About the Fellowship
The Yale-NRDC Environmental Justice Legal Fellowship is a two-year fellowship for recent law school graduates interested in environmental justice advocacy and legal services and law teaching. For the first year, the Fellow works at the Natural Resources Defense Council within its Environment, Equity & Justice Center (EEJC) to provide legal support with and for environmental justice communities across the United States. During that time, the Fellow focuses on scoping, shaping, and advancing litigation, as well as legal, policy, and coalition-building strategies to redress environmental harms and secure environmental benefits in environmental justice communities.
During the second year, the Fellow works as a clinical legal fellow with the Environmental Justice Law and Advocacy (EJLA) Clinic, part of the law school’s Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization. Working with EJLA’s director, Professor Stephanie Safdi, the Fellow supervises student attorneys in representing community-based organizations, Tribal Nations, residents groups, and non-profit coalitions to advance environmental justice and intersectional concerns such as Tribal sovereignty, environmental protection, public health, civil rights, and participatory environmental governance. In addition to student supervision, the Fellow participates in clinical teaching and case intake and docket development and supports environmental law and justice programming within Yale Law School and interdisciplinary offerings with other university programs.
The current Fellow is Joseph Brau. Previous Fellows affiliated with the now concluded Goldman Sonnenfeldt Environmental Protection Clinic have continued onto diverse positions in environmental nonprofit organizations, private practice, and legal academia.
How to Apply
Applications for the Yale-NRDC Environmental Justice Law Fellowship are now open. Please submit your application through the NRDC career job posting. Applications are requested by October 5, 2026, and will then be considered on a rolling basis as received.