Environmental Policy & Law

Fellow Story

Hulton VanTassel’s Three Rivers Waterkeeper settles landmark plastic pollution lawsuit

“When Heather Hulton VanTassel went looking for plastic pellets in the Ohio River in 2021, she was simply trying to establish a baseline level of contamination… What she and her co-workers found, however, exceeded her expectations.“We were really shocked at the numbers we were seeing,” she told Grist.”
July 15, 2026
Fellow Story

Lupe Franco: how are municipalities in California tackling climate change and homelessness?

Lupe Franco recently published her first solo-authored paper, Wicked Problems: How Are Municipalities in California Tackling Climate Change and Homelessness? , in the International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development. “This work is the...
July 15, 2026
Fellow Story

Sonnenfeld studies climate change politics throughout the Obama administrations

“President Barack Obama's two terms in office offer a compelling case study in the evolving political discourse on climate change in the United States.”
July 15, 2026
Fellow Story

Hulton VanTassel’s organization to sue chemical company over water pollution violations

“We just want our industries to not pollute our drinking water sources and not pollute critical habitat for our plants and animals,” Hulton VanTassel told the Allegheny Front.
July 15, 2026
Fellow

Justin Saint-Loubert-Bie

2026 Fellow
Justin Saint-Loubert-Bie is third year student at Yale Law School, where he is a student director of the Environmental Justice Law and Advocacy Clinic, and was a co-president of the Yale Environmental Law Association and co-chair for the 2026 New Directions in Environmental Law Conference. Justin is interested in working at the intersection of environmental and Tribal issues, and particularly on questions that touch on land use and the clean energy transition.
Fellow

Nicolas Lama

2026 Fellow
Nicolas Lama is pursuing his JD and MS in Environment and Resources at Stanford Law School and Doerr School of Sustainability, where he focuses on environmental law, ocean justice, and climate resilience. Inspired by his upbringing in south Florida and his deep connection to the ocean, Nicolas is passionate about using legal and policy tools to support frontline communities and protect natural ecosystems in the face of the climate crisis.
Fellow

Brook Thompson

2026 Fellow
Brook M Thompson is a Yurok and Karuk Native American Ph.D. candidate at UC Santa Cruz ENVS, scientist, civil/ environmental engineer, children's book author, water activist, and artist. Thompson's areas of expertise includes Chinook Salmon on the Klamath, environmental justice, restoration theory, and Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge.
Fellow

Chloe Schneider Johnson

2026 Fellow
Chloe Schneider Johnson’s work is guided by the conviction that environmental crises often stem from misplaced priorities and concentrated power that leave social and environmental sacrifice zones in their wake. She aims to leverage policy for community use to defend the universal right to health and connection with local ecosystems. She currently works in the space of wildfire resilience, advancing sustainable rural stewardship economies and supporting Indigenous-led, place-based approaches to land restoration.
Fellow

Christopher Ihinegbu

2026 Fellow
Christopher Ihinegbu's research integrates environmental justice into wildfire and flood resilience, focusing on practical approaches to facilitate cascading resilience. His work aims to inform environmental advocacy and translational science by promoting leverage for equitable disaster resilience. As a Climate Justice Champion with the Climate Action Campaign, he advocates for equitable climate solutions.
Fellow

Ben Regas

2026 Fellow
Ben is an aspiring litigator and policy advocate interested in intersectional racial, environmental, and economic justice work. Ben is particularly interested in expanding holistic legal services models to include environmental justice principles and concerns and the unique roles and responsibilities of state and local governments in pursuing environmental justice enforcement and affirmative litigation.