Natural Resources & Environmental Law

Opportunities and Resources

Externships

Students learn firsthand about issues facing both the United States and the State of New Mexico through a broad range of formal externships. Extern placements include: The U.S. Forest Service, State Engineer’s Office, Northern New Mexico Legal Services, State Land Office, Oil and Gas Conservation Committee, The Department of Interior and private law firms. One student researched environmental remediation issues at mine sites in New Mexico and the constitutionality of the New Mexico mining act for the state attorney general’s office.

Externship Opportunities

Environmental Moot Court

Students can earn a place on the law school’s environmental moot court team, which participates with other law schools in a national competition. This provides an opportunity to sharpen skills in appellate brief writing and oral advocacy.

Institute of Public Law

The Institute of Public Law, the public-service arm of the Law School, is a resource for law students. Externships and work-study positions, when available, offer students the chance to deepen their knowledge of water issues and environmental regulatory programs. Students also participate in projects at the center for wildlife law, the only national center dedicated to education, research and the analysis of state, national and internal wildlife laws. They help edit the wildlife law news quarterly and write and conduct research for state and federal wildlife laws handbooks.

Dual Degree

Students can earn a dual graduate degree in law and water resources. Through the university’s water resources program, they can complete an interdisciplinary master’s degree in either the hydro science or policy/management aspect of water resources and combine it with their legal studies. For more information on the option, contact the Director of the Water Resources Program at 505-277-7759.

Some students combine Indian law and natural resources, earning certificates in each specialty.

Law Library

The UNM law library’s collection includes specialty materials on environmental law, oil and gas law, energy law, water law and law on Indian lands. It also collects the proceedings and reports of the rocky mountain mineral law foundation, of which the law school is a governing organization. Students can explore natural resources issues through a variety of resources, including the usgs series of water-resources investigations reports, cd-rom products such as bna’s environmental reporter and web subscriptions to greenwire/environment and energy daily. The Law Library also has a complete collection of congressional reports and documents on microfiche, which aid in the study of congressional activities in the natural resources areas.