I was honored to be selected as the ABA Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources diversity fellow in summer 2009 and to work at KAHEA: The Hawaiian-Environmental Alliance. I had the opportunity to gain experience in a multitude of areas with this non-profit environmental advocacy organization, run by two extraordinary women who juggle many complex issues with grace. My primary work involved assessing and, eventually, challenging the State's management of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, the nation's first marine national monument, comprising the 1200-mile archipelago extending northwest from the Main Hawaiian Islands.

The State of Hawaii Department of Land and Natural resources had been treating the issuance of research permits in this no-access, highly protected locale as a categorical exclusion under the Hawaii Environmental Policy Act, in violation of the law, according to KAHEA. I helped develop this lawsuit, which we filed shortly after a whistle-blower brought a suit against the State DLNR for firing him after he advised against these violations. I also became intimately familiar with NEPA, the CEQ regulations, and agency regulations implementing NEPA. In addition to this project, I undertook the following rewarding, highly educational endeavors: assisting in the proposed--and later, granted--expansion of the endangered monk seal's critical habitat, developing KAHEA's position on Climate Change and Justice, participating in Environmental Justice community meetings and researching legal strategies and avenues for the EJ clients, and researching and writing public comments and memoranda on many other issues, including but not limited to bioprospecting of public natural resources, the Hawaii Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, and proposed construction of a thirty-meter telescope atop Mauna Kea, a sacred site to many Native Hawaiians and home to the Weiku, a bug endemic to one summit of the mountain. The unique circumstances of Hawaii, such as the constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment, its abundant biodiversity, and remote island situation and, thus, heightened climate change vulnerability and opportunity, made for a rich, unmatchable experience. The fellowship made it possible for me to travel from Colorado to Hawaii and to have the honor of this legal education and experience, for which I am inexplicably grateful. I also had the fortune of two Hawaii State Bar Association mentors who met with me throughout the summer and advised me how to succeed not only in my fellowship but also in law school and my legal career at large.

I consider myself very fortunate to have had the opportunity to participate in the ABA Diversity Fellowship in Environmental Law. The Fellowship program opened the door to an array of invaluable experiences that allowed me to further pursue a career in environmental law. I was able to meet and work with many environmental attorneys, significantly develop my research and writing skills, and strengthen my legal advocacy abilities.

During my summer at the California Attorney General’s Office in the Natural Resources Law Section, I undertook a multitude of tasks and responsibilities. The majority of my duties required that I research various facets of California administrative law, CEQA, and other environmental statutes and regulations and drafting several intra-office memoranda detailing my findings. I worked with many Deputy Attorney Generals on cases dealing with the California Bay-Delta, underground storage tank cleanup, and AB 32. In one particular action, I drafted a memorandum of points and authorities in support for demurrer, which was ultimately filed with the court, and later helped draft the points and authorities memorandum in response to a motion to augment the administrative record. Suffice it to say, this experience proved to be very fruitful and one that has greatly shaped the outcome of my future legal career.

This summer, my fellowship with the Office of General Counsel (OGC) with the New Mexico Environment Department was a rewarding and extremely valuable experience. My duties included researching and writing memos on various legal issues and preparing legal briefs and arguments for administrative and court hearings. Moreover, each attorney that I worked with also served as a mentor to me, always available to answer questions ad provide guidance whenever needed. However, one of the greatest benefits of the fellowship was the chance to experience other aspects of working as a staff attorney for NMED besides legal research and writing. Among the things I was exposed to was meeting with clients, attending adjudicatory hearings, trial proceedings, rulemaking proceedings, and taking trips with other divisions within the department to see what types of work they do in an effort to help me better understand the wide range of issues NMED deals with.

This summer was such a great experience and such a dream opportunity for me that I can honestly think of no drawbacks other than the inevitable conclusion that the fellowship would end. This summer cemented in my mind the type of work and field that I want to practice in when I finish law school and I am extremely grateful for the opportunity that I have been given.

A summary of my summer experience as an ABA SEER/ELUS fellow:
I secured an internship with the Friends of Perdido Bay, under the direction of their attorney, Marcy LaHart, Esq. as part of my ABA SEER/ELUS fellowship. The Friends of Perdido Bay (FOPB) is a non-profit organization made up of land owners and other community members that live on or near Perdido Bay in Pensacola, Florida. Jim Lane, whose family has owned land along Perdido Bay for approximately 60 years, heads the organization.

