Lewis & Clark Law School is pleased to announce that Matthew Campa ’22 is the fourth Scholar to be selected from the law school for the Wyss Scholars Program for the Conservation of the American West, which supports graduate-level education for the next generation of leaders in western land conservation.
As a Wyss Scholar, Matthew will receive a stipend for a summer position with a nonprofit or public sector conservation organization dedicated to the Intermountain West, membership in the Wyss Scholars network, tuition assistance for his third year, the ability to apply for funding from the Wyss Scholars’ Small Grants Program to propose professional development events, and two post-graduation payments upon entering a qualified career position.
The Wyss Foundation is a private, charitable organization dedicated to western public lands issues. In 2017, the Wyss Foundation selected Lewis & Clark as one of the first law schools to be included in the Wyss Scholars Program. Prior Wyss Scholars from the law school are: Cooper Rodgers ’19, Hannah Clements ’20, and Maddy Munson ’21.
Matthew grew up in a predominantly agricultural and Hispanic community in California which set him on his path to work on land and resource conservation. While in college at UC Santa Barbara, he co-founded the Environmental Justice Alliance, the first campus-based, student led environmental justice organization at the school. His work with the Alliance included mobilizing efforts to oppose fracking development on public lands, fundraising for endangered species, and planting trees in the Las Padres National Forest. During law school, he served as a student board member for the Northwest Environmental Defense Center (NEDC) and co-chair of its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee. He also drafted the charter structuring the operation of that committee and led an initiative in NEDC’s Public Lands and Wildlife focus group. Matthew also clerked for Neighbors for Clean Air, drafting community handbooks protecting against air pollution. He will be a summer 2021 law clerk for Earthrise Law Center at Lewis & Clark Law School.
Matthew’s commitment to western conservation is multifaceted. In his words, “the West offers insights into the co-habitability of people and wildlife with the recovery of iconic animals like wolves and bears. It presents unique opportunities for sustainable, eco-conscious, and justice-oriented energy production. Above all, the West affords every American – irrespective of their station, race, or political inclination – the democratic right to partake in the preservation of natural spaces for mutual and collective benefit, use, enjoyment, and marvel.”
Lewis & Clark’s Environmental, Natural Resources, and Energy law program is proud to work with the Wyss Foundation in supporting passionate and driven students like Matthew who will be leaders and change-makers in western land conservation.
