Law and Sustainability
#16 best Environmental Law program
– U.S. News & World Report, 2026
At ASU Law, caring for our planet means equipping our students with the legal and policy tools and resources that prepare them to tackle the complex environmental sustainability challenges of today and tomorrow.
It also means nurturing a vibrant community of scholars that engages in innovative research and thought leadership within the sustainability field. Our faculty are leading international scholars focused on today’s most pressing questions related to climate change, water, renewable energy, indigenous land restoration and animal rights.
The initiative’s multidimensional and interdisciplinary approach is shaped and informed by the unique natural resources, land use and tribal community dynamics that exist within Arizona and, more broadly, the Western United States.
Working alongside other schools within the university, including the College of Global Futures, the Law and Sustainability focus within ASU Law’s degree programs is an integral part of the university’s broad sustainability goals and vision, and contributes to ASU Law’s environmental sustainability area of expertise and our ranking as No. 16 best Environmental Law programs in the country, by U.S. News and World Report (2026).
Degree programs
Innovation, research and scholarship
Law and Sustainability at ASU Law is a hub of innovative research, thought leadership and collaborative problem-solving for environmental sustainability issues.
Our faculty of international experts — many of whom hold joint appointments with other schools within the university — contribute to our culture of innovation and interdisciplinary scholarship.
We are also known for cutting-edge faculty research, the annual SRP Sustainability Conference of American Legal Educators and the Morrison Prize for scholars, all designed to promote the productive exchange of ideas and solutions around the most pressing sustainability challenges of today.
Faculty research
Our faculty offer expertise in five key areas: climate change, indigenous approaches to environmental sustainability, renewable energy, the rights of nature and water resource management. They are impactful and innovative researchers, community builders, internationally-known scholars and agents of change.
SRP Sustainability Conference of American Legal Educators
The SRP Sustainability Conference of American Legal Educators is an annual gathering of law professors researching in sustainability-related areas. The conference features presentations on a variety of legal academic research, including:
- Climate change law
- Environmental law
- Energy law
- Water law
- Natural resources law
- Land use and zoning law
- Agricultural and food law
- Disaster law
Morrison Prize
The Morrison Prize is an annual award of $10,000 to the author(s) of the most impactful sustainability-related legal academic paper published in North America during the previous year. All entries undergo independent review and scoring by a group of non-ASU professors who teach in environmental sustainability-related areas at various North American law schools. The prize winner(s) present their paper at that year’s SRP Sustainability Conference of American Legal Educators.
The 2024 Morrison Prize went to Karrigan S. Bork, Professor of Law and Co-Director of the California Environmental Law and Policy Center for his article, “Water Right Exactions,” published in the Harvard Environmental Law Review.
Law and Sustainability expertise
Law and Sustainability’s outstanding faculty sets it apart as one of the strongest environmental sustainability law focuses in the country. Law and Sustainability faculty members have multiple areas of expertise, and often collaborate on research and other activities with ASU’s Center for Law and Global Affairs; Center for Law, Science and Innovation; Indian Legal Program; Global Institute of Sustainability; and Kyl Center for Water Policy at the Morrison Institute for Public Policy.
Troy Rule
Joseph Feller Memorial Chair in Law and Sustainability, Professor of Law; Director, Law and Sustainability Program
Derrick Beetso
Professor of Practice; Executive Director, Indian Gaming and Self-Governance
Daniel Bodansky
Regents and Foundation Professor of Law
Karen Bradshaw
Alan A. Matheson Fellow in Law, Professor of Law
Andrew Carter
Clinical Professor of Law
Patty Ferguson-Bohnee
Associate Dean for Inclusive Excellence, Charles M. Brewer Professor of Trial Advocacy; Faculty Director, Indian Legal Program; Director, Indian Legal Clinic
Rhett Larson
Richard Morrison Professor of Water Law
Stacy Leeds
Willard H. Pedrick Dean, Regents and Foundation Professor of Law
Robert Miller
Jonathan and Wendy Rose Professor of Law
Trevor Reed
Professor of Law
Kenneth Abbott
Emeritus
Student opportunities
Law and Sustainability focuses on providing robust course offerings, while also preparing students for the real-world applications of their learning. Through rigorous coursework, a certificate program, attorney mentorship, internships and externships, career support, a research fellowship program, field trips across Arizona and a community of students who are committed to sustainability careers, we deliver thoughtfully-designed opportunities that equip our graduates to become leaders in the field.
