Law Students Help to Plan National Environmental Conference

Lewis & Clark Law School student, Colin Pohlman (3L) and alum, Jackson Moffett (JD ’23), helped plan and execute the combined New Directions in Environmental Law Conference and Food Law Student Leadership Summit, which took place at Yale Law School and Yale School of the Environment this spring. The event brought together hundreds of law students, professors, and other legal and policy professionals from across the country. The theme of the conference was “Rethinking Resilience,” and featured a variety of lectures and panel discussions covering cutting-edge law and policy considerations on today’s most pressing food & environmental issues, including ocean and coastal justice, food sovereignty, indigenous knowledge, sustainable business, and the Farm Bill.

Pohlman was involved in the conference as the president of the Food Law Student Network; the conference was student-led and student-run, and the organizers represented at least five different law schools. He described the experience as “one of the more challenging projects I’ve taken on,” but reflected that “I learned an incredible amount not only from the wonderful speakers, panelists, and participants we were able to bring to the event but also from the planning process itself, which pushed me and challenged me in ways that I believe will undoubtedly make me a more competent, confident, and skilled legal professional.”

Pohlman also coordinated and led the policy simulation, which allowed student participants to work with small groups representing unique policy positions to develop policy solutions relating to the topic of Mariculture/Aquaculture. The students worked collaboratively to negotiate revisions to the text of a legislative proposal. Pohlman received high praise for his work; one professor recommended that he seek grant funding to write about and further develop the materials he created so that professors could potentially use them in a classroom setting.

Pohlman said the conference was a huge success: “I’m very proud of what we accomplished. Jackson Moffett, whom I brought into the planning process to coordinate the Oceans and Coastal Law Panel, knocked it out of the park.”

In addition, four Lewis & Clark students attended the conference as participants funded by the Food Law Policy Clinic, including: Zach Nacev, Melissa Holme (3L), Motunrayo (Mo) Esan (LLM ’23), and Gabrielle Stewart (2L). All did an exceptional job in the policy simulation event and participated enthusiastically in every aspect of the conference.”

Mo Esan (seen in the second photo above looking at the camera) described the experience: “the policy simulation sessions were engaging and it was insightful to have a hands-on session on what it would look like to have stakeholders come together to draft a policy that adequately caters for all interests. The panels were also carefully put together to ensure that experts on the subject were able to share aspects of their work with us. My favorite session was on the newly drafted Ocean Treaty where we were able to have insight into what went on during the drafting process.”

Moffett, who planned and coordinated the Oceans and Coastal Law panel and attended as an organizer, reflected that “having an opportunity to represent Lewis & Clark and create a diverse panel to discuss complex legal challenges facing our oceans was special. I couldn’t be more thankful for our speakers and look forward to Lewis & Clark Law school continuing to be a leader in this field.”