Rising second-year student June Hormell has received the 2020 Stuart Henry Environmental Law Fellowship, a fellowship created in honor of Stuart Henry, renowned Austin environmental attorney and activist, who died in 2018. The first fellowship was first awarded in summer 2019.
The summer fellowship funds students to work with 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofits providing legal services or law-related advocacy on behalf of underrepresented individuals or communities working to preserve Texas’ natural resources and to protect the Texans who rely on those resources. The William Wayne Justice Center for Public Interest Law administers the fellowship at the Law School, with the assistance of the Texas Law Environmental Clinic.
Hormell will work with Bayou City Waterkeeper, a Houston-based nonprofit that protects bayous and wetlands in the Houston-Galveston area by enforcing the Clean Water Act and state environmental laws. As a first-year student, Hormell was an active participant in the Law School’s Mithoff Pro Bono Program, logging over 200 hours of pro bono service at clinics relating to immigration, disability rights, legal education, and criminal justice. Hormell is interested in impact litigation and is eager to work on Bayou City Waterkeeper’s environmental enforcement cases. “Environmental justice happens primarily at the local level,” said Hormell. “I hope to help make Houston a cleaner and more just city to live in.”
“I’m thrilled that Stuart’s legacy will continue as June joins Bayou City Waterkeeper in advocating for equitable solutions to help make Houston’s communities cleaner, healthier, and more resilient in the face of climate change,” said Kelly Haragan, director of the Environmental Clinic.