Environmental and Natural Resources Law



   HOME

   ENR PROGRAM

   ENR LL.M. PROGRAM

   PROJECTS

   CLIMATE CHANGE
    INITIATIVE

   INDIAN LAW

   BOWERMAN CENTER

   FACULTY

   ALUMNI

   GIVING TO ENR

   NEWS

.

.

.....
DESCRIPTION DEGREE AND CERTIFICATES COURSES CLINICS/
EXTERNSHIPS

ENR Program - Description

The University of Oregon was the first public law school in the nation to establish an environmental law program, and our professors, students and alumni have played leading roles in the public environmental movement. We draw a tremendously talented and committed student body, with many individuals engaging in environmental work during their time in law school. Our program is part of a world-class research institution with a focus on environmental studies. Our faculty members are some of the nation's leading scholars in the field of environmental law. Academic life is enriched by extra-curricular activities that immerse students in scholarship and service opportunities in the environmental area.

Curricular Offerings and Statements of Completion
Click here for a full catalogue of ENR courses offered.

    Environmental Statement of Completion
    Courses cover the broad range of natural resources law, pollution law, federal Indian law and policy subjects; students may gain an environmental certificate for completion of a full course of study in the environmental area.

    Ocean and Coastal Statement of Completion
    A Statement of Completion is available from the Ocean and Coastal Law Center, which is dedicated to research and education in the law and regulations that concern and affect the uses of the ocean, its resources, and the coastal zone. The center combines the efforts of law faculty specialists and advanced law students to research and analyze current ocean and coastal law topics and to publish the results of this research. Selected students may pursue prestigious ocean and coastal law fellowships in Washington, D.C.

    Environmental Law Clinic
    The Environmental Law Clinic is nationally renowned for its successful enforcement of the law through citizen suits. Students perform work for the Western Environmental Law Center (WELC) and learn how to counsel clients, prepare expert witnesses, develop evidence, and prepare winning legal briefs and memoranda.

    Externships
    Externships and other clinical offerings provide skill-building opportunities through placement with federal agencies, tribes, and public interest organizations. Students work with organizations such as the Regional Solicitor's Office of the U.S. Department of Interior, the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals, the McKenzie River Trust, and the Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide (E-LAW).

    Joint Degree Program
    Law students may apply to a joint degree program which offers a concurrent juris doctor and masters in environmental studies. Joint degree students condense the time frame for achieving both degrees and enjoy the advantage of a cross-disciplinary focus in the environmental field.
Faculty
Our faculty members are some of the nation's leading scholars in the field of environmental and natural resources law. A third of the law school's faculty members teach courses in or related to environmental law and produce research and analysis used widely by government agencies, courts, tribes, public interest organizations, and policymakers. Our faculty members have founded key public interest organizations, such as Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide (E-LAW), which supports a network of environmental lawyers in 60 countries; and the Western Environmental Law Center, which brings citizen suit litigation to protect landscapes and natural resources in the West. Faculty members have served in advisory roles to help federal agencies shape governmental policy on ocean and coastal law, environmental justice, and environmental issues affecting native nations. The strength of the faculty derives not only from individual contributions, but from the synergy of many faculty members exploring in collaboration the fundamental dilemmas and themes of the modern environmental era. As a body of scholars, we collectively bring legal content to the global sustainability effort by focusing much of our research on: international mechanisms for environmental law, institutional responses to a biodiversity crisis, environmental democracy and citizen processes, new sovereign borders in a multinational corporate world, globally significant threats to indigenous knowledge, management and property constructs, emerging themes defining sustainability, such as the precautionary principle, public trust doctrine, intergenerational equity, and indigenous rights. Most faculty members engage in scholarship and research projects, which present exciting opportunities for student researchers.

Student Body
Our student body is among the most committed and talented in the country, and most bring pre-law experience in the environmental area. A vast majority of ENR students are interested in pursuing environmental careers in the public interest, governmental, or tribal sectors. Our students organize the oldest and largest public interest environmental law conference in the world, bringing thousands of participants from across this country and the entire globe. Most ENR program graduates pursue jobs in the public interest or governmental sector, working in agencies and organizations such as the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, state Attorneys General Offices, the Confederated Umatilla Tribes, the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, the Sierra Club, EarthJustice, The Wilderness Society, Southern Environmental Defense Center, and Trust for Public Lands.

