Concentration in Environmental Law

Students can receive formal recognition for completion of the Environmental Law Program’s Concentration in Environmental Law. To be awarded this designation at graduation, you must earn a minimum of 17 credits through the program’s three basic components—classroom, experiential learning, and research and writing. The Environmental Law Certificate is approved by the Maryland Higher Education Commission, and students completing the requirements are recognized as possessing a level of expertise and specialization in the field.

The classroom component includes a required core course, Environmental Law (3 credits), and the remaining 14 credits in some combination of environmental law seminars on a wide range of topics, an experiential environmental course (such as the Environmental Law Clinic or an environmental externship), an independent study in environmental law, and other selected courses.

To qualify for a certificate of Concentration in Environmental Law, students will be required to complete 17 credits related to environmental law. Students must complete each of the required components listed below: Classroom, Experiential Learning, and Research & Writing. Students who are graduating and meet the requirements must submit the Environmental Law Concentration Verification Form to Bill Piermattei, Managing Director (wpiermattei@law.umaryland.edu) in room 488.

  • Administrative Law
  • Advanced Legal Research: Environmental Law
  • Animal Law Seminar
  • Clean Air Act Seminar
  • Clean Water Act Seminar
  • Climate Change: Emerging Issues
  • Climate Law and Justice
  • Energy Law
  • Environmental Advocacy
  • Environmental Justice
  • Environmental Law
  • Environmental Law Clinic
  • Environmental Law Externship Workshop
  • Federal Land Management Seminar
  • Food, Farming and Sustainability Seminar
  • Food Safety Regulation
  • Global Environmental Law Seminar
  • Human Rights and Public Health
  • International Environmental Law Seminar
  • Land Use
  • Law and Policy of the Regulatory System
  • Natural Resources Law
  • State and Local Environmental Law
  • U.S. Water Law

Maryland Carey Law works with its students to place them in a variety of environmental law externships. Along with its Clinic, the Environmental Law Program Externship Program provides students ample opportunity to gain real-world experience addressing today’s environmental challenges.

Externship students can earn 4 to 11 credits (depending upon the amount of time devoted to the externship) and satisfy the experiential learning component for a Concentration in Environmental Law.

Our student externs have worked on numerous environmental challenges with the government and non-profit organizations, including:

The Environmental Protection Agency (Headquarters, Regions 1 (New England), 2 (N.Y.), 3 (Phil.), and 9 (Seattle))
The Department of Justice, Environment and Natural Resources Division
The Department of Interior
The World Health Organization (Geneva)
Center for International Environmental Law
American Wind Energy Association
Natural Resources Defense Council
The Honorable John Sarbanes, U.S. House of Representatives
Maryland Department of the Environment
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
The Nature Conservancy
Chesapeake Bay Foundation
National Wildlife Federation
The Humane Society
American Chemistry Council
Maryland Department of Natural Resources
Environmental Law Institute
United States Senate, Committee on Environment and Public Works
The United States House of Representatives, Committee on Government Reform
Baltimore City Solicitor’s Office, Land Use Division
The Environmental Defense Center
United States Department of Energy
Potomac Conservancy
Maryland Department of Transportation
Maryland Attorney General’s Office
Center for Human Rights and the Environment (Argentina)
United Nations Mine Action Service
Environmental Defense Fund
Council on Environmental Quality
Coalition to End Childhood Lead Poisoning
United States Agency for International Development
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Solar Energy Industry Association
Baltimore Harbor Waterkeepers
The Cleanup Coalition
Competitive Enterprise Institute
Friends of the Earth
National Association of Counties
National Trust for Historic Preservation

For more information concerning the Environmental Law Program’s externship opportunities, contact us.

William Piermattei
Managing Director, Environmental Law Program
University of Maryland School of Law
500 W. Baltimore Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21201
410-706-8157
wpiermattei @ law.umaryland.edu