2026 Conference Schedule
This schedule is subject to changes.
Thursday, May 14
6 - 8 p.m.
Pre-conference Dinner (BCLS Great Hall)
Friday, May 15
8 - 8:30 a.m.
Check-in and Light Breakfast (BCLS Great Hall)
8:30 - 9:30 a.m.
Introductions and Morrison Laureate Address (BCLS Great Hall)
- Heather Payne, The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law
- Reliance and Reliability, 15 UC IRVINE L. REV. 587 (2025)
9:30 - 10:50 a.m.
Break-out Session #1
Panel: Energy Policy at a Crossroads and Branching Out (Room 1)
- Heather Payne, Revisiting Reprocessing and Atomic Fictions
- Steven Weissman, Natural Gas and Ruby Slippers: Regulatory Discretion and the Obligation to Serve
- Felix Mormann, Energy Mass Torts
- Lincoln Davies, Solar Wars
Freestanding Presentations: Interdisciplinary Sustainability Law (Room 2)
- Todd Aagaard, Federalism’s Non-Interference Principle
- Paolo Farah, From Silent Spring to Risk Governance: Scientific Uncertainty, Preventive Regulation, and the Limits of U.S. Environmental Law
- Cherie Metcalf, Communicating Risk Across the Political Divide: Assessing Institutional Trust Over Time
Panel: Environmental Law Education in 2026 (Room 3)
- K.K. DuVivier, Educating Judges About Climate and Energy Science
- Steven Ferrey, Overlooked Legal Decisions: ALJ Judges Affecting Sustainability
- Jane Cohen, Full Frontal Ecology: Building Policy After the Terminal Endangerment of the Endangered Species Act
11 a.m. - 12:20 p.m.
Break-out Session #2
Panel: Teaching Environmental Law in Turbulent Times (Room 1)
- Carmen G. Gonzalez, Critical Pedagogy in Turbulent Times
- Michele Okoh, Forging a New Path: Innovative Approaches to Environmental Law
- Rebecca Bratspies, Those Who Forget the Past are Destined to Repeat It
- Amy Sinden, Environmental Law as Environmental Justice: Giving Students the Tools and Insights to Speak Truth to Power
Freestanding Presentations: Public Lands and Natural Resources (Room 2)
- Tom Romero, Operationalizing Kinship and Culture in Western Water Law
- Al Lin, Selling Public Lands?
- Karen Bradshaw, Depolarizing: Collaborative Governance of Public Lands
- Rhett Larson, The U.S. National Obligation to Mexico on the Colorado River
Freestanding Presentations: Sustainability and Land Use Law (Room 3)
- Kellen Zale, The Unzoned County
- Michael Wolf, A Century of Myths About Euclid v. Ambler
- Chinonso Anozie, Beyond the Partisan Ideology of Renewables
- Heidi Gorovitz Robertson, What’s Real and What’s Remaining: Can Clarity in Agency Decision-making Overcome Ohio’s Legislative Bias Against Renewable Energy?
12:30 - 1:30 p.m.
Lunch Break
1:40 - 3 p.m.
Break-out Session #3
Freestanding Presentations: Energy Law and Regulation (Room 1)
- Hari Osofsky, Regulating Energy and Emerging Technologies: AI, Data Centers, Quantum, and Space
- Michael Helbing, Fueling the Future: The Law and Policy Driving Development of Renewable Natural Gas and Sustainable Aviation Fuel
- Troy Rule, Electricity Zoning
- Joel Eisen, Energy Data Justice
Freestanding Presentations: Climate Change, Disaster Law and Land Use (Room 2)
- Shannon Roesler, “In All Fairness and Justice”: What Government Owes Private Property in a Time of Climate Disruption
- Blake Hudson, If It Keeps on Raining (Takings Claims), The Levee’s Going to Break: How Flood Control Sovereign Immunity Places the Government and the Public at Risk
- Gina Warren, Natural Disasters and Local and State Emergency Energy Planning
- Shelby Green, Climate Resilient Development: A Framework Law for Local Implementation
3:10 - 4:30 p.m.
Break-out Session #4
Freestanding Presentations: Issues in International Environmental Law (Room 1)
- Tseming Yang, Missing International Environmental Law
- Lakshman Guruswamy, The Demise of International Treaties: The Future of Sustainable Development & Environmental Governance
- Mekonnen Ayano, The Vanishing Commons: Neoliberal Legality and Rural Differentiation
- Anastasia Telesetsky, Nature’s Currency: Financing Biodiversity Recovery
Freestanding Presentations: Issues in Federal Environmental Law (Room 2)
- Ellen Bublick, Design for Destruction: Designing Products, and Products Liability Law, for the Natural History of Products
- Natalie Jacewicz, Untangling Environmental Review
- Robert Glicksman, The Unraveling of U.S. Environmental Law
- Jaclyn Lopez, NEPA’s Midlife Crisis
5 - 7 p.m.
Presenters Dinner
- Location: Blanco Cocina + Cantina, 123 E. Washington, Phoenix, AZ 85004
- Presenters and invited guests only