Law and Sustainability Certificate
Our coursework and certificate are designed to propel full-time, on-campus JD and LLM students into sustainability-related legal and policy careers, providing significant breadth and depth of training in such fields as water law, energy law, environmental law and land use law. To achieve the certificate, students must demonstrate specialized knowledge and competence in these areas and produce a substantial paper on a topic related to sustainability.
In addition to the certificate program, students can also take advantage of law-related sustainability course offerings within the broader university, allowing them to lay an interdisciplinary foundation for their careers.
Sample coursework Includes:
- Advanced Environmental Law Topics
- Agricultural Law
- Biodiversity Law
- Energy Law and Policy
- Environmental Law
- Federal Indian Law II
- Indian Energy Law
- International Environmental Law
- Land Use Planning
- Land Use Proceedings
- Natural Resources Law
- Sustainability Law Research Seminar
- Sustainability: International Law and Governance
- Utilities Law
- Water Law
- Wilderness Law and Policy
Mentorship Initiative for Sustainability Law (MISL)
Engaging with a community of regional and national leaders within environmental and sustainability law and policy, MISL matches ASU Law students with attorneys who work for government agencies, environmental nonprofit organizations, utility companies and environmental law firms. Students receive one-on-one mentorship and access to networking opportunities within the sustainability community, carving out a unique path toward a thriving and impactful career.
Career support
In collaboration with the Career Services team, Law and Sustainability offers students exceptional legal opportunities to gain practical experience in both public and private sectors. Each year, students launch careers through summer internships and externships and ASU Law graduates take on roles within leading law and sustainability organizations such as:
- The Nature Conservancy
- U.S. Department of Justice’s Environmental and Natural Resources Division
- Kyl Center for Water Policy at the Morrison Institute
- Center for the New Energy Economy
- Western Resource Advocates
- Natural Resources Defense Council
- Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
- Central Arizona Project
- Arizona Department of Environmental Quality
Student-led organizations
ASU Law is proud to support students as they create thriving communities centered around a shared commitment to environmental sustainability. Through field excursions, networking opportunities and lectures with prominent speakers, student-led groups enhance their professional commitment to sustainability and environmental law and prepare students for their future careers:
- Environmental Law Society
- Food Law Society
- Animal Legal Defense Fund
- Health Law Society
- Government and Public Interest Law Student Association
Student research fellowships
The Law and Sustainability Student Research Fellowship program gives students opportunities to produce publication-quality articles on current legal and policy topics related to environmental sustainability.
Participating fellows:
- Research and write a full-length law review article.
- Receive substantive feedback on their work.
- Workshop each other’s research projects.
- Deliver formal presentations of their articles to the law school.
Nearly 40 students have authored papers through this program since its inception, all receiving offers for publication in non-ASU legal academic journals and addressing crucial topics such as:
- Precision fertilizing
- Wind and solar energy
- Office-to-residential conversions
- CO2 pipeline subsidies
- Environmental justice
Connie Que & Jackson Pittman, Fertile Ground: Accelerating the Growth of Precision Fertilizing, DRAKE JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL LAW (forthcoming, 2024).
Kyra Haas & Natalie Heun, End Game: Designing Smarter Wind and Solar Decommissioning Requirements, COLORADO ENVIRONMENTAL LAW JOURNAL (forthcoming, 2024).
Kiara Sims & Kate Hamman, Real Estate Recycling: Supporting Office-to-Residential Conversions, FLORIDA JOURNAL OF LAW & PUBLIC POLICY (forthcoming, 2024).
Taylor Stonerock & Julia Weiss, Pipe Dream: Rethinking CO2 Pipeline Subsidies, UC LAW ENVIRONMENTAL JOURNAL (forthcoming, 2024).
Mallory Moore & Lena Zeebuyth, Missing Middle Housing: Accelerating America’s Transition from Single-Family Zoning, 64 Natural Res. J. 63 (2024).
Kayna Lantz & Luke Sower, Fueling a Hydrogen Boom: Federal and State Policies for Promoting Green Hydrogen, 48 William & Mary Env’t L. & Pol’y Rev. 95 (2024).
Benjamin Timm & Alejandro Chavez, Shutting Off the Tap: Structuring Buy and Dry Programs for the Western Water Crisis, 60 Cal. W. L. Rev. 71 (2024).
Emily Doerfler & Cameron Toering, Stranded Costs and Double Standards: The Case Against Abrupt Changes to Net Metering Programs, 12 LSU J. of Energy Law & Res. 153 (2024).
Alexandra Gordon & Benjamin Longbottom, Beyond All Drought: Improving Urban Water Conservation in the West through Integrative Water and Land Use Policy, NATURAL RESOURCES JOURNAL (2023).
