Students and their Law Faculty Mentors Awarded Summer Grants to Study Global Warming and to Research Judicial Authority
March 23, 2007
Catherine Eason, Lesley McCall and Capri Miller have been awarded fellowships as part of the Richmond Quest/Bonner Center for Civic Engagement Student Research Fellowship Program for the summer of 2007.
Prof. Joel B. Eisen will be serving as a mentor to undergraduate student Catherine Eason (AS '08) for her project titled, "An analysis of the potential local effects of global warming on Richmond area communities and possible implications for the environmental justice movement."
Eisen says, "It is an ambitious project and a great example of interdisciplinary collaboration on environmental issues between the Law School and the University's Environmental Studies Program."
Eason, an Environmental Studies major, has excelled in numerous environmental courses, including Professor Eisen's Environmental Law and Policy course for undergraduates. Eisen noted, "Cat Eason is one of the most talented students our Environmental Studies program has produced to date. As the debate over global warming moves from debating the science to deciding what to do about the problem, I have no doubt that Cat's experience, ideas and vision will result in a first-rate blueprint for policymakers in Richmond."
As many scientific reports have shown, global warming is becoming increasingly accepted as inevitable and likely to impact people around the globe. This global phenomenon may have tremendous negative effects on individual communities. Using GIS (geographic information systems) techniques, Eason will project likely impacts on the Richmond area of differing degrees of global warming and develop a preliminary model for evaluating potential impacts on differing social groups. Eason's research may help point the way to policies that would be designed to mitigate global warming burdens on Richmonders.
Professor A. Benjamin Spencer will mentor University of Richmond School of Law students Lesley McCall (L'08) and Capri Miller (L'08), on a student-faculty collaborative research project concerning the crisis of judicial authority and its impact on federal courts in Virginia, titled, "The Impending Judicial Crisis: How Politics and Indifference Are Destroying Our Federal Courts."
Amy Howard, Acting Director of the Center for Civic Engagement says, "The students' work has significant implications for improving our understanding of an important dimension of civic, social, and economic life in the Richmond area and beyond."
The students will receive $4000 to conduct their research and will present their findings at a program to be sponsored by the Center for Civic Engagement and the Richmond Quest tentatively scheduled for the evening of September 26 and at an Arts & Sciences research symposium in the spring. They will also disseminate their research in both academic and community forums to maximize the impact of their work.