Akriti Bhargava Selected as 2021-22 International Law Research Fellow

The International Law Committee is pleased to announce the selection of Akriti Bhargava, 3L, as International Law Research Fellow for the 2021-22 academic year. In her capacity as Fellow, Akriti will provide research support to the Committee and individual faculty members. She is expected to research issues within the fields of international business law, international environmental law, comparative or foreign law, and international animal law.

Before coming to Lewis & Clark, Akriti attended the University of Vermont, where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Environmental Studies, with a minor in Economics. She has worked as a law clerk for the Northwest Environmental Defense Center, as a legal assistant and research analyst for the Sierra Club Environmental Law Program, and as a research assistant for Professor Lisa Benjamin. She is also the President of the Lewis & Clark Law Student Bar Association.

Akriti is pursuing two certificates at Lewis & Clark Law simultaneously: Energy, Innovation and Sustainability Law and International Law. She intends to pursue a career in domestic and international climate change policy work, advocating for an equitable and just transition to clean energy and a sustainable economy. She grew up in India, and says that it gave her an opportunity to see firsthand how law and policy in the United States can affect and influence environmental and socio-economic law and policy around the world.

She recently co-authored a solicited journal article with Professor Benjamin about climate change litigation in India and the Global South. She says that her work on that article taught her that even new areas of international law, such as authority relating to climate change, can carry crucial weight. She has also come to the conclusion that customary international law is rapidly evolving in the fields of human rights, immigration and displacement, and natural resources, and expects international law on these subjects to become increasingly relevant as the global climate crisis worsens.

The International Law faculty looks forward to working with Akriti.