Ryan Shaening Pokrasso (2011)

Fellowship Year: 2011
Academic Background: UC Berkeley School of Law - JD 2013- (Law/Environmental Law)
Current Position: Environmental Justice Workshop Supervisor , Students for Economic and Environmental Justice
Ryan Shaening Pokrasso is a J.D. candidate at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, where he is a member of Students for Economic and Environmental Justice and is an executive editor for the Ecology Law Quarterly journal. He is currently working with students, faculty, and legal practitioners to establish a student run Environmental Justice Clinic to provide pro bono legal services to communities disproportionately impacted by irresponsible business practices and to promote community-driven sustainable economic development in the Bay Area and California Central Valley. Prior to law school, Ryan was the Program Director for a non-profit organization in New Mexico focused on environmental justice issues on tribal lands, including successfully fighting the development of a fourth coal plant in the area. He organized with diverse communities including ranchers, local business owners, youth advocates, public health professionals, and environmental organizations to support New Mexico's cap on carbon emissions. In 2009, he helped author, lobby for, and pass the New Mexico Green Jobs Act to provide funding for training programs in sustainable industries for disadvantaged individuals and families. Ryan received a Bachelors of Science in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California Santa Cruz and participated in a conservation biology field project focused on eradicating invasive species from Rat Island in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska.
Expertise: Environmental Policy & Law, Environmental Justice