ability to reach a broad audience, including the applicant’s work history, samples, and their potential for increasing understanding of these issues nationwide.

For examples of possible 2026 courses, view the 2025 Summer Session Course Catalog. Please note that course descriptions and schedules are subject to change.

Apply today! All fellowship submissions are due by midnight ET on February 15, 2026.

For questions or inquiries, please contact ELC@vermontlaw.edu.

Stay tuned—more information is coming soon!

Environmental Law Media Fellows 

Dana Drugman is an environmental journalist covering topics such as climate accountability and climate change lawsuits, greenwashing and false climate solutions, plastics and petrochemicals, and environmental law and justice. Dana has over five years of experience in legal reporting covering climate law and litigation, and she runs a startup news site focused specifically on climate litigation called Climate in the Courts. Her writing has appeared in The New Lede, Sierra, DeSmog, YES! Magazine, New Internationalist, Common Dreams, Truthout, and Earth Island Journal, among other outlets. In 2017, Dana completed a Master’s degree in Environmental Law and Policy with a certificate in Climate Law from Vermont Law and Graduate School.

Julia Sklar is an award-winning science journalist, editor, educator, and public speaker. She is the story editor at Sierra magazine where she commissions and shapes coverage of climate science, public health, and coastal issues for the print magazine and website. She also works part-time as a consulting journalist at Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, a journalism collaborative that works with Report for America fellows to cover the largest watershed in the US. For many years prior, Julia was an independent journalist reporting for National Geographic, The Boston Globe, Undark magazine, and others. She has had the distinct honor of authoring the cover-to-cover contents of two themed print issues of National Geographic—one on emerging neuroscience, and the other on the science of stress—and has also taught science journalism at MIT and Johns Hopkins.

Valerie Volcovici covers energy and environment policy for Reuters and is based in Washington, D.C. She covers US federal energy and climate regulation, as well the energy transition’s impact on communities and the workforce. She also focuses on corporate and industry greenwashing, international climate negotiations,  and plastic pollution. She is the winner of the 2023 United Nations Correspondents Association Global Prize for Coverage of Climate Change, 2022 SOPA Excellence in Reporting on the Environment award and honorable mention for 2021 SABEW Best in Business award for reporting on corporate greenwashing.

Animal Law Media Fellows

Stephanie Hanes is the lead climate change and environment writer for The Christian Science Monitor, where she helps organize environmental coverage across desks and departments. She spent years as a foreign correspondent, has reported across Africa and the Caribbean, and holds teaching positions at Yale University’s School of the Environment and the College of William & Mary. She is a multiple time grantee of the Pulitzer Center and is the author of “White Man’s Game: Saving Animals, Rebuilding Eden and other Myths of Conservation in Africa.”  She lives in Western Massachusetts with her family, which includes humans, dogs, cats and various outdoor creatures.

Julianne Hill is an award-winning writer and producer whose work has appeared in outlets including ABA Journal, Health, NPR’s “This American Life” and “Morning Edition,” PBS, History Channel and A&E. Her stories often focus on health, mental health and the law. Hill served as a Rosalynn Carter Fellow, awarded to journalists covering mental health, and as a National Press Foundation Fellow, for reportage focusing on HIV-AIDS. Along with the Stephen Barr Award from ASBPE in 2024, her honors include five Peter Lisagor Awards from the Chicago Headline Club/Society of Professional Journalists, and she was part of a team earning a George Foster Peabody Award. Hill studied journalism at Ohio University and received a master’s in fine arts from Northwestern University. She has taught at both of her alma maters as well as Loyola University Chicago and University of Chicago.

Marin Scotten is a New York-based journalist covering the intersection of climate, politics, and agriculture, with a specific focus on how industrial farming policy impacts animals and communities. Her work has been published in The Guardian, The New Republic, Modern Farmer, Floodlight News, the Baltimore Banner, and Salon. She holds a dual MA in Journalism and International Relations from New York University.

“Advancing Environmental Justice in a Chaotic Time”
Marianne Engelman-Lado, New York University School of Law
VLGS Distinguished Environmental Law Summer Scholar
Watch the recording

“Toxic Sewage Sludge: How the Biosolid Fertilizer Industry is Poisoning Farm Animals”
Marin Scotten
VLGS Animal Law Media Fellow
Watch the recording

“Sustaining Environmental Justice”
Sharmila Murthy, Northeastern University School of Law
Watch the recording

“Access to Beaches and Other Public Lands: Past, Present, and Future”
Josh Eagle, University of South Carolina Joseph F. Rice School of Law
Watch the recording

“Our Plastic Problem and What the Law Can Do About It?”
Sarah Morath, Wake Forest Law
Watch the recording

“A Dog is a Chimp is a Mouse is a Rabbit? How Charismatic Species Shape Lab Animal Welfare Laws and Policies”
Larry Carbone, Animal Welfare Scholar
Watch the recording

“The Radioactive Shadow Workers of the Oil and Gas Industry: An Environmental Journalism Perspective”
Julia Sklar, Science Journalist
VLGS Environmental Media Fellow
Watch the recording

“Challenges of Barcelona’s Waste Tax in Light of the New European Requirement for Pay-As-You-Throw Systems”
Rodolfo Boix, Pompeu Fabra University
Watch the recording

“Federal Environmental Law After Trump II”
Sean Donahue, Donahue, Goldberg & Herzog; and Robert Percival, University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law
Watch the recording

“A Just Transition for Whom? Understanding the Opportunities and Limitations of a Just Energy Transition”
Mijin Cha, UC Santa Cruz
VLGS Distinguished Energy Law Summer Scholar
Watch the recording

“Universal Ownership, Systematic Stewardship: Whatever You Call It, Where Do We Stand?”
Madison Condon, Boston University School of Law
VLGS Distinguished Climate Law Summer Scholar
Watch the recording

“One Big Beautiful Bill and How it Will Disrupt the Clean Energy Transition”
Valerie Volcovici, Thomas Reuters
VLGS Environmental Media Fellow
Watch the recording

“Someone”
Kristen Stilt, Harvard Law School
Distinguished Animal Law Summer Scholar
Watch the recording

“Animal Storytelling”
Stephanie Hanes
VLGS Animal Law Media Fellow
Watch the recording

“Carbon Pricing: Issues and Challenges”
David Talbot, École Nationale d’Administration Publique
Watch the recording

“Climate in the Courtroom: Inside the Historic Held v. Montana Youth Climate Trial”
Dana Drugmand
VLGS Environmental Media Fellow
Watch the recording

To view the archive, please click here.