Awards & Grants

Jarman Summer Environmental Law Fellowship

The Jarman Summer Environmental Law Fellowship is available to 1Ls interested in public sector environmental law careers.  The application period for the 2014 summer grant will open March 2015 <2011 Jarman Env. Law Fellowship for 1Ls Announcement – 3-30-11>

This fellowship is made possible by generous ELP alumni, faculty, and friends who started the UHF Jarman Endowment with the twin goals of honoring Professor Jarman (Associate Dean Leigh), who founded ELP in 1988, and of providing new support to our students interested in public service. This grant pays up to $3000 for a student to spend an eight-week summer with a government or public interest group in Hawai‘i doing environmental law and policy work.

  • 2014 – Veronica Nordyke, Class of 2016, NOAA office of the General Counsel, Pacific Islands Regional Office
  • 2013 – Joanna Zeigler, Class of 2015, NOAA and Rosie Brady, Class of 2015, Surfrider Foundation
  • 2012 – Melissa Kolonie, Class of 2014, Department of Land and Natural Resources, Legacy Land Conservation Program
  • 2011 – Bianca Isaki, Class of 2013, KAHEA: The Hawaiian Environmental Alliance
  • 2010 – Andrew Porter, Class of 2012, The Nature Conservancy, Marine Program
  • 2009 – Stewart Yerton, Class of 2011, KAHEA: The Hawaiian Environmental Alliance

Travel Grants

ELP provides travel grants for students wishing to attend exciting environmental law conferences throughout the country.  Click here to visit the ELP Travel Grants page to learn more.

Discontinued Awards

Mālama Ahupua‘a Law Fellowship

The Summer 2010 Mālama Ahupua‘a Law Fellowship offered a 2L or 1L student the opportunity to work on marine conservation law issues in the context of grassroots communities statewide that are involved in stewardship programs.   Ha‘aheo Kaho‘ohalahala, Class of 2011, was selected as the inaugural Summer 2010 fellow; Adam Roversi, Class of 2012, also received a summer stipend for a special project on Kaua`i.  This fellowship offered $7,000 for an 8-week summer.  For a view of the old application click here.   The fellowship is generously sponsored by the Hawai‘i Community Stewardship Network (HCSN), supported by the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation, supervised by Alston Hunt Floyd & Ing, and offered through a partnership with the Environmental Law Program.

Natural Resources Section Hawai‘i State Bar Diversity Fellowship

The Natural Resources Section (NRS) of the Hawai‘i State Bar Association offers summer grants through the “Diversity Fellowship in Environmental Law,” funded up to $3000 by the NRS and the ABA Section on Environment, Energy, and Resources (SEER).

No Ke ‘Ola o ka ‘Āina (For the Life of the Land), Environmental Law Society Grant 

The No Ke ‘Ola o ka ‘Āina summer grant, offered by the student-run Environmental Law Society, is a competitive award up to $1,000 that funds a student’s summer clerkship with an environmental non-profit.  2014 Applications will be due in March 2014. The grant is open to any 1L (and ELS member) who plans on working in the non-profit environmental field this summer. The grant requires the recipient to complete 100 hours of volunteer work for an environmental group/organization. To apply, students should send a resume and two-page essay explaining why they deserve the grant and where they plan to work the summer. No references or cover letter needed.

  • 2012 – Alana Bryant, Class of 2015, Keep the North Shore Country
  • 2012 – Melissa Kolonie, Class of 2014, Department of Land and Natural Resources, Legacy Land Conservation Program
  • 2011 – Adam Roversi, Class of 2012
  • 2010 – Melissa Uhl, Class of 2012, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Energy & Environment Dep’t, New York
  • 2009 – Charlie Taylor, Class of 2011, Life of the Land
  • 2008 – Leslie Cole-Brooks, Class of 2010, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
  • 2007 – Sunny Greer, Class of 2009, Trust for Public Land
  • 2006 – Matt Snow, Class of 2008, State of Hawai‘i Attorney General’s Office (Client: State Dept. of Health)
  • 2005 – Grant Arnold, Class of 2007, North Shore Community Land Trust
  • 2004 – Camille Kalama, Class of 2006
  • 2003 – Martha Townsend, Class of 2005
  • 2002 – Crystal Glendon, Class of 2004
  • 2001 – Nathan Roehrig, Class of 2003
  • 2000 – Robert Harris, Class of 2002, First ELS grant recipient, Hawai‘i Attorney General’s Office

