The Stegner Center oversees a rich array of scholarships, fellowships, and awards for College of Law students, ranging from cash awards for outstanding papers to fellowships that combine financial and scholarship support with clerkships and job placements upon graduation. This year’s scholarship recipients include the following individuals:
The ESRR Endowment Fund for the Wallace Stegner Center Scholarship was awarded to entering 1L student Kyle Lowe, a graduate of Virginia Tech. The Scholarship is provided to an admitted candidate who has a demonstrated interest in environmental law and conservation, with preference given to individuals either working for or interested in working for advocacy organizations. The scholarship is renewed annually based on continued commitment to the study and practice of environmental law, providing support for all three years of law school. The scholarship aims to open career opportunities for students interested in pursuing employment with nonprofit environmental advocacy organizations by defraying the costs of a legal education.
The Patrick O’Hara Fellowship was awarded to second year student Carter Moore The fellowship was created in honor of Patrick O’ Hara, an attorney and 1982 law school graduate who worked with the Natural Resources Division of the Utah Attorney General’s Office, where he was dedicated to the sensible management of Utah’s natural resources. The O’Hara Fellowship provides comprehensive financial support and mentoring to promising law students and young lawyers seeking a career in natural resources law. The program contains three parts: a summer clerkship; a law school merit scholarship; and a two-year position practicing natural resources law in the Attorney General’s Office after graduation.
The Calvin Clark & Richard Dewsnup Fellowship in Natural Resources Law was awarded to Nico Micheletti. The recently renamed Clark & Dewsnup Fellowship was originally funded by Calvin E. Clark (J.D. ’56) to honor his good friend and classmate, Richard L. Dewsnup, the first Solicitor General of the State of Utah and an outstanding natural resources lawyer. In recognition of Calvin Clark’s generosity and support for the College of Law, the award has been renamed the Calvin Clark & Richard Dewsnup Fellowship. It provides a scholarship for the second year of law school and a paid summer clerkship with the Chief of the Natural Resources Division of the Attorney General’s Office.
The Ali Reza Khazeni Fellowship in Environmental Law went to Caitlin Imhoff. The Fellowship was established by the Khazeni family in memory of Reza Ali Khazeni, who was committed to nature conservation and preservation of the environment. The fellowship provides an award to students who spend the summer working for a non-profit environmental organization.
The Anderson Fellowship in Oil & Gas went to Emma Noverr. The Anderson Fellowship in Oil & Gas is provided through the generosity of the Anderson Hatch Foundation, in honor of G.W. Anderson, known by his peers as “a pioneer in Utah’s oil and gas industry.” The Fellowship provides a scholarship and a paid summer internship in the Oil and Gas Law practice group of Holland and Hart LLP.
The inaugural Wallace Stegner Center Student Writing Award went to Benjamin Cilwick for his paper National Forests Watershed Management. The Stegner Center writing award annually provides a cash award of $1,000 to the student who authors the best paper on an environmental or natural resource law topic during the academic year. Nominations are made by professors based on student papers submitted for courses, seminars, or directed research, with the SJQ Awards Committee making the final selection from among the faculty nominations.
The W.J. Mitchell Family Endowed Merit Fellowship went to Claire Munsell, who has a degree in Geological Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines. The Mitchell Fellowship was established through the generosity of Neil R. Mitchell in 1994 to honor the memory of his grandfather William J. Mitchell, a member of the first graduating class of the University of Utah College of Law (1913), and other members of the Mitchell family. The Mitchell Fellowship is awarded to a student who demonstrates extraordinary promise in the study of law and whose undergraduate or other graduate study represents distinction in a science discipline.
This year’s Behle’s Fellows are Spencer Williams, Mariel Wilson, and Hailey Winn. The Grace Clayton Behle Fellowship Endowment provides support for annual fellowships for the Stegner Center for students interested in environmental or natural resources law and policy.
The Edward W. and Betha J. Clyde Fund Award went to Corinne Doerner. In 1998 Betha J. Clyde made a gift to the University of Utah College of Law which provides funding to support student participation in Wallace Stegner Center programs and related natural resources law classes and activities. The fund carries Bertha’s name and that of her late husband, Edward W. Clyde (JD ’42), a highly regarded water law expert.
Additionally, the Stegner Center extends congratulations to Wesley Pebbles, who received a Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law (FNREL) Scholarship.