This summer we are catching up with former volunteers and interns of the Bahá’í Chair. Our third post comes from Ashli Taylor who graduated in 2018.
I attended the University of Maryland from 2014-2018 where I majored in Government & Politics and minored in Middle Eastern Studies and Sustainability Studies. While at UMD I interned for the Bahai Chair from Spring 2015 to Spring 2018. During my time with the Chair I helped in event planning, assisted Dr. Mahmoudi with her seminar entitled The Problem of Prejudice, Overcoming Impediments to Peace and Justice in addition to general administrative tasks. In my last year of undergrad, I decided that I wanted to pursue a law degree in order to be an advocate for those who could not find their voice in society.
With that goal in mind, I attended Vermont Law School in 2018 as a joint-degree student pursuing my Juris Doctor and a Master of Environmental Law & Policy. I played an active role within the school. I was an elected member of the Honor Committee, a teaching assistant for three courses and served as the President of the Vermont Chapter of the Native American Law Students Association.
In Vermont I truly found my love for nature and the fact that everyone has the right to a clean environment. Vermont Law School is a top-ranking environmental law school that has a number of programs that allowed me to fully grasp the wide scope of environmental law.
The summer after my first year of law school, I participated in environmental investigatory work in Cambodia and Myanmar on a field study focused on environmental governance in the developing world. While in Southeast Asia, I worked with NGOs, environmental law firms, and Indigenous peoples to further comprehend how they educate society on their most pressing environmental issues, and how this is translated into their environmental policies through their environmental codes and collaborations with the Ministry of Environment.
In my second year, I was selected to serve as a student delegate assisting the nations of Palau and Nauru at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP25) in Madrid, Spain.
The summer after my second year of law school I worked as a legal intern for Blue Ocean Law, a boutique international law firm based in Guam. Due to the pandemic, the internship had to take place remotely. The firm was led by Julian Augon who was chosen by President Obama to be one of the 21 regional leaders to form the Asia Pacific task force for the Obama Foundation. Blue Ocean Law specializes in human rights and indigenous rights, self-determination, and environmental justice in the Pacific. During my time there I focused on conducting feasibility studies surrounding climate change litigation for small island nations against major carbon emitting companies.
My last year of law school proved to have its own unique challenges being completely remote. I took this time to branch out from courses focusing on strictly environmental law and policy. I worked as a student clinician with Immigration Assistance Project at the South Royalton Legal Clinic. This clinic was the only clinic in Vermont that provides either free or very low cost to legal advice on immigration matters. Restricted by the pandemic that had struck the world, the attorneys and students found alternative ways to meet with their clients to continue their case work and eased their nerves. At the clinic, I focused on humanitarian asylum cases.
On May 15, 2021, I graduated from Vermont Law School. Now I am studying for the DC Bar Exam to obtain my license to practice law. I hope to continue to work in the field of environmental law but am open to whatever path life may take me.
About the Author:
Ashli Taylor graduated from the University of Maryland in 2018 with a major in Government & Politics and minored in Middle Eastern Studies and Sustainability Studies. She graduated from the University of Vermont Law School in 2021 with a Juris Doctorate and a Master of Environmental Law & Policy.