Summer at the Environmental Law Center
Summer at the Environmental Law Center
The Environmental Law Center assembles an exciting group of scholars, students, and
distinguished visitors to study environmental law and policy during the most glorious time of
year in northern New England.
In addition to Vermont Law and Graduate School (VLGS) students, our Summer Session is open
to students from other schools and lifelong learners. We welcome students enrolled at other
law schools and graduate institutions nationally and internationally, practicing attorneys,
planners, state and federal agency personnel, upper-level undergraduate students (with the
director’s permission), teachers, journalists, citizen advocates, and more.
Courses are taught by faculty from VLGS and other schools, international law scholars, leaders
of non-profit advocacy groups, and private practitioners. Whether a student is interested in a
specific area of study—such as energy law, international environmental law, water law, land
use law, animal law, or agricultural law—or wishes to pursue a multidisciplinary approach, the
summer program offers a wide array of options.
Summer Course Catalog
Browse our list of nearly 30 environmental law summer courses, course descriptions, and
summer faculty.
View the Summer Catalog here.
Plan Your Summer
Located on the banks of the scenic White River in South Royalton, Vermont Law and Graduate
School (VLGS) is an ideal location for students to both study and play in summertime.
Hiking, swimming, tubing, biking, and cookouts are just some of the many outdoor activities
students enjoy while not in class. Students also take time to sample fine dining, arts,
entertainment, and other cultural attractions available near the campus and in nearby cities
and towns such as Montpelier, Burlington, Woodstock, and Hanover, NH. Students not only
have an opportunity to relax and form lasting connections with one another, but also mingle
with the expert lecturers who come to campus each summer. Local summer housing is available
on campus and in the surrounding towns.
Check out the following helpful links.
If you have questions about the VLGS Summer Session, please contact Courtney Collins,
Assistant Director of the Environmental Law Center, at ccollins@vermontlaw.edu.
Application and Registration
Vermont Law and Graduate School students (including Masters, JD/Masters, and LLM degree
students) need not apply to enroll in the summer session, but instead will register for courses
starting in early April by following instructions distributed by the Registrar’s Office. Non-VLGS
students, including auditors, should apply to the summer session using our online form
(available in early March).
Who is eligible?
These are graduate level courses; normally, only those with undergraduate degrees will be
considered for registration. However, undergraduate students may enroll with the director’s
permission. Law and graduate students currently enrolled at other institutions are eligible.
Credits transfer at the discretion of the receiving school. Check with your institution if they will
accept transfer credits from VLGS. Class registration is subject to approval and capacity limits.
Non-Degree Students or Transfer Credit
APPLICATION: If you are interested in taking classes as a non-degree student or to transfer
credits to your home institution, apply here starting in early March.
Once your application has been submitted and approved, you will receive an email confirming
setup of a personal VLGS account and providing instructions on how to access this account. You
may then register for classes starting in May.
Degree-Seeking Students
VLGS students (including Masters, summer-only Masters, JD/Masters, and LLM degree
students) need not apply to enroll in the summer session, but instead can register for courses
starting in early April, following instructions distributed by the Registrar’s Office. If you are
interested in a Master’s or LLM degree program or if you wish to combine one with your JD
degree, please apply here.
Once your application is reviewed, you will receive more information on the steps to enroll. For
more information about registration, tuition, refunds, and financial aid, refer to the summer
course catalog.
Degree Information
Please note that Summer Session registration is not an application to the LLM degree programs.
The links below provide information for those seeking admittance to the degree programs,
including the summers-only master’s degree option.
Course Schedule
COMING SOON!
Distinguished Summer Scholars
Vermont Law and Graduate School invites leaders in the fields of environmental, energy, agriculture, animal advocacy, and international environmental law and journalism to serve as Distinguished Summer Scholars and Media Fellows in residency during the VLGS Summer Session. Each visiting scholar or fellow delivers a public lecture, participates in informal social events on campus, and is available to meet with students and faculty individually. These distinguished visitors are a significant intellectual resource for our summer students and also offer valuable networking opportunities.
Energy Law: Professor Mijin Cha, University of California Santa Cruz
Climate Law: Madison Condon, Boston University School of Law
Environmental Law: Sharmila Murthy, Northeaster University School of Law and the College of Social
Sciences; White House Council on Environmental Quality
Animal Law: TBD
Summer Media Fellowships
Enhance your journalism skills and deepen your understanding of environmental, agriculture
and food systems, or animal law and policy with a Media Fellowship at one of the nation’s top
environmental law schools.
Every summer, Vermont Law and Graduate School’s Environmental Law Center brings together
legal educators, policymakers, practicing lawyers, and other leaders in their fields to share their
expertise in our Summer Session.
Media fellows have access to our distinguished faculty and visiting policy leaders. They can
meet for on- or off-record conversations with these experts, developing new insights, meeting
new sources, and gaining renewed enthusiasm for covering the critical issues in climate change,
animal law, energy, food and agriculture, and other areas. Each fellow will choose to audit a
course from a selection of topics within their specific fellowship category.
Our two Environmental Law Media Fellows and Food and Agriculture Law Media Fellow may
audit one two-week, two-credit environmental course in June or July. These fellows will receive
a $1,250 stipend, free housing, and a tuition waiver (travel not included).
Thanks to funding from the American Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals®
(ASPCA®), our two Animal Law Media Fellows will also receive free housing, a tuition waiver, a
$500-$1,900 stipend, and travel reimbursement. One fellow may audit Science of Animal Law
and Policy, Animal Welfare Law, or The Farm Bill. Another applicant will be selected to
participate in the Undercover Investigations of Animal Operations weekend intensive.
View the Summer Session Course Catalog for all course descriptions and schedules for more
information.
Media fellows also take part in the Summer Session’s lunch series, “Hot Topics in Environmental
Law,” delivering a 45-minute, informal lecture on an environmental, food and agriculture, or
animal law and policy topic of their choosing. Outside of classroom time, fellows can also enjoy
the beauty of our campus, historic South Royalton, and rural Vermont. Family members are
welcome.
Fellowships are open to journalists who cover issues such as natural resources, energy, legal
affairs, public health, food and agriculture, animal law and policy, and other environmentrelated subjects. They are open to staff, freelance, and independent reporters, writers, editors,
and producers who are working full-time as journalists. Journalism students and teachers,
public relations practitioners, and contributors to newsletters, magazines, and other media
controlled by industry, government, or advocacy groups are not eligible.
Fellows are selected based on the quality of their ability to reach a broad audience including
the applicant’s work history, samples, and commitment to covering environmental law and
policy, animal protection, or agriculture and farm systems topics and their potential for
increasing understanding of these issues nationwide.
VLGS looks for journalists who are from different geographic areas, at different career stages, in
different types of media, and who work for a variety of news organizations. Journalists from
BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and other underrepresented communities are encouraged to apply.
Apply Today
For questions or inquiries, please contact ELC@vermontlaw.edu.
COMING SOON!
Hot Topics Summer Lecture Series
Each summer the Environmental Law Center hosts the Hot Topics in Environmental Law lecture series. On Tuesdays and Thursdays at noon, VLGS faculty and invited experts host lectures on a variety of current issues in environmental law and policy. Vermont Bar Association Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credit is available.
Lectures are free and open to the public.
COMING SOON!
COMING SOON!
Contact Us
Environmental Law Center
at Vermont Law and Graduate School
802-831-1000
elc@vermontlaw.edu
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