Student Organizations and Publications
    Land Air Water Association
    Land Air Water (LAW) is the nation's oldest student environmental law society. LAW's sixty-plus law school members organize the annual Public Interest Environmental Law Conference and publish the Western Environmental Law Update and the Directory of Public Interest Environmental Lawyers.

    Native American Law Students Association
    The Native American Law Students Association (NALSA) was organized to promote the study of Indian law, the study of law by Native Americans, and the retention and support of Native students at the University of Oregon School of Law. Additionally, NALSA strives to represent indigenous views and values in the greater University of Oregon community. NALSA is open to all Native and non-Native law students and nonlaw students.

    Journal of Environmental Law and Litigation
    The Journal of Environmental Law and Litigation (JELL) has provided a national forum for the discussion and presentation of new ideas and theories in environmental and natural resources law since 1985. Staffed by students, JELL publishes two issues a year and sponsors an annual symposium on current environmental themes.

    Public Interest Environmental Law Conference
    The annual Public Interest Environmental Law Conference (PIELC) is the premier gathering for environmentalists worldwide, and is distinguished as the oldest and largest of its kind. More than twenty years old, the conference brings together 3,000 activists, attorneys, students, scientists, and concerned citizens from more than fifty countries around the globe to share their experience and expertise. The conference is organized by volunteers of Land Air Water and is cosponsored by Friends of Land Air Water, a nonprofit organization.
Affiliated Programs and Centers
    Many Nations Longhouse
    The Many Nations Longhouse serves as a place of welcome, community, and learning that is part of a broader campuswide initiative to support native education and research. The longhouse brings members of the native community, visitors, faculty members, and students together to engage in discussion, learning, and ceremony. The Center for Indigenous Cultural Survival is an educational and cultural component of the longhouse and serves as a liaison with indigenous communities in the United States and around the globe. The law school's emphasis on native environmental and sovereignty issues is an integral part of the campuswide initiative.

    Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics
    The Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics, housed in the law school, was established as a living memorial to Oregon's late senator and former UO law dean, Wayne Morse. Its purpose is to stimulate interdisciplinary research and discussion on topics that Morse championed, including human rights, natural resource protection, public process, and international law. Center activities include lectures, community events, and conferences. The center funds visiting and resident scholars and offers grants.

    Public Interest Law Program
    The Public Interest Law Program includes the Loan Repayment Assistance Program, the Oregon Law Students Public Interest Fund, and opportunities to engage in pro bono work recognized by a pro bono certification upon graduation. In recent years, students have performed substantial pro bono work for Earthjustice, the U.S. Department of Justice, Western Environmental Law Center, Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals, Defenders of Wildlife, Idaho Rivers United, LandWatch of Lane County, Northwest Environmental Justice Center, and Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide.

    Law Students for Sustainable Business
    "Seeking environmentally sound business solutions beyond the world of compromise" Where do environmental and business law intersect? The Law Students for Sustainable Business (LSSB) hopes to prepare the next generation of lawyers for a career supporting the field of entrepreneurial environmentalism. In keeping with our emphasis on interdisciplinary study, Business Law at the University of Oregon is continuing to develop opportunities for students to study and gain experience in the evolving arena of green business.
University Resources
The University of Oregon is engaged in leading environmental research from a variety of disciplines, including biology, history, international studies, planning, political science, and education. The Law School is part of the Institute for a Sustainable Environment, a University center engaging in collaborative and applied research projects with the goal of producing information that can help resolve complex problems and enable people to sustain the economies and environmental systems that support their communities. University Library subject specialists collaborate with departmental scholars to select and acquire a full array of materials to support research and instruction in environmental studies as part of the combined University holdings of over 2.2 million volumes.

Law Library Resources
The John E. Jaqua Law Library provides access to a rich and diverse collection of print and electronic resources in environmental law. It houses the Ocean and Coastal Law Center Collection, one of the premier collections of marine legal affairs publications in the country. Librarian Andrea Coffman, with more than twenty-five years of experience, is the law library's ocean and coastal-environmental law specialist. She conducts classroom and individualized training in the use of environmental law databases, holds consultations with students, and provides expert research assistance to law faculty members in the environmental law program.

Back to Top

.....