May 11, 2015

Greenlight on Joel Reschly (’15)- wins prestigious ELI writing award.

Joel Reschly – an “almost alum” - recently learned that he won the Beveridge & Diamond Constitutional Environmental Law Writing Competition organized by the Environmental Law Institute and the National Association of Environmental Law Studies. Joel is the first Lewis & Clark law student to win this prestigious award which recognizes student work that best advances the state of scholarship and informs the debate on a current topic of constitutional environmental law. The award comes with a $2000 cash prize and an offer to publish in the Environmental Law Reporter.

Joel Reschly – an “almost alum” - recently learned that he won the Beveridge & Diamond Constitutional Environmental Law Writing Competition organized by the Environmental Law Institute and the National Association of Environmental Law Studies. Joel is the first Lewis & Clark law student to win this prestigious award which recognizes student work that best advances the state of scholarship and informs the debate on a current topic of constitutional environmental law. The award comes with a $2000 cash prize and an offer to publish in the Environmental Law Reporter.

Joel’s paper – written as his capstone - is titled Pesticides, Water Quality, And The Public Trust Doctrine.  His thesis analyzes how courts could use the public trust doctrine to regulate water pollution caused by pesticides, arguing that the current regulatory framework governing pesticides is insufficient to protect human health, the environment, wildlife, or water quality. The paper contends that the federal environmental statutes regulating pesticides do not preempt the public trust doctrine, at least when the claim is brought under state law. It will not surprise many in the Lewis & Clark community that Professor Michael Blumm supervised his capstone project, and recommended that Joel submit the paper for the competition.

Joel has always been interested in writing and received his Bachelors of Arts in English from Truman State University in Missouri. He sought out Lewis & Clark law school to focus on environmental law and quickly took advantage of the opportunities within the program, first volunteering with the Northwest Environmental Defense Center, going on to extern with the Earthrise litigation clinic, and becoming the managing editor of the Environmental Law journal.

Joel plans to return to Missouri to take the bar, although he loved his time in Portland. Some of his favorite activities here are going to Blazers games and hiking and camping; he hiked in Silver Falls State Park this spring and saw all 10 of its gorgeous waterfalls. He’ll especially miss spending time with his law school friends and some of the local Portland hangouts, like the Bye and Bye. His dream jobs include everything from legal work related to agriculture, water, or hazardous waste, to legal publishing. We’re confident that whatever career path he takes he will make all of us at Lewis & Clark proud to call him an alum.

For more information about the ELI award please click here.