Annual Herrmann Legal Writing Award
The Herrmann Writing Award is a single stipend of $3,500 to the author of the winning submission, either an article, case note, or essay, plus $500 to the submitting law journal. Candidates are students at U.S. law schools who submit written work that promotes the understanding of legal issues in the field of environmental law. The Outreach Committee promotes the annual event, reviews the submissions, and selects the winner. The award is named for Stephen E. Herrmann, a leader in environmental law and co-founder of the ACOEL.
Anyone having questions about the award or process for submitting a piece for consideration should contact J.B. Ruhl ([email protected]) or Mary Ellen Ternes ([email protected]). To ensure a prompt response, please reference the Stephen E. Herrmann Environmental Writing Award in your communication.
Current Winner
2025
Nathan Spindler-Krage, University of Iowa College of Law
What Are You Doing in My Swamp? Reconciling Swampbuster, Civil Society, and Sustainability
Past Winners
2024
Isaac Lunt, Columbia Law School, and Columbia Law Review
Toward Distributed Nature: The Afforestation Easement and a Regenerative Land Ethic
2023
Emma Shumway, Columbia Law School, and Columbia Journal of Environmental Law
Wood Pellet Production in the U.S. South and Exportation for ‘Renewable’ Energy in Europe: The New Green Sacrifice Zone
2022
Kelly McGee, University of Chicago Law School, and University of Chicago Law Review
A Place Worth Protecting
2021
Madeeha Dean, University of California – Berkeley School of Law, and California Law Review
An Environmental FOIA: Balancing Trade Secrecy with the Public’s Right to Know
2020
Nina Lincoff, University of California – Berkeley School of Law, and California Law Review
Looking to Hybrid Species for the Future of Coral Reefs
2019
Joshua Landis, Vanderbilt University Law School, and Vanderbilt Law Review
Sunny and Share: Balancing Airspace Entitlement Rights Between Solar Energy Adopters and Their Neighbors
2018
Emily Hush, Columbia University Law School, and Columbia Journal of Environmental Law
Where No Man Has Gone Before: The Future of Sustainable Development in the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement and New Generation Free
Trade Agreements
2017
Jin Hyung Lee, Emory U. School of Law, and Emory Law Journal
Establishing Applicable Water Quality Standards for Surface Waters on Indian Reservations
2016
Irene Weintraub, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, and Cardozo Law Review
NEPA and Uncertainty in Low-Risk, High-Impact Scenarios: Nuclear Energy as a Case Study
2013
Alexander Bandza, University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, in Toxic Tort Litigation
Epidemiological-Study Reanalyses and Daubert: A Modest Proposal to Level the Playing Field in Toxic Tort Litigation
2012
Garrett Trego, William & Mary Law School, and Willliam & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review
We Didn’t Start the Fire…And We Won’t Pay to Stop It: Financing Wildfire Management in America’s Wildland-Urban Interface
2011
Mark Popovsky, Columbia Law School, and Columbia Law Journal
2010
Kate Bowers, Harvard Law School, and Harvard Environmental Law Review
Saying What the Law Isn’t: Legislative Delegations of Waiver Authority in Environmental Laws