Environment, Energy & Natural Resources
Overview
The law school offers an array of courses in environmental, energy and natural resources law. Students can enroll in introductory survey courses and advanced seminars. KU Law also offers the Environment, Energy & Natural Resources Law Certificate.
The school's law faculty includes full-time and adjunct professors with significant experience in their fields. A number of faculty members address environmental and energy law in their research and scholarship.
KU Law students participate in the national environmental law moot court competition and get involved through the Energy and Environmental Law Society. Alumni have an impact on environmental issues through their work in government, nonprofit and academic institutions.
Environmental Law Curriculum Guide
Recommended Upper-Level Courses:
- Environmental Law
- Energy Law and Policy
- Environmental Law Seminar (rotating topics such as Environmental Justice, Climate Change Law)
- Global Challenges in Law, Agriculture, Development and Ecology
- Water Law
- Oil and Gas
- Renewable Energy Law Practice
- Special Topics
- Independent Research
The Environment, Energy & Natural Resources Law Certificate exposes students to the basics of a constantly changing area of practice. At the end of the program, students can address environmental and natural resources law issues wherever they arise.
Certificate requirements include a core group of courses in Administrative Law and Environmental Law. Students round out their knowledge through an array of electives relevant to this area of the law. They also take an experiential or writing-intensive course.
Each year, interested students compete for the chance to participate in The Jeffrey G. Miller National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition. Winners of an in-house competition prepare written briefs and prepare for oral arguments (with the assistance of the faculty) at Pace. The KU team frequently reaches the late rounds of the competition, which tests students’ knowledge of environmental law by evaluating their legal writing and oral advocacy skills while providing a firsthand experience in environmental litigation. Students from KU Law also have the opportunity to compete in the Stetson International Environmental Law Moot Court Competition.
Related student groups include the Energy and Environmental Law Society. The group sponsors a variety of activities at the law school, including regular meetings often attended by the KU environmental law faculty or by federal, state and regional practitioners with environmental expertise.
KU Law has a strong cohort of faculty whose environmental research and scholarship spans environmental law, energy law, agriculture law, corporate law and international law.
In addition to full-time faculty above, KU Law’s adjunct faculty offer expertise and teach courses including State Energy Regulation, Oil and Gas Law, and Renewable Energy Law and Practice.
Law for the Land Lecture
The University of Kansas School of Law hosted a public lecture on Thursday, October 30, 2025, presented by Erin Ryan, Associate Dean for Environmental Law Programs and Elizabeth C. & Clyde W. Atkinson Professor of Law at the Florida State University College of Law. Professor Ryan discussed her forthcoming book, "Law for the Land: The Public Trust Doctrine, Mono Lake, and A Quiet Revolution in Environmental Rights" (Cambridge University Press 2026). The lecture was featured as part of the Big 12 Law Schools Signature Lecture Series. This event was made possible through a generous grant from the Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law.
Questions?
Uma Outka
William R. Scott Law Professor
uoutka@ku.edu
785-864-9241