About the Fellowship
The Yale-NRDC Environmental Law Fellowship is a two-year fellowship for recent law school graduates interested in environmental advocacy and law teaching. For the first year, the Fellow works at the Natural Resources Defense Council in one of NRDC’s programs (Climate & Energy; Nature; International; or Environmental Health), or with NRDC’s Environmental, Equity & Justice Center or Green Finance Center. During that time, the Fellow focuses on litigation or policy efforts to redress environmental and public health harms, such as air and water pollution, climate change, threats to endangered species and at-risk lands, environmental injustice, and exposure to toxic chemicals.
During the second year, the Fellow coordinates and co-teaches the Yale Environmental Protection Clinic alongside NRDC experts and a Yale faculty member. The clinic partners with NRDC and other environmental organizations on interdisciplinary projects blending legal, policy, and scientific advocacy. Projects include litigation support, administrative advocacy, legislative drafting, strategic and communications planning, network building, scientific literature reviews, and more. In addition to being the primary coordinator of the clinic, the Fellow has substantive supervision responsibilities for certain clinic projects.
The current Fellow is Kevin X. Chen. Previous Fellows have continued onto diverse positions in environmental nonprofit organizations, private practice, and legal academia.
How to Apply
NRDC and the Yale Environmental Protection Clinic are currently seeking applicants for the Yale-NRDC Environmental Law Fellowship, starting on or about August 2025. To apply, submit an application through the posting on NRDC’s website. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.