Sierra Apillanes & Alexa Penalosa, Unleashing Carbon Removal Technologies, COLORADO ENVIRONMENTAL LAW JOURNAL (2023).
Sarah Brunswick & Danika Marzillier, The New Solar Farms: Growing a Fertile Policy Environment for Agrivoltaics, MINNESOTA JOURNAL OF LAW, SCIENCE, & TECHNOLOGY (2023).
Vinnie Amato & Isaac Kort-Meade, Circle of Light: Incentivizing Domestic Solar Panel Recycling, UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE JOURNAL OF ANIMAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL LAW (2022).
Teddy Gonzalez & Jillian Knox, In the Dark: Combatting the Scapegoating of Renewables after Grid Failures, NATURAL RESOURCES JOURNAL (2023).
Student testimonials
Kate Hamman
J.D. Candidate | Class of 2025
“I recently had the opportunity to visit a wind farm in Northern Arizona through the Law and Sustainability Initiative. As a third year student who will be practicing environmental and energy law after graduation, I feel extremely lucky to have had an on-the-ground experience with the landscape and infrastructure of a wind farm. I was also able to hear directly from the people who helped bring the project to life, including employees from the energy company, family members of the landowner, a local politician, and state agency employees. This experience contextualized the law and policy I am learning in the classroom and made me even more excited to start my career … Even students who are pursuing different areas of law should consider taking courses in sustainability law; we might change your mind!”
Mohamad Magazuba
MLS Candidate | Class of 2024
“ASU sustainability law students will have the opportunity to take a ‘hard look’ at past, present and future trends of law and policy in connection with global development models … Given the relevance of the discipline, with due consideration to the transition from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy, climate change, livelihoods and food security, I am confident that graduating students in the field of sustainability and law will face unlimited career opportunities and ultimately fit in with almost every sphere of work especially in law and development.”
Shannan Higgins
J.D. Candidate | Class of 2025
“Through MISL, I was introduced to mentors who not only shared their valuable insights and experiences in sustainability law but also helped me navigate the professional landscape. One of these connections led to my Summer Clerkship, providing me with hands-on experience and a chance to apply the knowledge and skills I had developed in the classroom to real-world legal challenges. This opportunity was a key step in shaping my career and further solidified my interest in sustainability law.”
Alumni career outcomes
Alexandra Evans, J.D., 2018
Policy Analyst, Center for the New Energy Economy
"Being a part of the Sustainability Law Student Research Fellowship helped me to develop a myriad of skills that have been invaluable in my legal career today. As a fellow, I received focused attention and feedback from Professor Rule, as he assisted me and my fellow students in drafting our law review articles. The legal research, reasoning, and writing skills gained from doing so have proven so valuable in each position I have held post-graduation. And I was able to publish work I am really proud of in an external law review journal (and brag about it on my resume)!"
Emily Doerfler, J.D., 2023
Energy Attorney, Western Resource Advocates’ Clean Energy Division
"When I entered law school, I knew that I wanted to work in the sustainability field but had no idea where in that field I would fit. The broad range of courses provided by Law and Sustainability Initiative exposed me to many key issues as well as insight into those issues by professors with real life experience in their respective fields. This exposure led me to the career I have today … [and] After taking courses like water law, environmental law, and energy law, you might just find more than a career. You might find a life’s pursuit."
Partners and donors
Law and Sustainability at ASU Law wishes to express its deepest gratitude to the following entities and individuals whose engagement with our program and/or financial support has been instrumental to its continued success.
- MacCready Family Foundation
- Jack Clifford
- Sarah Porter
- Perkins Coie
- Gust Rosenfeld
- Salmon Lewis & Weldon, PLC
Advisory council (CLASS)
Founded in 2016, the Council for Law and Sustainability Studies (CLASS) is a selective board of Phoenix-area attorneys who practice in environmental sustainability-related fields of law. CLASS members provide guidance, connections and assistance to Law and Sustainability at ASU Law. ASU expresses deep appreciation to the following attorneys who currently serve on this distinguished council:
- John A. Clifford (Merchant & Gould)
- Michelle De Blasi (Fennemore Craig, PC)
- Barbara Pashkowski (Gust Rosenfeld P.L.C.)
- Sarah Porter (Morrison Institute for Public Policy)
- Mark McGinnis (Salmon, Lewis & Weldon, PLC)
- Todd Weaver (Freeport McMoRan)
- Kenneth J. Lee (Salt River Project)
- Trevor Burggraff (Hise Joy)
- Linday Schube (Gammage & Burnham)