Juris Doctor (JD) - Environmental and Natural Resources Law Concentration

Program Description

The concentration in environmental and natural resources law is designed to provide students with broad-based exposure to concepts, topics, and skills vital to environmental law practitioners and necessary to prepare students for a variety of careers serving public and private sector clients.

Course Requirements

The environmental and natural resources law concentration recognizes a student’s strong interest in the broad field of environmental and natural resources law. Students completing the concentration create a demonstrated record of study, gain experience in environmental and natural resources law, and prepare for careers at public interest organizations, government agencies, companies, and private law firms. A student may be recognized for a concentration in environmental and natural resources law by satisfying the following requirements:

  1. Successfully completing 3 core courses (9 credit hours);
  2. Successfully completing at least 4 elective courses (12 credit hours);
  3. Successful completion of 3 intensive credit hours.

Core courses, elective courses, and intensive credit hours are listed below. Each core course is offered at least once every two years, but electives listed below may not be offered every year. A list of the specific courses offered in any given term that may count toward the environmental and natural resource law concentration will be disseminated prior to enrollment for that term.

Core Courses
  1. Environmental Law
  2. Administrative Law
  3. Either Ocean and Coastal Law or Natural Resources Law
Elective Courses
  • Admiralty Law
  • Agricultural Law
  • Federal Indian Law
  • International Law
  • International Environmental Law
  • Land Planning
  • Legislation
  • Local Government Law
  • Natural Resources Law (only if Ocean and Coastal Law selected as Core Course)
  • Ocean and Coastal Law (only if Natural Resources Law selected as Core Course)
  • Oil and Gas Law

As appropriate, additional courses, clinical courses, and advanced/special legal topics focusing on environmental and natural resources topics may be included in this category on a case-by-case basis upon approval by the designated faculty member and/or senior associate dean. Examples of such courses that may address relevant topics depending on the content of the syllabus include Drone Law and Policy, Housing Law, Insurance Law, White Collar Crime, and the Housing Clinic.

Intensive Credit Hours
  1. Individual study in environmental and natural resources law that is approved in advance.
  2. An externship/internship placement approved in advance and related to environmental and natural resources law.

Other Academic Requirements

The student must have at least a 3.0 grade-point average in credits applied to
the concentration credit-hour requirements. Excess hours, that is, credit hours
earned in the subject area but not needed to complete the concentration, may be
excluded from the calculation of the concentration GPA.