Lewis & Clark Environmental, Natural Resources, and Energy Law Program

09/02/2026

If graduate study in environmental, natural resources, or energy law is part of your next step, we invite you to learn more about Lewis & Clark Law School’s graduate programs.

Environmental Law at Lewis & Clark: MSL & LLM Program Information Session

📅 Saturday, September 12
⏰ 9:00 a.m. PDT | 12:00 p.m. EDT
💻 Live Online

During this session, you’ll learn about the MSL and LLM degree options, curriculum and areas of study, the online learning experience, admissions requirements, scholarships and tuition, opportunities to connect with faculty and the environmental law community, and upcoming application deadlines.

Whether you’re exploring the MSL for professionals who do not hold a JD or the LLM for those who already hold a JD or equivalent law degree, this session can help you understand which program aligns with your background and goals.

Tess Jacobsen, Assistant Director of the Environmental Law Program, will lead the session and answer your questions about the programs and application process.

Save your spot today!
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/jtCRvslwTVSMQixu0AdqQQ #/registration

08/31/2026

Welcome back to campus! 🎉

All current JD, LLM, & MSL students interested in or taking environmental classes are invited to join the Environmental Program staff and faculty for a fun picnic at Gabriel Park to celebrate the start of the fall term!

RSVP here by September 11th: https://law.lclark.edu/calendars/events/event/396266-2026-environmental-student-park-picnic

08/30/2026

🌊 Happy National Beach Day! 🌊

Oregon’s coast is home to some of the most beautiful and ecologically important beaches in the country. Protecting these places means understanding the laws that shape how we use, access, and conserve our coastal and marine environments.

In Professor Chris Wold’s Ocean and Coastal Law course, students learn about coastal management, beach access and public trust, fisheries law and the law of the sea, protection of marine mammals, and ocean renewable energy development.

Explore the incredible environmental law courses offered to our LLM, MSL, and JD students! 👇
https://law.lclark.edu/programs/environmental_and_natural_resources_law/curriculum/

08/29/2026

🐋 A recent Mongabay article examines the detention and deportation of the crew of an anti-whaling protest vessel in Iceland following an encounter with the country’s last commercial whaling company.

Lewis & Clark Law School Professor Chris Wold, a member of the International Whaling Commission’s working group on operational effectiveness, provided context on how the International Whaling Commission (IWC) developed a scientifically vetted algorithm to produce quotas for those countries that still hunt whales commercially. "These quotas are used to ensure whales aren’t overharvested," he said.

Wold also noted that the confrontation could shift attention at the upcoming IWC meeting away from broader conservation challenges, stating he anticipates Iceland will bring up the actions of the Captain Paul Watson Foundation at the next meeting of the IWC in late September and added he believes this will pull the conversation away from the quotas.

“Now we won’t be talking about that — we’ll be talking about what Paul Watson has been doing,” Wold said.

“These kinds of issues are, for me, a total distraction,” he added, “that take away from key issues that we need to address, like entanglement of cetaceans in fishing gear — which is far more, on a global scale, problematic for cetaceans than directed killing.”

🔗 Read the full article here:
https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/iceland-to-deport-antiwhaling-protest-ships-crew-after-they-interfered-with-whale-hunt/

08/28/2026

Don't forget to RSVP for our Distinguished Visitor and Graduates event that is happening next month! 🎊

We are so excited to welcome Professor Robin Kundis Craig, JD '96, to campus as the 38th Distinguished Environmental Visitor. This year’s distinguished graduates are Oday Salim LLM '09, Chris Gunn '11, Marc Fink '95, Bubba Cook '03, and Paul Conable '97. We will also honor Tory Dille '26 as the Williamson Award Recipient.

In the evening on September 30th, Professor Craig will present her lecture entitled "Food Security and Resilient Ecosystems: Marine Aquaculture for the Anthropocene."

We are offering in-person and online attendance for this event and it is pending approval for 1 general CLE credit. A reception will follow the award ceremony and lecture for in-person attendees.

