ELAW Fellows Program
The Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide has hosted nearly 300 environmental professionals from all over the world. ELAW Fellows are committed advocates 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. Seven ELAW Fellows later won the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize, including 2016 Goldman Prize winner Zuzana Caputova. Ms. Caputova was a 2007 and 2017 ELAW Fellow and elected President of Slovakia in 2019.
ELAW designs each Fellowship to meet the Fellow’s needs. We provide one-on-one training with ELAW attorneys, scientists, and development team members, and reach out to other experts in the U.S. and around the world to help ELAW Fellows meet their training objectives.
ELAW Fellowships may include the following, and more:
- One-on-one work with the ELAW team
- ELAW Annual Meeting and Public Interest Environmental Law Conference
- Collaborating with organizations in the Pacific Northwest
- Meeting with government agencies, and attending court and public hearings
- Tours of water and waste management facilities, and visits to protected areas
- Intensive English study at the University of Oregon’s American English Institute
- 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. ELAW Fellows also enrich the Eugene community and share lessons learned from their environmental challenges and successes.
Eugene Weekly Interviews Ahmed
Raised as the son of a lawyer, Ahmed Elseidi grew up surrounded by legal lingo and strategies. Coming from a position where being a lawyer was at his fingertips, Elseidi took a slightly different approach — becoming the only public interest environmental lawyer in Egypt.
ELAW Fellows, 2024
Ana Lucía Maya-Aguirre
Colombia
Ana Lucía Maya-Aguirre is Director and Co-founder of Observatorio para la Gobernanza Marino Costera (Observatory for Marine and Coastal Governance).
Roger Mavungu Kama
Democratic Republic of Congo
Roger Mavungu Kama is an attorney and the Executive Secretary of Dynamique pour le Droit, la Democratie et le Developpement Durable (Dynamics for Law, Democracy and Sustainable Development, D5/ASBL) in Kongo Central Province in western Democratic Republic of Congo.
ELAW Fellows, 2023
Maria da Silva Ballerio
Brazil
Maria Judite da Silva Balerio (Guajajara) is an attorney who works with the Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of Maranhão (COAPIMA) and the Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB).
Felipe Martins Cândido
Brazil
Felipe Martins Cândido (Apurinã) is a lawyer working with Indigenous peoples in the states of Amazonas and Acre.
Hugo Che Piu
Peru
Hugo Che Piu is the Executive Director of Derecho, Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (Law, Environment & Natural Resources, DAR).
Fatima Diallo
Senegal
Fatima Diallo is Executive Director of Centre de Recherche et d’Action sur les Droits Economiques, Sociaux et Culturels (Center for Research and Action on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, CRADESC).
Ahmed Elseidi
Egypt
Ahmed Elseidi heads the Ahmed Elseidi Law Firm, which focuses on environmental and climate change law.
Paulo Celso de Oliveira
Brazil
Paulo Celso de Oliveira (Pankararu) is a partner at Dora, Azambuja e Oliveira – Advocacia em Direitos Humanos (Advocacy for Human Rights).
Frank Tumusiime
Uganda
Frank Tumusiime is Coordinator and Senior Research Fellow at Advocates for Natural Resources and Development (ANARDE).
Eliésio da Silva Vargas
Brazil
Eliésio da Silva Vargas (Marubo) is an attorney for the Union of Indigenous Peoples of Vale do Javari (UNIVAJA).
ELAW Fellows, 2022
Ivo Cípio Aureliano
Brazil
Ivo is a Macuxi lawyer with the Conselho Indígena de Roraima (Indigenous Council of Roraima, CIR) in Boa Vista, Roraima.
Bohdan Kuchenko
Ukraine
Bohdan Kuchenko is a scientist at the Kyiv office of Environment People Law.
Kateryna Polianska
Ukraine
Dr. Kateryna Polianska is a scientist at the Kyiv office of Environment People Law.
Nchunu Justice Sama
Cameroon
Nchunu Justice Sama is an environmental lawyer and Executive Director of the Foundation for Environment and Development (FEDEV).
