2016 Summer Interns
Each year interns arrive to spend their summer with Trustees for Alaska. They conduct legal research, draft pleadings, participate in client meetings and assist with litigation. Interns provide critical legal support to Trustees at the same time as they gain valuable on the ground legal experience. Meet our 2016 summer interns:
JACLYN BRASS is a rising third-year law student at the University of Colorado (CU) in Boulder. She currently serves as the Executive Editor for the Environmental Law Review and is also involved in the Environmental Law Society. She spent her previous summer at the Florida Earth Foundation, a nonprofit focused on environmental education, and has also worked as a research assistant for the Getches-Wilkinson Center researching Colorado water law. This past spring, she externed at The Wilderness Society, where she enjoyed digging into public lands issues. She grew up in Rome, Georgia, and received a B.A. in Public Relations from Auburn University in Alabama (War Eagle).
Jaclyn loves getting outside with her pup, and is beyond excited not only to explore Alaska this summer, but also to learn from and work for an organization dedicated to its protection! Working at a place like Trustees for Alaska is her dream for after graduation, and she’s so appreciative to experience what that might mean through this internship.
ESACK GRUESKIN attends the University of Oregon School of Law. He’s excited for his third and final year this fall. Born and raised in Iowa City, Iowa, Esack grew up with a love and appreciation for open spaces. After earning his Integrative Physiology BS from the University of Iowa, he took some time off to travel. Some of his favorite places from the sixteen-country trip included China, Russia, and Slovenia. Esack credits global travel as the catalyst that set off the environmental spark in his brain. Now pursuing a JD and a future career as an environmental attorney, his extracurricular activities include planning this past year’s Public Interest Environmental Law Conference and acting as Operations Editor for the UO Journal of Environmental Law and Litigation. This fall, Esack has a judicial externship at the United States Federal District Courthouse in Eugene. He has the following to say about working for Trustees:
“Thank goodness for Trustees for Alaska. It’s often difficult to find great work in a great location, but Trustees delivers both. I’ve never been to Alaska before. Seeing the mountains framing Anchorage every day is a constant reminder why I want to do this. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to contribute to Trustees. This should be a summer to remember.”
CHRISTIAN TUCKER is a rising third year law student at the University of Richmond. At Richmond, he is a member of the Environmental Law Society and Energy Law Society. He has spent his last summer working in land conservation for the Virginia Outdoors Foundation and spent his spring semester working for the Attorney General’s Office of Virginia on air pollution and climate change issues. Prior to attending law school, Christian worked to create new recycling solutions for non-recyclable wastes, like packaging films and cigarette butts, generated at manufacturing facilities across the country. In his free time, Christian plays the mandolin, hikes, camps, fishes and enjoys cooking. Christian is proudly from New Jersey and received a dual degree in Environmental Studies and Economics from Bucknell University in 2011.
“Trustees represents some of the most important work going on in the field of environmental law today. I cannot imagine a better place or better organization to learn the intricacies of natural resource law. The beauty and wildness of this state demand those who care for it to fight, and I am incredibly excited to be a part of that.”
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