RSVP today!
https://engage.lclark.edu/register/2026distinguishedvisitorevent

08/26/2026

What does it mean to be a climate-conscious lawyer and how can law schools prepare students for that reality? ⚖️ 🌲

The essay written by Lewis & Clark Law School Professor Erica Lyman and Professor Abigail Fleming (University of Miami School of Law) provides an overview of what some clinics are already doing to integrate sustainability and climate change into practical skills education at U.S. law schools and suggests additional opportunities for incorporating these themes across different disciplines and lawyering modalities.

The essay is part of a series prepared by members of the ABA Task Force on Sustainability and Climate Change in Legal Education.

Read the full paper here 👇
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=7243139

08/24/2026

After more than three decades leading Lewis & Clark Law School’s Environmental, Natural Resources & Energy Law Program, Associate Dean Janice Weis is retiring to begin her next chapter.

Since 1994, Janice has helped create a place where students interested in environmental law could find guidance, encouragement, and a community committed to their success. Looking back, she says her proudest accomplishment has been creating a hub for students interested in environmental law and watching those students go on to do amazing work in the field.

Janice also credits the environmental faculty and staff for building what she calls a powerhouse of a program and reflects on the exceptional colleagues, students, and community who have made her time at Lewis & Clark so meaningful.

As she begins her next chapter—with plenty of travel, biking, hiking, and time with family and friends—we're grateful for the leadership, mentorship, and dedication she has given to the Environmental Law Program for more than 30 years. 🌎

Read Janice's reflections about her time in the program and she plans to do next:
https://law.lclark.edu/live/news/58546-environmental-law-leader-janice-weis-steps-down

08/22/2026

We have some *light* weekend reading for you!📚

Lewis & Clark Law School Professor Michael Blumm and law students Tory Dille JD ’26 and Reese Southworth JD '27, have co-authored a new article examining the rise, development, and deconstruction of environmental law in the United States.

The article traces the evolution of environmental law from the 19th century through the landmark legislation of the 1970s and its implementation in the decades that followed. It then examines how environmental protections have been dismantled in recent years through executive action, regulations, and court decisions—often without major changes to the underlying statutes.

The authors consider what the future may hold for environmental law, particularly in the face of climate change and biodiversity loss. They conclude with a call for a future generation to rebuild and strengthen the environmental legal framework.

Congratulations to Professor Blumm, Tory, and Reese on this important contribution to the ongoing conversation about the future of environmental law. 🌎

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=6138069

08/21/2026

The legal profession has a critical role to play in shaping a more sustainable and resilient future and that work needs to begin in law school, argues Gregg Macey, Director of the Environmental Innovation Center at Lewis & Clark College in a new article written as part of the ABA Task Force on Sustainability and Climate Change in Legal Education series. In the essay, Gregg argues that current approaches to sustainability in American legal education fall short of what the profession and the world will require.

The essay states that tomorrow’s attorneys will need to navigate increasingly complex climate and sustainability frameworks, while advising clients, organizations, agencies, and communities across a wide range of sectors. That means going beyond traditional legal curricula and building meaningful connections with science, economics, engineering, architecture, planning, and other disciplines. It also means preparing lawyers to grapple with the fundamental questions of justice, equity, stewardship, and ecological integrity that sustainable development demands.

Read the full essay to learn more 👇
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=7244040

08/19/2026

🌍 Lead poisoning robs the world's kids of millions of IQ points a day and kills more people than wars, natural disasters and road accidents combined — yet we treat it as a problem we've already solved.

In "The Deadly Threat Affecting Millions—and How to Prevent It," Drew McCartor JD '08, who runs the nonprofit Pure Earth, has spent nearly two decades proving it doesn't have to be this way. He presents their three-step fix that's already working in places from Georgia to Ghana, and makes the case that we can finally beat a crisis hiding in plain sight

We're proud to see our alumni leading important conversations at the global level. Congratulations, Drew, on this outstanding achievement! 🎉

🎥 Watch the TED Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/drew_mccartor_the_deadly_threat_affecting_millions_and_how_to_prevent_it

Lead poisoning robs the world's kids of millions of IQ points a day and kills more people than wars, natural disasters and road accidents combined — yet we treat it as a problem we've already solved. Drew McCartor, who runs the nonprofit Pure Earth, has spent nearly two decades proving it doesn't ...