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News Release

Last modified: Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Waldron leading new Environmental Law Program

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Aug. 5, 2009

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Building on the foundation of a successful academic program and Conservation Law Center, the Indiana University Maurer School of Law has appointed Carolyn Waldron as director of its Environmental Law Program. Waldron, a 20-year veteran of environmental advocacy, will lead a new program to strengthen partnerships and bridge the academic resources of IU to better serve today's emerging environmental challenges.

Waldron said that a key aim of the new environmental law initiative is to assist environmental and land trust organizations in their efforts to conserve natural resources while providing the best educational experience for students. "Our goal is to better connect the considerable expertise and skills of IU faculty, students, and alumni to the great work of the conservation community in solving complex environmental problems," Waldron said. Her position is supported through a generous grant from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.

"A great law school needs a great environmental law program," said Dean and Val Nolan Professor of Law Lauren Robel. "We are very fortunate to have the generous support of the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust to build on the investments and momentum of the tremendous recent gifts from the Lilly Endowment and Michael and Janie Maurer. And we are particularly excited to have Carolyn lead this new effort to build an integrated education program that benefits students and serves the public good."

"We are delighted to partner with the IU Maurer School of Law's Environmental Law Program as part of the Trust's commitment to Indiana's conservation heritage and environmental stewardship. This grant complements several of the Trust's previous and current grants, especially our three-year commitment to the national Land Trust Alliance to increase the organizational capacities of Indiana's land trusts," said Harriet Ivey, president and CEO of the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust. "We are thrilled that the IU Maurer School of Law has attracted Carolyn Waldron to lead the program. Her distinguished career in natural resources conservation in Indiana and across the nation will be an invaluable asset."

For more than 20 years, Waldron has been an advocate of natural resource conservation. As vice president of the National Wildlife Federation, she led the organization's collaboration with national and local partners to secure passage of the historic Everglades Restoration Act -- the world's largest ecological restoration project -- to conserve the world-class wetland ecosystem in Florida. She helped establish the Hoosier Environmental Council, one of Indiana's first professionally run environmental advocacy groups, in the 1980s. She has an MPA in environmental policy and policy analysis from Indiana University's School of Public and Environmental Affairs and also earned her undergraduate degree in environmental studies and fine arts from IU.

Waldron said she will be active in working with nongovernmental organizations, environmental groups and academic resources to assist with strengthening the capacity of nonprofit groups' contributions to natural resources protection. This includes enhancing the law school's relationship with IU's top-ranked School of Public and Environmental Affairs and the Conservation Law Center's pro bono clinic. "Our faculty and students and legal, policy and science experts are well prepared to assist with today's enormous environmental policy challenges," Waldron said. "We want to support faculty, students and alumni to volunteer their service for the community."

With the Conservation Law Center and Conservation Law Clinic already established, Waldron said she will help to expand the outreach and availability of the law clinic's resources to a larger audience. Directed by Bill Weeks, the clinic contributes to conservation law and policy and educates students in a collaborative process between staff attorneys and environmental nonprofit clients in order to help solve environmental problems.

"Our intent is to leverage IU's resources to support the community and to build better opportunities for students by providing a comprehensive and integrated education in environmental law and policy with hands-on experience," Waldron said.

Rob Fischman, a professor of law and adjunct professor of public and environmental affairs, said Waldron's background makes her an exceptional addition to IU's environmental law team.

"Carolyn's leadership skills, as well as her substantive understanding of conservation issues, make her an ideal person to bring the school's academic strengths and student enthusiasm to bear on the practical problems facing citizens groups, policymakers and businesses," Fischman said. "Our students will see a new dimension of environmental law and policy by getting to know her and through the programs she will be putting together. With her help, students and faculty will be better able to connect their skills and expertise with the needs of the state and the world."

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