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Elizabeth Sarine - UC Berkeley '12
Elizabeth Sarine is a deputy attorney general in the Natural Resources Law Section of the California Attorney General's Office. Elizabeth served as symposium co-chair for the 2012 California Water Law Symposium, which presented eight dynamic panels on the theme of "Water and Growth: the Imperative for Sustainable Approaches to Uncertainty." Originally from Taiwan, Elizabeth lived in Belize for four years before starting sixth grade in Redding, California. Elizabeth's favorite national park is Lassen Volcanic National Park, where she spent four summers as an interpretive park ranger and forestry aid technician. |
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Thomas Hicks - University of San Francisco '05
Tom Hicks is a California water law, real property, and conservation attorney who represents public interest organizations, landowners, and others on public policy, transactional, and select administrative and litigation matters. Before law school, Tom was an energy and water policy analyst at the Natural Heritage Institute and the founder and Executive Director of the Headwaters Institute. He has interned at the San Francisco Office of the City Attorney, California State Water Resources Control Board, and American Rivers. Tom founded and chaired the inaugural California Water Law Symposium sponsored by leading northern California law schools and is a Board Member. He is the author of the Water Education Foundation Layperson's Guide to Water Rights Law, recognized as the most thorough explanation of California water rights law available to non-lawyers. Tom is a former whitewater raft guide, kayaker, and Colorado Outward Bound instructor. He holds a JD from the University of San Francisco School of Law and a BA from the University of Vermont. |
Steve Westhoff - UC Davis '13
Steve Westhoff is an attorney at the California State Water Resources Control Board’s Office of Chief Counsel, where he advises primarily on water rights matters and previously worked on the Board's financial assistance and underground storage tanks programs. He graduated from UC Davis School of Law in 2013 with Environmental Law, Pro Bono, and Public Interest Law certificates. During law school, he interned at numerous state agencies, served as a research assistant to Professor Richard Frank, was an active member of the Environmental Law Society, and was an editor of Environs. He was also a student co-chair of the Water Law Symposium in 2013.
Steve Westhoff is an attorney at the California State Water Resources Control Board’s Office of Chief Counsel, where he advises primarily on water rights matters and previously worked on the Board's financial assistance and underground storage tanks programs. He graduated from UC Davis School of Law in 2013 with Environmental Law, Pro Bono, and Public Interest Law certificates. During law school, he interned at numerous state agencies, served as a research assistant to Professor Richard Frank, was an active member of the Environmental Law Society, and was an editor of Environs. He was also a student co-chair of the Water Law Symposium in 2013.
Nell Green Nylen - UC Berkeley '12
Nell Green Nylen is a Senior Research Fellow with the Wheeler Water Institute in the Center for Law, Energy & the Environment (CLEE) at Berkeley Law. Her research engages law, science, and policy to tackle critical California water issues. Nell clerked for Justice Gregory J. Hobbs of the Colorado Supreme Court. She earned a J.D. from Berkeley Law, where she was a symposium co-chair for the 2012 California Water Law Symposium and interned at the California Attorney General’s Office and the Center for Biological Diversity. Before law school, Nell worked at the California Academy of Sciences, the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, Stanford University, and the U.S. Geological Survey. She earned a Ph.D. in Geological and Environmental Sciences from Stanford, where her dissertation research examined past climatic and environmental change along the Northern California coast.
Nell Green Nylen is a Senior Research Fellow with the Wheeler Water Institute in the Center for Law, Energy & the Environment (CLEE) at Berkeley Law. Her research engages law, science, and policy to tackle critical California water issues. Nell clerked for Justice Gregory J. Hobbs of the Colorado Supreme Court. She earned a J.D. from Berkeley Law, where she was a symposium co-chair for the 2012 California Water Law Symposium and interned at the California Attorney General’s Office and the Center for Biological Diversity. Before law school, Nell worked at the California Academy of Sciences, the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, Stanford University, and the U.S. Geological Survey. She earned a Ph.D. in Geological and Environmental Sciences from Stanford, where her dissertation research examined past climatic and environmental change along the Northern California coast.
Vincent Vu - UC Hastings '15
Vincent Vu is an attorney with the Office of Chief Counsel for the California State Water Resources Control Board. He provides advice and counsel to regional water quality control boards. Previously, Vincent was an attorney at a municipal law firm and a criminal prosecutor with the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office. Vincent attended the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, where he served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Hastings West-Northwest Journal of Environmental Law and Policy (currently, the Hastings Environmental Law Journal). During law school, Vincent externed as a law clerk for the Honorable Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, United States District Court for the Northern District of California; Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger LLP; the Natural Resources Defense Council; the California Attorney General’s Office Natural Resources Section; and the California Coastal Commission. He received his B.A. in Psychology and Social Behavior, with a minor in Political Science, from the University of California, Irvine. He served as Co-Chair for the 2014 California Water Law Symposium.
Vincent Vu is an attorney with the Office of Chief Counsel for the California State Water Resources Control Board. He provides advice and counsel to regional water quality control boards. Previously, Vincent was an attorney at a municipal law firm and a criminal prosecutor with the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office. Vincent attended the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, where he served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Hastings West-Northwest Journal of Environmental Law and Policy (currently, the Hastings Environmental Law Journal). During law school, Vincent externed as a law clerk for the Honorable Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, United States District Court for the Northern District of California; Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger LLP; the Natural Resources Defense Council; the California Attorney General’s Office Natural Resources Section; and the California Coastal Commission. He received his B.A. in Psychology and Social Behavior, with a minor in Political Science, from the University of California, Irvine. He served as Co-Chair for the 2014 California Water Law Symposium.
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Anthony Austin - Golden Gate University '11
Anthony Austin is a Deputy Attorney General in the Environment Section of the California Attorney General’s Office where he represents the California Department of Toxic Substances Control in various cost recovery, hazardous waste enforcement, and bankruptcy matters. He also works on a number of challenges to the U.S. Department of Energy’s rulemaking efforts to weaken energy efficiency standards. Before joining the AGO, Anthony served at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency EPA for four and a half years, first in Region 8 (Denver) and then in Washington, D.C., carrying out Superfund enforcement actions and working to develop and implement EPA’s national cleanup enforcement policies. Before his time at EPA, Anthony defended health care professionals in professional liability actions. From 2012-2013, Anthony clerked for Judge Diana Terry on the Colorado Court of Appeals. He has a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, San Diego, a J.D. from Golden Gate University School of Law, and an LL.M. in Environmental and Natural Resources Law and Policy from the University of Denver, Sturm College of Law. During law school, Anthony served as a panel co-chair of the 2010 California Water Law Symposium and then as the Symposium Chair of the 2011 California Water Law Symposium. He now serves as a board member of the WLS. |
Thank You to Our Participating Schools
For more information on sponsorship opportunities, contact waterlawsymposium@gmail.com
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