Linnel Nishioka Environmental Law Summer Fellowship

The Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc. (HECO) created the Linnel Nishioka Environmental Law Summer Fellowship in 2007 in memory of a prominent Honolulu attorney who served Hawai‘i’s environmental bar with excellence, warmth, and dedication for many years.  The Nishioka Fellowship promotes opportunities for WSRSL students to explore career options in the “in-house”/business sector of environmental law in Hawai‘i.

  • 2011 – Jeanine Cornwell, Class of 2012, Hawaiian Electric Company
  • 2010 – Summer Fergerstrom, Class of 2011, Hawaiian Electric Company
  • 2009 – Melissa Farris, Class of 2010, Hawaiian Electric Company
  • 2008 – Noah Gibson, Class of 2010, Hawaiian Electric Company
  • 2007 – Cameron Black, Class of 2008, Hawaiian Electric Company

Elizabeth Sharpe Fish and Wildlife Law Fellowship

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), Ka Huli Ao Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law, and ELP began offering this fellowship in 2009 in memory of Elizabeth Sharpe, a 2003 graduate of the William S. Richardson School of Law and Environmental Law Certificate recipient.  The Elizabeth Sharpe Fish and Wildlife Law Fellowship honors her commitment to environmental protection through government service.  The Sharpe Fellowship supports students seeking to explore career opportunities with the FWS in areas of particular importance to Hawai‘i, including the connection between protected species and indigenous communities.

Natural Resources Section (NRS) Hawai‘i State Bar Association Diversity Fellowship

The Natural Resources Section (NRS) of the Hawai‘i State Bar Association offers summer grants through the Diversity Fellowship in Environmental Law, funded up to $3000 by the NRS and the ABA Section on Environment, Energy, and Resources (SEER).  Click here to view the 2009 application form. 

  • 2009 – Andrea Aseff, 3L at University of Colorado Boulder School of Law
  • 2008 – Sunny Greer, Class of 2009, Earthjustice (Honolulu)
  • 2007 – Aarin Gross, Class of 2008, Earthjustice (Honolulu)
  • 2006 – Steve Tom, Class of 2008, City and County of Honolulu, Department of Corporation Counsel
  • 2005 – Matthew Kupono Carr, School of Law at UC Davis, Earthjustice, (Honolulu)
  • 2004 – Koalani Kaulukukui, Class of 2006, State Dept. of Land & Natural Resources, Office of the Director (Honolulu)
  • 2003 – Beau Bassett, Class of 2005, Commission on Water Resource Management (State of Hawai‘i Dept. of Land & Natural Resources) and Nathan Kanale Sadowski, Class of 2005, Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation (Honolulu)
  • 2002 – Jill Raznov, Class of 2004, The Nature Conservancy (Honolulu)
  • 2001 – Le‘a Malia Kanehe, Class of 2003, Nā Koa Ikaika o Ka Lāhui Hawai‘i (Hilo) and Shirley N.K. Garcia, Class of 2003, Commission on Water Resource Management (State of Hawai‘i Dept. of Land & Natural Resources)
  • 2000 – R. Hokulei Lindsey , Class of 2002, Office of the Director and Water Commission (State of Hawai‘i Dept. of Land & Natural Resources)

Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) Marine Law Summer Internship