Jimmy Munguriek Ufoy
Congo
Jimmy Munguriek Ufoy is an attorney and Executive Director at Cadre de Concertation de la Société Civile de l’Ituri sur les Ressources Naturelles (CdC/RN Ituri).
ELAW Fellows, 2021
Capacity Building for CEMDA
Mexico
Eight new staff members at at El Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental (Mexican Center for Environmental Law, CEMDA) gathered online in a 4-week series with ELAW staff that focused on law, science, and protection resources available to environmental defenders under threat. The virtual ELAW Fellows were Ricardo Garibay, Aarón Siller, Gerardo Álvarez, Luz Coral Hernández, Yoatzin Popoca, María Inés Centeno, Gabriela Sánchez, and Gabriela Carreón.
Strengthening Indigenous Advocacy in Brazil
Brazil
Five Indigenous lawyers from Brazil’s Amazon region gathered online in a 2-month weekly series with ELAW staff and others. They collaborated with ELAW Staff Attorneys and Staff Scientists, heard from experts in Brazil, met with an economic analyst, met with Indigenous lawyers from Nicaragua and Panama, and worked with ELAW’s Defending Defenders team. The virtual ELAW Fellows were Ivo Cípio Aureliano, Christiane Baré, Kari Guajajara, Felipe Apuriná, and Eliésio Marubo. Read more here.
ELAW Fellows, 2020
Joseph Ahimbisibwe
Uganda
Joseph Ahimbisibwe is a scientist and Program Officer for Nature Conservation at Advocates for Natural Resources and Development (ANARDE), based in Kampala.
Mamadou Alpha Mariam Diallo
Guinea
Mamadou Alpha Mariam Diallo is an attorney at Les Mêmes Droits pour Tous (The Same Rights for All, MDT) based in Conakry.
Hugo Echeverria
Equador
Hugo Echeverria, based in Ecuador, is an attorney and leading scholar on “rights of nature.”
Anna Fomina
Russia
Anna Fomina is an attorney working in Russia to protect communities and the environment through law.
Dickens Kamugisha
Uganda
Dickens Kamugisha is CEO at the Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO).
Olivier Bahemuke Ndoole
Democratic Republic of Congo
Olivier Bahemuke Ndoole is Executive Secretary at Alerte Congolaise pour l’Environnement et les Droits de l’Homme (ACEDH).
Isaias Ramos
Panama
Isaias Ramos is Staff Scientist at Centro de Incidencia Ambiental (Center for Environmental Advocacy, CIAM), based in Panama City.
Emmanuel Umpula
Democratic Republic of Congo
Emmanuel Umpula is an attorney with African Resources Watch, based in Kinshasa.
ELAW Fellows, 2019
Juliana de Paula Batista
Brazil
Juliana de Paula Batista is an attorney at Instituto Socioambiental (ISA).
Bernis Cunningham
Nicaragua
Bernis Cunningham is Executive Director at the Nicaragua Center of Environmental Conservation.
Laura Haiselova
Czech Republic
Laura Haiselova is an attorney on the Responsible Energy team at Frank Bold, based in Brno, Czech Republic.
Issiaga Keita
Guinea
Issiaga Keita is an attorney at Memes Droits pour Tous (Same Rights for All, MDT) based in Conakry, Guinea.
Csaba Kiss
Hungary
Csaba Kiss is a lawyer at the Environmental Management and Law Association (EMLA) in Budapest, Hungary.
Olena Kravchenko
Ukraine
Olena Kravchenko is Executive Director at Environment-People-Law (EPL) in Ukraine.
Natasha Lisitcyna
Russia
Natasha Lisitcyna is a lawyer at Sakhalin Environment Watch in the Russian Far East.
Bernard Ngalim
Cameroon
Bernard Ngalim is a Cameroonian attorney pursuing an LLM at Northeastern University School of Law.
Ragchaa Ochirbal
Mongolia
Ragchaa Ochirbal is a lawyer and Lecturer at Otgontenger University in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Saa Pascal Tenguiano
Guinea
Pascal is the Executive Director of Centre du Commerce International pour le Developpement (CECIDE).