April Shepard and Stephanie Fairbanks to Lead Environmental and Natural Resources Law Students Society

Two third year Sturm College of Law students, April Shepard and Stephanie Fairbanks, will serve as president and vice president respectively of the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Students Society (ENRLS) during the 2010-2011 academic year.

The mission of ENRLS is:

As Environmental and Natural Resources law continues to grow in prominence and popularity, the NRELS will continue to serve, educate, and provide information to law students regarding these important fields. NRELS sponsors several guest speakers throughout the year to provide its members, and all students, with topical and balanced information regarding legal and political issues of local, national, and global importance. NRELS is a proud sponsor of the NRELS Moot Court competition generally held early in the Spring Semester. NRELS also sponsors field trips to local areas of environmental significance.

Ms. Shepard grew up in eastern North Carolina and attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she majored in Political Science and minored in Environmental Studies and Sciences.

Before attending law school, she worked for Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) as part of the Land, Water, & Wildlife Program. While at EDF, April helped her colleagues achieve passage of two key environmental bills on forestry and hog farm waste in the North Carolina General Assembly. She decided to attend law school to take on new challenges and to learn more about the legal aspects of environmental protection.

April participated in the Environmental Law Clinic during her second year, where she worked on cases involving the National Forest Management Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and the Clean Air Act. After she graduates, April hopes to continue doing environment and natural resources legal work, whether in a law firm, government agency, or non-profit organization.

Besides her involvement with ENRLS Ms. Fairbanks is also a member of the Public Interest Law Group and the National Lawyers Guild. As an undergraduate student at Kansas State University she studied biology and wildlife populations.

As a law student Stephanie has focused on both environmental and criminal law. She has had externships at the Environmental Protection Agency and the Denver Trial Office of the Colorado State Public Defender. She will also serve as a student attorney in the Environmental Law Clinic throughout this academic year. While she is originally from Kansas, Stephanie hopes to practice law in Colorado.