Story in Seven Days: http://www.7dvt.com/2011vermont-law-school-trains-animal-rights-attorneys

Pace Law School, in collaboration with the NY State Judicial Institute,

the Environmental Law Institute, and the IUCN Commission on Environmental Law,

is pleased to invite you to a working symposium on

Environmental Adjudication Around The World

to be held at the NY State Judicial Institute

White Plains, NY

Friday, April 1, 2011

9:00am – 5:30pm

Webcast available at www.law.pace.edu (Events, IJIEA symposium)

This symposium will explore how governments have empowered courts to do more to enforce environmental laws and enhance the rule of law, and how today more than 380 national environmental courts and tribunals are providing access to justice for citizen suits, civil enforcement actions, and criminal prosecutions around the world. This symposium will contribute toward the establishment of an International Judicial Institute for Environmental Adjudication.

Welcoming Remarks:

§ Prof. Nicholas A. Robinson, University Professor, Pace University School of Law

§ Julia Marton-Lefevre, Director General, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)

§ Dr. Sheila Abed de Zavala, Chair, IUCN Commission on Environmental Law

Key Note:

§ Justice Antonio Herman Benjamin, Supreme Court of Brazil

Presentations include:

§ Judge Merideth Wright, Environmental Court of Vermont

§ Justice Brian Preston, Chief Judge of the Land & Environment Court of New South Whales, Australia

§ Judge Donald Kaniaru, Environment Court of Kenya

§ Scott Fulton, General Counsel, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

§ Charles E. Di Leva, Chief Counsel, Environment and International Law Unit, Legal Vice Presidency, The World Bank

§ Durwood Zaelke, Director, International Network for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement (INECE) Secretariat

Space is limited. Please RSVP by March 30, 2011, to Karen Ferro at 914-422-4327 (kferro@law.pace.edu)

The Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice is offering the following awards:

  • Nominate a publication of administrative law. Eligible books and articles are those that were published (copyrighted) during 2010.

Mary C. Lawton Outstanding Government Service Award

  • Nominate a government attorney or political appointee who has made an outstanding contribution to the development, implementation, or improvement of administrative law and regulatory practice. The award will be presented at the Section’s Annual Awards Dinner in Washington, DC on October 17, 2011.

2011 Gellhorn-Sargentich Law Student Essay Award Competition

  • Discuss a problem or issue related to presidential control of agency rulemaking. Eligible students are those currently enrolled in ABA accredited law schools and also members of the ABA Section of Administrative Law. The winner will receive a $1,000 cash prize and round-trip airfare and accommodation to the fall conference in Washington, DC.

Learning Chinese is a struggle (to put it mildly).  Before leaving for my Fulbright experience last academic year, I took private Mandarin lessons once a week and used Rosetta Stone.  Upon arrival in China, we were immersed in the language and had a Chinese language tutor.  Only now do I have the base knowledge to actually begin learning Chinese; all over again.  So I am going to start re-learning Chinese from scratch, with the base knowledge I wish I had before.

The journey began today when I attended our China Program‘s Mandarin Language Table (our Dean buys lunch for anyone interested in discussing current events in Mandarin for an hour, and, given the success of the our China Program, we have quite a number of Chinese speakers on staff and in our student body).  I was glad I went, but today’s topic was the future of space programs in China and the United States.  As you might expect the vocabulary was extremely difficult (space 太空, space ship 宇宙飞船, etc.).  Overall, I was surprised by my showing.  My listening comprehension was far better than I had expected, but my speaking ability was far, far worse than I had hoped.

UPDATE: Apparently if I were a baby, my language acquisition would be much easier.

…veggie burgers are much improved, and the Times makes it official.  See here.

On Friday, April 1, Vermont Law School is hosting ocean and coastal law experts for a day-long conference on Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning (CMSP) and Energy. CMSP is a key component of the new “National Policy for the Stewardship of our Oceans, Coasts and Great Lakes.”   The student-sponsored conference is organized by the Oceans Committee of the Environmental Law Society and my colleague Betsy Baker.

Speakers include:

From Government

NOAA – Sally Yozell, Policy Director and Senior Adviser to Jane Lubchenco, NOAA Administrator

BOEMRE – Rodney Cluck, Chief Scientist , Environmental Sciences

DOI Fish and Wildlife – Eileen Sobeck, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks

Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management CouncilGrover Fugate, Executive Director

From NGOs
Defenders of Wildlife – Julie Falkner, Senior Policy Analyst of Renewable Energy and Wildlife

Pew Environment Group – Chris Mann, Senior Officer,  Campaign for Healthy Oceans

Ocean Conservancy – Shauna McCovey, Policy Manager of Marine Spatial Planning

NRDC – Sarah Chasis, Senior Attorney and Director of NRDC Ocean Initiative

From Academia

Stanford Law School – Meg Caldwell, Director, Environmental and Natural Resources Law and Policy Program, Executive Director for the Center for Ocean Solutions
Vermont Law School – Betsy Baker, Associate Professor, Senior Fellow for Oceans and Energy at the Institute for Energy and the Environment

The complete program, with links to speaker biographies, is available at this link and reproduced in part below the fold.  Registration Information is available here.
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Professor Patricia L. Farnese, University of Saskatchewan, has recently received funding from the Canadian Institute of Health Research to explore the legal and policy frameworks for infectious disease control. She is currently recruiting two students to undertake LL.M. studies in this area beginning in September, 2011. A stipend of $17,850 per year for two years will be provided to the selected LL.M. students.

The overall purpose of Professor Farnese’s project is to: (1) investigate the extent to which the existing legal and policy framework for infectious disease control in humans, animals, and wildlife is integrated; (2) consider reasons for any lack of integration by exploring the structural, constitutional, or other limitations and constraints to better integration; and (3) examine ways to more closely align the legal and policy framework for infectious disease control with best practices in wildlife health. The selected LL.M. students will work with Professor Farnese to complete a thesis related to these research questions.

Interested applicants are asked to send a statement of interest and curriculum vitae to Professor Farnese by email before April 15, 2011 at patricia.farnese@usask.ca. The selected students will then need to apply and be admitted to the LL.M. program at the University of Saskatchewan. Information about Graduate Studies at the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Law can be found at http://www.usask.ca/law/admissions/llm_program_information/index.php.

In my classes yesterday we had a guest speaker; a Trial Attorney from the U.S. Department of Justice, Environmental Enforcement Section. In addition to talking about her work, she provided many valuable information for students on the job hunt and interested in working or interning at the DOJ and its offices working on environmental issues. These links may be useful for students:

http://www.justice.gov/oarm/arm/int/internsum11.htm#environment

http://www.justice.gov/enrd/ENRD_Employment.html

http://www.justice.gov/oarm/arm/int/internsum11.htm#environment_enforcement

http://www.justice.gov/oarm/arm/int/internsum11.htm#environment_sffo

http://www.justice.gov/oarm/arm/hp/hp.htm

http://www.justice.gov/oarm/arm/sp/sp.htm

The Center for Ocean Solutions (“COS”) seeks two recent graduates who have received a JD or PhD in the social sciences in the last five years, and who have completed substantial course work and/or gained experience in ocean or coastal science, law, or policy to collaborate with researchers and experts on one or more interdisciplinary projects focused on elevating the impact of the social, physical and natural sciences on ocean policy.  See  here.

Once again, Vermont Law School is the #1 Environmental Law program in the United States according to USNWR’s 2011 rankings.  See here.