ELAW Fellows Program

Current Fellows

Rahul Choudhary is an attorney with the Legal Initiative for Forest & Environment (LIFE), a non-profit organization based in New Delhi. Rahul has won big victories before the National Green Tribunal. He helped protect communities and wetlands in Chhattisgarh threatened by a coal-fueled power plant and communities in Orissa threatened by a polluting steel plant. The National Green Tribunal recently appointed Rahul to investigate claims that an incinerator in South Delhi is emitting life-threatening levels of toxic metals, including lead. Rahul is also working to protect India’s 400 remaining Asiatic lions. He helped win orders in May 2013 to re-locate part of the population, to ensure their survival. Rahul’s organization has worked closely with ELAW for many years and co-hosted the 2012 ELAW Annual Meeting, in Goa.

Rahul Choudhary, India
Attorney, Legal Initiative for Forest & Environment (LIFE)

ELAW Fellows (2013)

Nataliya is Legal Advisor at Environment People Law in Lviv, Ukraine. Her work focuses on issues related to climate change, alternative energy and green tariffs, hydro power projects in the Carpathian mountains, biodiversity conservation, forest protection, access to information, and public participation. She received her Master of Law at Ivan Franko National University in 2010. She has served as Legal Advisor at EPL since 2007.

Nataliya Horodetska, Ukraine
Legal Advisor, Environment People Law

Thuli is Swaziland's only public interest environmental attorney. After a grueling three-year legal battle, she won a landmark case to include environmental NGO representation in the Swaziland Environment Authority, reinforcing the right to public participation in environmental decision making. Thuli has collaborated with ELAW for many years to protect communities and the environment through law. Thuli is collaborating with ELAW staff and international partners to build skills and boost ELAW's work in Africa.

Thuli Brilliance Makama, Swaziland
2010 Goldman Environmental Prize Winner

Bazarsad is an attorney and consultant at the Center for Human Rights and Development and recently founded a new organization, the Public Interest Lawyers' Initiative. Both organizations are based in Ulaanbaatar. His focus is protecting human and environmental rights in Mongolia." title="Bazarsad is an attorney and consultant at the Center for Human Rights and Development and recently founded a new organization, the Public Interest Lawyers' Initiative. Both organizations are based in Ulaanbaatar. His focus is protecting human and environmental rights in Mongolia.

Bazarsad Nanjindorj, Mongolia
Founder,
Public Interest Lawyers' Initiative

Dana is the Director of the Economy & Environment Department at Adam Teva v’Din, also known as the Israel Union for Environmental Defense. In the wake of newly discovered offshore oil and onshore shale oil resources, she is helping making the case for a sustainable energy economy for Israel. She also works to protect the Dead Sea from industrial pollution and mineral extraction. Tabachnik holds LL.B. and LL.M. degrees from The Hebrew University. In 1994, Adam Teva v’Din co-hosted the ELAW Annual International Meeting in Jerusalem.

Dana Tabachnik, Israel
Director of the Economy & Environment Department at Adam Teva v’Din

Ali is an advocate at the Sindh High Court. His landmark cases include cleaning up contamination in the Indus River, proper disposal of hospital waste, restricting tree cutting, and conserving forests. In 2012 he was presented with an Achievement Award by the Chief Justice of Pakistan for promoting environmental laws in Pakistan.

Ali Anthar Qazi, Pakistan
Advocate at the Sindh High Court

Gonca co-founded the Denge Ecological Life Foundation, based in Istanbul, and has plans for an environmental law center. She works on problems related to hydropower and coal plants, and is involved in litigation on a large dam project. She has practiced law for ten years.

Gonca Yilmaz, Turkey
Co-founder of Denge Ecological Life Foundation, Istanbu

ELAW Fellows (2012)

Emilio is protecting the Mesoamerican Reef and the way of life for small fishing communities in Honduras through strengthening the rule of law. He and his co-workers at the Environmental Law Institute of Honduras (IDAMHO) are taking on short-sighted tourism development schemes and empowering communities to participate in decisions that impact the local environment. He says: "I want to protect nature and improve the quality of life for the dispossessed." Emilio received a degree in biology from Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Honduras. He was granted a tuition scholarship for the University of Oregon’s American English Institute's Intensive English Program. Stronger English skills, he says, will open up "a world of information."

