Hannah Clements Named Wyss Scholar

Lewis & Clark Law School is pleased to announce that Hannah Clements ’20 is the second Wyss Scholar to be selected from the law school. As a Wyss Scholar, Hannah will receive a stipend for a summer position after 2L year with a nonprofit or public sector conservation organization dedicated to the Intermountain West, membership in the Wyss Scholars network, generous tuition assistance for her 3L year, ability to apply for a Wyss Scholars’ Small Grants Program to propose professional development events, and two post-graduation payments upon entering in a qualified career position.

The Wyss Foundation is a private, charitable organization dedicated to western public lands issues, and its Scholars Program supports graduate-level education for the next generation of leaders in western land conservation. In early fall of 2017, the Wyss Foundation selected Lewis & Clark and its Environmental, Natural Resources, and Energy Law program as one of the first law schools to be included in the Wyss Scholars Program. JD students in their second year at Lewis & Clark who are interested in natural resources and public lands issues on western lands, may apply to serve as Wyss Scholars. Cooper Rodgers ’19 was selected as the inaugural Wyss Scholar in January of 2018.

Hannah grew up in the Pacific Northwest exploring western lands by trail running in the lush old growth forests of the Pacific Northwest, climbing in the California high desert, hiking peaks in Colorado, and backpacking the John Muir Trail through the Sierra Nevada Mountains. An alum from Lewis & Clark College of Arts & Sciences in the field of Biology, she received department honors for her research on the role that seeds beneath the soil play in urban forest restoration, and subsequently worked as a research assistant in the mountains of Colorado.

Hannah came to law school to become “a powerful environmental advocate.” Her clarity and focus on this goal is demonstrated by her top grades, leadership, and career path. Through her work as a law clerk at the Northwest Environmental Defense Center, she organized a student project focused on public lands and wildlife, and recruited and oversees 30 student volunteers, organizing and leading meetings and executing large events. She will continue to follow her passion this summer as a clerk for the law firm Advocates for the West, which is focused on protecting public lands and wildlife.

Hannah’s commitment to the western conservation is lifelong: “The West is where I grew up, home to my favorite wild places, and where I intend to live and work for the rest of my life.”

Lewis & Clark’s Environmental, Natural Resources, and Energy law program is proud to work with the Wyss Foundation in cultivating passionate and driven students, like Hannah, who will be the leaders and change-makers in western land conservation.