Thanks to the generous support of the State Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), the Attorney General’s office, the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration’s Local Action Strategies Program, and the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation, ELP offers the DLNR Marine Law Summer Internship for a 1L or 2L student to work at the DLNR’s Division of Aquatic Resources on coral reef enforcement issues.  The Summer 2013 DLNR Marine Law Internship application period closed. Click here to view the application form 2011 DLNR Marine Law Summer Internship Mar 17 2011f

  • 2014 – ʻOlu Campbell, Class of 2015
  • 2013 – John Foster, Class of 2015
  • 2012 – Kevin Richardson, Class of 2014
  • 2011 – Sasha Hamada, Class of 2013
  • 2010 – Joanne Sheng, Class of 2012
  • 2009 – Laura Chen Allen, Class of 2011

[anchor id=”dlnrfellow”]Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) Marine Law Post-Graduate Fellowship

The State Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) Marine Law Fellowship is a fellowship open to third-year students graduating and recent graduates.  The DLNR Marine Law Fellowship is funded with generous support from the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation and NOAA/DLNR’s Fisheries Local Action Strategy (FLASH) program, administered by the Environmental Law Program (ELP)/Law School, and carried out in partnership with DLNR-Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR), and the State Attorney General’s Office.  The first fellowship was funded by the Hawai‘i Coral Reef Initiative/NOAA.   Click here to view the 2009 application materials.  (Note:  This post-graduate Fellowship is not open at this time.)

  • 2014 – Kylie Wager, Class of 2014
  • 2009-2011 – Wayne Tanaka, Class of 2009
  • 2008 – Kamaile Nichols, Class of 2008
  • 2006 – Blaine Rogers, Class of 2006

TOP

Alston Hunt Floyd & Ing Second-Year-Seminar Award

The law firm of Alston Hunt Floyd & Ing gives a cash award each year to the best Environmental Law paper from the Second-Year Seminar course. Past grantees were:

  • 2012 – Onaona Thoene, Class of 2013 – House Resolution 910 “Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011”: One Step Toward Economic Efficiency, Two Steps Back for Global Warming
  • 2011 – Michelle Oh Yip, Class of 2012
  • 2010 – Stewart Yerton – Superferry and Standing
  • 2009 – Leslie Cole-Brooks
  • 2008 – Wayne Tanaka
  • 2007 – Cameron Black – China and Hazardous Waste
  • 2006 – Richelle Thomson – State Tax Credits for Conservation Easements: Twelve States’ Efforts to Encourage Private Land Conservation
  • 2005 – Koalani Kaulukukui – Establishing an Environmental Court in Hawai‘i: Lessons from the Environmental Courts of the United States
  • 2004 – Chistopher Cox
  • 2003 – David Paulson
  • 2002 – Jessie Schiel

George C. Munro Award for Environmental Law

This award was established by the Hawai‘i Audubon Society in memory of George C. Munro for his pioneering work in protecting Hawai‘i’s native wildlife. The cash award is given annually for the highest grade in the Environmental Law course.

  • 2011 – Maxx Phillips, Class of 2013
  • 2010 – Elena Bryant, Class of 2011
  • 2009 – Lynda Arakawa
  • 2008 – Greg Shimokawa
  • 2007 – Liula Kotaki, Evan Silberstein, and Virginia Tice (tied)
  • 2006 – Kamaile Nichols
  • 2005 – Bradley Davis
  • 2004 – Koalani Kaulukukui
  • 2003 – Jennifer C. Carpenter
  • 2002 – Paul Herran
  • 2001 – Kathryn Opedal
  • 2000 – Jamie Tanabe
  • 1999 – Adrienne Yoshihara
  • 1998 – Paul Tanaka
  • 1997 – Robert Albrecht
  • 1996 – Kimberley Wong
  • 1995 – Garrick Goo
  • 1994 – Blake Oshiro
  • 1991 – Pamela Bunn
  • 1990 – Madalyn Purcell
  • 1989 – Reginald Gooding
  • 1988 – Linda Paul
  • 1987 – Michael Reveal