For approximately 10 years, University of Georgia School of Law students have been working with UGA Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant to provide legal and policy expertise to help improve the environmental, social and economic health of the Georgia coast through research, education and extension.
According to Mark Risse, director of Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant, his unit partnered with the university’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government to develop the Legal Program in 2015.
He said the use of legal fellows helps to expand the reach of the program while also offering professional development opportunities to law students, giving them an opportunity to apply their education in real-world settings.
Katie Hill (J.D.’08), a public service faculty member at the Carl Vinson Institute of Government and director of the Legal Program, said, “Often, the work we do focuses on objective policy analysis to inform decision-makers. … Students understand why this type of policy work is extremely valuable for our governmental clients, the state of Georgia, and beyond.”
Legal fellows work on projects that fall under the program’s four focus areas: environmental literacy and workforce development, sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, resilient communities and economies, and healthy coastal ecosystems.
Tamaris M. Henderson, a current third-year law student, served as a Legal Fellow earlier this year with a focus on derelict crab and lobster traps in coastal states. Her work related to the Nationwide Fishing TRAP (Trap Removal, Assessment and Prevention) Program, which aims to detect and remove derelict fishing traps that are lost, abandoned or discarded. The TRAP Program is administered by the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences (VIMS) and is funded by the NOAA.
Henderson established a baseline of current trap-related laws and policies across the United States through the creation of a database of coastal states that regulate fisheries along with the laws and policies applicable to derelict traps. She presented her findings to the Sea Grant Legal Network, a national group of lawyers working within Sea Grant programs.
She said the fellowship gave her the chance to meet “amazing lawyers, marine biologists and other researchers” dedicated to the TRAP Program. As a student who wants to pursue a career in environmental law, Henderson said the project aligned with her passion.
This semester, third-year student Leighlee M. Mahony has been adding to Henderson’s database of state derelict trap law and policy to further the work with the TRAP Program. She presented a summary of their findings at the UGA River Basin Center Annual Graduate Water Research Poster Contest in November.
She also developed short memorandums on state programs that were used at the annual TRAP Program meeting at VIMS, and she is drafting an article on basic derelict trap policy questions that vary from state to state.
Mahony said she was attracted to the Georgia Sea Grant Legal Fellowship because she wanted to help and protect animals, adding that her experience has her considering policy work after graduation so she can further affect change.
Risse anticipates there will be a growing need to support the coastal ecosystems as more people move to and develop the coast. He said he hopes to expand the fellowship to include law students from other universities and to secure additional funding to bring in more students and grow both the legal program and the fellowship.
Since 2015, over 25 School of Law students have served as Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant Legal Fellows working on projects ranging from sea level rise to salt marsh restoration and flood mitigation to military installations and coastal communities. Students can learn more about the fellowship at https://gacoast.uga.edu/georgia-sea-grant-legal-fellowship/.
Pictured above: Third-year student Leighlee Mahony (right) and Georgia Sea Grant Legal Program Director Katie Hill (J.D.’08) at the UGA River Basin Center Third Annual Graduate Water Research Poster Contest in November.