The Stegner Center had a robust lineup of programs this year, attracting over 1500 online and in person registrants. As noted in this newsletter, the Stegner Center’s 29th annual symposium focused on “Renewable Energy Transition: Building a Bright Future” brought together 35 speakers for a two-day examination of key legal and technical issues involved in transitioning to a carbon neutral economy.
Professor John A. (Alex) Erwin, an assistant professor of law at Florida International University College of Law, joined the Wallace Stegner Center as the 19th Annual Young Scholar on November 9, 2023 to deliver his Young Scholar Lecture on "Litigating Predator Management," exploring legal challenges to predator hunting, taxonomizing existing case law, and explaining why successful challenges to state hunting regimes are difficult and rare.
The Stegner Center’s popular noon hour green bag series explored a variety of topics during the 2023-24 academic year, including the following presentations:
- Living River: The Promise of the Mighty Colorado presentation and book signing with Dave Showalter, award-winning photographer and author.
- “Laboratories of the Future: Tribes and Rights of Nature” with College of Law Dean Elizabeth Kronk Warner
- “Environmental Justice in Salt Lake City” panel discussion moderated by Ruhan Nagra, founding Director, Environmental Law Justice Clinic at the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law, with panelists Meisei Gonzalez, HEAL Utah; Olivia Juarez, GreenLatinos; and Daniel Mendoza, Atmospheric Sciences, University of Utah
- “Future of Western U.S. Forests Under Climate Change” with William Anderegg, Director of the Wilkes Center for Climate Science and Policy and Associate Professor in the School of Biological Sciences
- “Political Extremism on Public Lands” panel discussion with Jared C. Bennett, United States Magistrate Judge in the District of Utah; Kate Groetzinger, Communications Manager, Center for Western Priorities; and John Huber, Shareholder, Greenberg Traurig and former U.S. Attorney for Utah
- “Great Salt Lake 2024 Legislative Update” with Great Salt Lake Commissioner Brian Steed in conversation with Brig Daniels and Beth Parker of the S.J. Quinney College of Law and Ben Abbott from BYU Plant and Wildlife Sciences Department
- “Wallace Stegner’s Unsettled Country: Ruin, Realism, and Possibility in the American West” presentation and book signing with Mark Fiege, Wallace Stegner Chair in Western American Studies, Montana State University, Bozeman; Leisl Carr Childers, Associate Professor of History, Colorado State University, Fort Collins; and Michael Lansing, Professor of History, Augsburg University, Minneapolis.