The FOPB and Jim Lane challenged two Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) proposed agency actions. The first is a delegated NPDES permit authorizing International Paper to discharge 23.5 million gallons per day of papermill effluent from its Cantonment mill into a wetland that borders Perdido Bay. The second proposed agency action is a consent order that requires “corrective actions” to address International Paper’s failure to meet water quality standards, namely improvements at the mills as well as the construction of a ten-mile pipeline to the “effluent distribution zone,” meaning the wetlands that are adjacent to Perdido Bay. The consent order gives International Paper another nine years before they actually have to be in compliance with state water quality standards. Jim Lane’s wife Dr. Jackie Lane, a marine biologist, was also a party to the proceeding and represented herself pro se.

While surveying the land and water to be impacted by the proposed permit, I witnessed the murky, bog-like conditions of Eleven Mile Creek, as well as the lack of biodiversity in parts of the Bay that currently receive the mill's pollution. The Creek was once a clear spring-fed stream, but has suffered from years of algae blooms. Furthermore, Perdido Bay no longer teems with the fish and crab that once made it a favorite of local sportsmen. Both the quantity and variety of flora and fauna in Eleven Mile Creek and Peridido Bay languished under the effects of the same effluent that may soon be piped into the large tract of wetlands.

I stayed in Pensacola for ten days; five days were spent attending the administrative hearing, and the other days I spent preparing trial notebooks, drafting questions for expert witnesses, editing press releases, organizing exhibits, researching, and exploring the current and potential, future effluent-discharge zones. Before and after my time in Pensacola, I researched and wrote memos on case law and federal and state statutes regarding wetland pollution permits. I also had to familiarize myself with administrative hearing procedures.

This past summer I had the opportunity to work in the Georgia Attorney General's Office in the Environmental Regulations Division. My primary responsibilities included researching complex state and federal laws, statutes, and legislation Also, I was responsible for drafting several inter-office memorandums and drafting court documents such as motions for summary judgments, petitions for citation of contempt, discovery requests, and demand letters. On a daily basis, I was required to research, which allowed me to refine my legal research skills by learning how to retrieve pertinent legal information in a prompt and efficient manner. Working in the Attorney General’s office provided me with several benefits, because not only did I improve upon my research and writing skills, I was also able to go to an array of hearings and 11th circuit oral arguments.

This summer I gained an array of feedback and worked in an environment that encouraged curiosity and learning more about the law. It was truly amazing to have so many mentors and so much work-product feedback.

During the Summer of 2009, I worked for the Waste and Toxic Substances Branch at Region 2 of the Environmental Protection Agency. Many of the attorneys took the time to preceed an assignment with an overview of the statute or policy you are working with and the facts of the case. The assignments and the deadlines were varied. I worked on cases related to different statutes including RCRA, TSCA, EPCRA, and FIFRA. I also worked on cases having to do with Underground Storage Tanks, and settlements including Supplemental Environmental Projects. Examples of some of my summer assignments are looking up labels on the EPA Pesticide Product Label System (PPLS) to find out if a substance was registered, doing property searches to gather information about a potential defendant, checking the Code of Federal Regulations for permit requirements, and researching environmental case law to determine how the number of violations are properly calculated. It was my responsibility to find the answer to the legal question posed and half the battle involved realizing what source (CFR, FR, case law, etc.) would help. I was also allowed to sit in on many negotiation and settlement conferences, which educate you on how a case progresses. Furthermore, I took advantage of the general seminars that are available by teleconference on different areas/aspects/programs of EPA.

Some of the greatest benefits of working at the EPA included the time taken by the attorneys to mentor me through providing me feedback, the exposure I was allowed to a wide range of topics, the opportunities to attend meetings related to the cases I assisted with, the reasonable deadlines set by the attorneys, the seriousness with which my work and opinions were considered as an intern, and the wide variety of tasks I was assigned. Furthermore, as an intern at the EPA, I was able to choose my start date and was allowed (and encouraged) to take advantage of the summer through their flex-time schedule where you work longer days but have every other Friday off.