Emilio D’Cuire, Honduras
Education Coordinator,
Instituto de Derecho Ambiental de Honduras (IDAMHO, Environmental Law Institute)

Ana is a seasoned advocate and litigator on human rights before national and international bodies. Her work has focused on refugees, internal forced displacement, and forced migration; prior consultation and free, prior and informed consent of Afro-descendant and indigenous communities; right to participation and access to information in environmental matters in Latin America; and environmental governance, global justice, and the Inter-American System of Human Rights. The mission of Asociación Ambiente y Sociedad is to generate positive changes in the regulation, policies and decision-making processes, and promote an active, central and effective participation of civil society in environmental matters. Ana graduated from the National University of Colombia where she specialized in Constitutional Law.

Ana Lucia Maya Aguirre,Colombia
Researcher
Asociación Ambiente y Sociedad (ASA, Association for Environment and Society)

Alejandra is working to permanently protect vital natural resources in Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. She works with local communities to establish Natural Protected Areas and set standards for sustainable fisheries. Alejandra has been with CEMDA since 2001 and directs CEMDA's Southeast office, based in Cancun. Alejandra earned her law degree at Panamericana University in Mexico City and has additional training in international environmental law and integrated watershed management.

Alejandra Serrano, Mexico
El Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental (CEMDA, Mexican Environmental Law Center)

Miskito attorney Lottie Cunningham Wren collaborates with indigenous communities to conserve biological diversity, sustain cultural practices, and advocate for sustainable fisheries. Lottie has worked with ELAW for more than 10 years to defend the rights of indigenous communities and protect the environment of Nicaragua's north Atlantic coast. Lottie was an expert witness in the Awas Tingni vs. Nicaragua case, before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. This case resulted in a tremendous land rights victory for indigenous peoples throughout the Americas.

Lottie Cunningham Wren, Nicaragua
Director,
Centro por la Justicia y Derecho, Humanos do la Costa Atlantica de Nicaragua (CEJUDHCAN, Center for Justice and Human Rights of the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua)

Roles works with traditional farming communities in Haiti to promote sustainable agriculture and protect traditional cultural resources. As an attorney and an agronomist, he forges ties between sustainable agriculture, healthy communities, and the rule of law.

Roles Theard, Haiti
Staff Attorney,
L'Association Haïtienne de Droit de l'Environnement (AHDEN, The Haitian Association of Environmental Law)

Erdenechimeg Dashdorj, also known as "Chimgee," wants her fellow Mongolians to live in a safe and healthy environment. She manages the Human Rights Advocacy Program at the Center for Human Rights and Development. Together with her colleagues she is working to protect Mongolia from polluting mining operations.

Erdenechimeg (Chimgee) Dashdorj, Mongolia
Staff Attorney,
Center for Human Rights and Development

Sergey is a scientist with expertise in geophysics and oceanography. He has worked for many years to protect the biological and cultural diversity of Lake Baikal.

Sergey Shapkhaev, Russia
Director,
Buryat Regional Organization for Lake Baikal

Elena is a lawyer and International Program Coordinator at the Buryat Regional Organization for Lake Baikal. She works to protect the Lake Baikal watershed from threats posed by dams, pipelines, and mining operations.

Elena Chernobrovkina, Russia
International Program Coordinator,
Buryat Regional Organization for Lake Baikal

The Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide (ELAW) has hosted more than 150 environmental professionals from dozens of countries around the world. ELAW Fellows are law students, young lawyers, experienced lawyers, and other professionals who help the world’s most disadvantaged communities protect the environment through law.

ELAW Fellows have gone on to do outstanding work and become respected leaders. Four ELAW Fellows later won the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize, including 2010 Goldman Prize winner Thuli Brilliance Makama from Swaziland.

ELAW designs each Fellowship to meet the needs of the visitor. We provide one-on-one training with ELAW Staff Attorneys, Scientists, and development staff, and reach out to other experts in the U.S. and around the world, to help ELAW Fellows meet their training objectives. ELAW Fellowships can last from a few days to several months. We also help Fellows work with reporters and speak at public events, so more people in the U.S. learn of good work that people around the world are doing.

ELAW Fellowships may include the following, and more:

  • One-on-one work with ELAW staff lawyers, scientists, and development professionals
  • Collaboration with organizations working on similar issues in the Pacific Northwest
  • Meeting with government agencies and attending court sessions and public hearings
  • Intensive English study at the University of Oregon’sAmerican English Institute
  • Participating in environmental law and other classes at the University of Oregon
  • Public presentations and press interviews

ELAW Fellows gain skills and build strong organizations that will work to protect communities and the planet for years to come. For more information, contact Maggie Keenan, ELAW Fellows Program Coordinator.

If you are a Eugene area resident and wish to host an ELAW Fellow, please visit our host family page.