Energy Law & Policy Project

Chelsea is from the border city of El Paso, Texas. She studied Public Policy and Neuroscience at Southern Methodist University in Dallas and earned a master's degree in Public Policy at the University of Arizona (UA) in Tucson. Chelsea's time at UA shaped her current interest in empirical research about environmental and criminal law and policy. She would love to work at the intersection of environmental and criminal law and further the effort to make environmentally conscious law that prioritizes the outcomes of vulnerable communities. One pivotal experience Chelsea had in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) allowed her to truly appreciate the importance of culturally relevant policies and their ability to take into consideration social inequity. 

She and two fellow master's students had the opportunity to visit the RMI and learn from the developers of the Reimaanlok Framework, a Conservation Area Management Planning Framework aimed at developing policies to meet the growing demands of atoll communities in the face of climate change and globalization. Underpinned by a combination of Indigenous ecological knowledge and policy analysis, the comprehensive and iterative nature of the framework stood in contrast to environmental initiatives she was taught about in class. Today, Chelsea hopes to approach issues like increasingly severe heat waves and inadequate public transportation from the same perspective. This year, she is clerking for the Public Defenders of Marion County in Salem. In her free time, Chelsea hopes to explore more of Oregon's beautiful hiking spots. 

Lexi is a first-generation Mexican American from Southern California. She grew up in Riverside County, where she saw and experienced firsthand how environmental justice communities on the frontlines of climate impacts are sacrificed through the perpetuation of climate change. These experiences led her to Chapman University in Orange County, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology. At Chapman, Lexi organized and led a successful campaign to change the required environmental science curriculum to incorporate environmental justice and climate justice courses. She worked for a year and a half with Intersectional Environmentalists, an environmental justice and intersectionality-focused nonprofit, to develop educational resources, materials, and frameworks for communities. Lexi also worked for three years at an Orange County climate policy nonprofit, organizing disinvested climate-impacted communities and advocating for the passage of Climate Action Plans and renewable energy policies at the local level. 

Brenton grew up in Southwest Washington and earned degrees in International Studies, Environmental Science, and Comparative History of Ideas from the University of Washington. His academic work focused on the development and maintenance of critical energy and water infrastructure, with an emphasis on the resilience of electricity grids and communications systems. 

During his 1L and 2L summers, Brenton worked as a summer associate at Van Ness Feldman LLP, where he researched legal issues related to water, energy, and land use. As a 2L, Brenton externed with Chief Judge Michael McShane of the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, served as Vice President of OUTLaws, and was a Staff Editor for the Journal of Environmental Law and Litigation. He also participated in the Oxford Consortium for Human Rights, exploring legal responses to war and climate crisis. Finally, after authoring a paper on the Nooksack WRIA 1 General Stream Adjudication, Brenton deepened his research through hands-on study in a UC Davis international freshwater management program, exploring legal and ecological systems in California, Italy, and the Netherlands. 

Now a 3L, Brenton is externing with the U.S. headquarters of Vestas Inc., a global wind energy company, in Portland. In his free time, he enjoys backpacking, playing socccer, and planning creative, low-budget travel adventures.