Bestselling author Michael Grunwald spoke at Stetson Law in November 2025. What does the food on your plate have to do with rising sea levels? As it turns out, says best-selling author Michael Grunwald, quite a bit. Grunwald, who spoke on the Stetson Law campus November 18 as part of the Edward and Bonnie Foreman Biodiversity Lecture Series, covers environmental policy and politics for The… » Read more

Casey Darling Kniffin As she began the first Foreman Biodiversity Lecture of the semester, speaker Casey Darling Kniffin asked the audience to picture their favorite Florida State Park. Most Floridians, she said, have a favorite, where they go to experience open space and natural wonders. Kniffin’s is Jonathan Dickinson State Park just north of Jupiter on Florida’s Atlantic coast. Florida’s 175 state parks are award-winning,… » Read more

USF Professor Cynthia Barnett talks about her recent book, “Sound of the Sea” at Stetson Law. After giving a talk at the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum in Sanibel, Cynthia Barnett was haunted by something she learned during her visit. A survey of mostly out-of-state museum-goers revealed an overwhelming majority of visitors – some 90 percent – did not know that seashells are built by a… » Read more

The Nitrogen Pollution & Solutions Symposium brought a a full house on Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. It may not grab headlines like climate change or forever chemicals, but nitrogen pollution threatens our air, water, and public health. On Monday, Stetson, supported by a grant from BlueGAP and the National Science Foundation, hosted a day of conversation about the issue and how to address it. The… » Read more

A vibrant reef ecosystem off the coast of Puerto Rico. Photo courtesy of NOAA. Last week, Stetson’s Jacobs Public Interest Law Clinic for Democracy and the Environment submitted an amicus brief to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals calling on federal officials to halt a project that could be detrimental to a coral reef system off Puerto Rico’s coast. Filed on behalf of two Ph.D.… » Read more

Clearwater Marine Aquarium’s Buddy Powell addressed a room full of students curious about Florida’s manatees and threats to their habitat. A majestic sight in Florida’s rivers and coastal waters, manatees are as beloved as they are emblematic of the Sunshine State. Yet the large aquatic mammals – who may have inspired the myth of mermaids – might be more threatened than ever in Florida and… » Read more

Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency could determine the extent of Clean Water Act protections across the U.S. With help from faculty, Stetson Law students contributed significantly to an amici brief filed by Professor Royal Gardner, director of the college’s Institute for Biodiversity Law and Policy filed on behalf of twelve scientific organizations in a case that could prove critical in the fate of the Clean… » Read more

Nicholas Lewis won the 2020 Environmental Education Program Award from Keeping Tampa Bay Beautiful for a project he created as part of the Environmental Advocacy class. Nicholas Lewis, a 3L in the Environmental Law Concentration, won the 2020 Environmental Education Program Award from Keeping Tampa Bay Beautiful for a K-12 lesson plan he developed for the organization’s Environmental Education Center. Keeping Tampa Bay Beautiful (KTBB)… » Read more

Bringing the world’s buried wetlands back from the dead By Matthew Brown and James BrooksThe Associated PressNov. 5, 2019 Excerpt Professor Royal Gardner Wetlands in northern China, the central U.S., northern Africa, India and the Middle East already have been depleted by the pumping of underground aquifers for agriculture. “We now know the value of wetlands, and we know with increasing precision how many wetlands… » Read more

Student Jennifer Winn was presented with the Distinguished Achievement Award on June 15 in Orlando from the Florida Bar Animal Law Section for her contributions to animal law in Florida. Winn spearheaded a proposed ordinance to ban disposable plastic straws in restaurants in Gulfport, Florida, as part of a class project for Stetson law professor Lance Long’s environmental advocacy class. Plastic straws that wash into… » Read more

Two Stetson University College of Law alumni, Katie Cleveland Bright J.D. ’15 and Rachael Curran J.D. ’17, and third-year law student Brittany Atwell worked with Professor of Law Lance Long to provide research and assist in drafting a complaint on behalf of eight Florida youth, climate activists Delaney Reynolds and Levi Draheim, against the state of Florida, Governor Rick Scott, and several agencies in Leon… » Read more

Stetson University’s Institute for Biodiversity Law and Policy has received the American Bar Association’s 2016 Distinguished Achievement in Environmental Law and Policy Award. “This award recognizes the contributions of the Stetson community and our partners in wetland, wildlife conservation, and environmental issues around the world,” said Professor Royal C. Gardner, director of Stetson’s Institute and an internationally recognized expert in wetland law and policy. Every… » Read more