Integrating Science and Law in the Classroom

While most legal instruction in courses is U.S.-centric, the frameworks for understanding the integration of law and science have global relevance. Students at Lewis & Clark are encouraged to analyze issues from both domestic and international perspectives, exploring how scientific and legal principles intersect across different contexts.

A critical component of the curriculum in the Natural Resources Law & Science course is examining how science informs policy and resource management. Traditional ecological knowledge, including insights from Indigenous communities, is recognized as an essential form of expertise. Students explore how evidence-based policy and law intersect, and how these dynamics can shift under changing administrations and evolving scientific consensus.

A key strength of the course is teaching students how to translate scientific understanding into effective policy and legal strategies. In Professor Daniel Rohlf’s class, for example, students explore how scientific methodologies, including climate data and ecological research, inform resource management decisions. This includes understanding the legal frameworks that govern environmental protection and how evidence is evaluated in regulatory and judicial settings. By engaging with both the science and the law, students learn to identify sustainable, legally sound solutions to pressing environmental challenges.

Bridging Theory and Practice Through Externships

Lewis & Clark emphasizes translating classroom learning into real-world impact. Externships, the law school equivalent of internships, allow students to work with environmental organizations or government agencies, locally or remotely.

“You get credit for the time that you’re working at the placement,” Janice Weis, Associate Dean & Director of Lewis & Clark Law School’s Environmental, Natural Resources & Energy Law Programs, says. “You’re obviously building fabulous resume experience and developing your professional network more fully, but it also really helps with the application part, applying what you’re learning to a particular workplace.”

Through externships, students gain hands-on experience navigating environmental regulations, climate policy, and natural resources management. They also explore the differences in how courts, agencies, and scientists assess evidence.

The programs also equip students with skills to engage directly in environmental policy processes. Students learn how to submit public comments on federal regulations, a key tool for influencing policy decisions. This training begins in introductory courses and is reinforced throughout the curriculum, helping students translate scientific and legal knowledge into actionable advocacy.

Law-Focused Learning for Environmental Impact

Unlike general policy programs, Lewis & Clark emphasizes law as the foundation. Students read legal casebooks, law review articles, and supplementary materials just as JD students do. “You will get a very thorough grounding in the actual laws,” Janice assures. “You’ll be reading the laws, you’ll be reading cases…we think that really has been a tremendous asset to MSL graduates, who then are going to work in an advocacy position or in a legal liaison position, having understood the law and the policies underlying it.”

By combining rigorous legal study with scientific understanding, students are uniquely prepared to engage in climate and natural resources policy, whether in advocacy, government, or nonprofit roles.

Lewis & Clark’s online MSL and LLM programs show that solving environmental challenges requires bridging science and law. Students leave the program equipped not only to understand legal frameworks but to apply scientific insights to environmental policy and natural resource management. Through externships, collaborative learning, and coursework focused on climate science and emerging environmental issues, graduates are prepared to make meaningful contributions to protecting the environment, both in the U.S. and globally.