Environmental Justice Community Lawyering Fellowship
The Environmental Justice Community Lawyering Fellowship aims to energize the next generation of lawyers to identify equitable solutions to pressing challenges that disproportionately affect low-income communities and communities of color. The program provides students with a demonstrated commitment to promoting inclusion and diversity in the legal profession with a stipend to work for an organization that furthers environmental justice, climate justice, energy justice, food justice, indigenous rights, tribal law or policy, or a related field. The primary purpose of this Initiative is to 鈥渆nergize the next generation of 麻豆视频WCL community lawyers to identify equitable solutions to pressing environmental challenges that disproportionately affect low-income communities and communities of color.鈥 Since 2020, PEEL has provided eleven students with summer work stipends. See for more information.
Summer 2024 Fellows
Robbie Gordon
This summer, Robbie Gordon will assist Walker Law LLC in its representation of Tribal and individual clients in state and federal matters, focusing on Tribal energy development and environmental law. His role will involve contributing to the firm鈥檚 legal advocacy to advance Tribal transportation and infrastructure funding, energy projects, broadband network development regulations, lands-to-trust applications, and federal Administrative Procedure Act claims. This work is deeply connected to environmental justice, as it involves ensuring that Tribal communities have access to the resources and infrastructure needed to thrive while protecting their lands and cultural heritage. Robbie is excited to support the empowerment of Tribal communities through legal means, advocating for their rights and environmental protections.
Fielding Burnette
Fielding Burnette is a rising 4L in the International Dual-Degree Program between 麻豆视频 Washington College of Law and Universit茅 Paris Nanterre. This summer, with funding from the PEEL Environmental Justice Fellowship Stipend, Fielding will complete two internships in Paris. The first is at the Centre International du Droit Compar茅 de l'Environnement, an international NGO that unites environmental lawyers from around the world to assist in the negotiation and development of international environmental treaties. In this role, he will assist in the representation of civil society at international environmental treaty meetings under the auspices of the United Nations, advocating for equitable policy development and a right to a healthy environment. Fielding鈥檚 second internship is with R茅seau Sortir du Nucl茅aire, focusing on the safe transfer and disposal of nuclear waste under international and European law. This work is crucial to ensuring that nuclear energy's environmental burdens do not disproportionately impact marginalized communities and addresses the exploitation of vulnerable communities by multinational corporations. Fielding will also employ corporate accountability techniques developed through research with Professor David Hunter and studies at Universit茅 Paris Nanterre. He chose this internship to engage in corporate accountability litigation, seeking justice for those harmed by insufficient environmental protections and corporate legal immunities. By advocating for stringent international regulations, Fielding aims to contribute to a more equitable and accountable global environmental landscape.
David Kimelman
This summer, David Kimelman (rising 3L) will be working at the Southern Environmental Law Center鈥檚 (SELC) Chapel Hill, NC office. At SELC, his work will focus on environmental justice in support of marginalized communities across the South. Last summer, Kimelman dedicated his summer serving in the Land, Groundwater, and Waste Division within the North Carolina Department of Justice Environmental Division. He is excited to return to NC and continue building community in this region and learn about the needs of various frontline communities. His tasks will include research and writing to support ongoing litigation on a range of issues, such as clean air and water, clean energy, and transportation. All of SELC鈥檚 litigation is underscored by community engagement and environmental justice principles, providing an opportunity to experience firsthand how litigation can advance environmental justice goals. David looks forward to researching state and federal environmental regulations, drafting briefs, and assisting in litigation, particularly in collaboration with community partners that SELC serves. This role will enable meaningful contributions to the fight for environmental equity.
Summer 2023 Fellows
Jillian Mayer聽
Jillian Mayer clerked for the (DNR). Jillian worked alongside Assistant Attorney Generals in conducting a gap analysis of DNR鈥檚 engagement with environmental justice. She also assisted with the drafting of new statutory and regulatory language to implement environmental justice principles.聽
Shade Streeter
Shade Streeter clerked for the (NARF) in Washington D.C. Shade worked alongside NARF attorneys to protect Native American rights, resources, and lifeways through litigation and legal advocacy.聽
David Kimelman
David Kimelman clerked for North Carolina Department of Justice鈥檚 Environmental Division, in the Land, Groundwater and Waste Section. The Section provides legal representation for the state鈥檚 Superfund Program, Brownfield Program, and the Department of Environmental Quality鈥檚 Division of Energy, Mineral and Land Resources. David worked alongside attorneys in support of the state鈥檚 decision to deny the expansion of a local quarry that would have a negative public health impact on the surrounding marginalized communities.聽
Elizabeth Ross
Elizabeth Ross clerked for in the Appalachian Basin Region. Elizabeth worked alongside attorneys to provide equal access to legal services to low-income communities, indigenous people, and people of color affected by petrochemical buildout pollution in the region.聽
Bruce Leal
Bruce Leal clerked for in Bangor, ME. Bruce worked alongside attorneys serving individuals and families facing legal problems related to their status as Indigenous People, including but not limited, to tribal housing and employment, tribal land usage and other rights arising under tribal law, legal needs of Indian elders and youth, the Indian Child Welfare Act, criminal cases of Indigenous People within Tribal Courts, border crossing rights, treaty rights and other rights arising under federal Indian law.
Kim Hayes
Kim Hayes clerked for the White House Council on Environmental Quality in Washington, D.C. Kim worked alongside attorneys in overseeing executive environmental policy that prioritizes environmental justice communities throughout the planning and execution of several environmental programs, such as the , on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, and on Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations.
Summer 2022 Fellows
Molly Hopkins
Molly Hopkins clerked for the Great Rivers Environmental Law Center in St. Louis, MO. During that time, Hopkins worked on several projects relating to environmental protection and civil rights, including the drafting of a land lease contract for a Black urban farmer in St. Louis, where food insecurity is one of the highest in the country. The contract allowed the farmer to lease a larger farm in the St. Louis area that helped him feed more people while expanding his business. Read more about Hopkins' Fellowship experience.
Summer 2021 Fellows
Dominique Rolle聽
Dominique Rolle worked with the (including the ) to develop legal strategies and protections for climate activists seeking to promote change in the way the United States makes and distributes energy. She also worked with a coalition of law schools, including the 麻豆视频 Washington College of Law, to publish a Fifth Edition Report entitled 鈥淓nvironmental Justice for All: A Fifty State Survey of Legislation, Policies, and Cases,鈥 which is a compilation of environmental justice laws and policies in the 50 states, plus the District of Columbia and other territories.