Application Period Now Open for NSGLC’s 2021 Sea Grant Law Diversity Internship Program

The National Sea Grant Law Center (NSGLC) developed a pilot Sea Grant Law Diversity Internship Program (SGLDIP) in 2020 and recently opened the application period for 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted last summer’s internship from an in-person to a virtual experience, and it may do so for 2021 as well. Whether in person or virtual, the internship aims to give the intern a unique opportunity to enhance his or her legal education by conducting research and outreach alongside NSGLC attorneys and SGLDIP project partner attorneys.

The NSGLC received funding to develop the SGLDIP in 2019. The internship seeks to provide experiential learning opportunities in the field of ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes law to a law school student from a diverse background. Over the course of the 10-week internship, the intern receives both national and state-level research and professional development experience. The NSGLC selects a partner host institution to provide the intern with the opportunity to contribute to an existing project or program serving an underrepresented or indigenous community.

In 2020, NSGLC selected Mikayla Mangle, a rising 2L at Tulane Law School, as its first SGLDIP intern. Over the course of the summer, she worked with the NSGLC and the 2020 SGLDIP project partner, the Virginia Coastal Policy Center (VCPC). Mangle worked on a research project for VCPC related to the relationship between tribal, state, and local governments, providing case studies on how certain Tribes and state or local governments collaborate. She likewise assisted the NSGLC with a research project related to tribal consultation in Michigan. Additionally, Mangle wrote two articles for The SandBar, the NSGLC’s quarterly newsletter. One article looked at the impact of COVID-19 on Tribal communities, while another addressed a court ruling on the Dakota Access Pipeline. She also contributed to the NSGLC blog, including one post related to the EPA and environmental justice issues.

NSGLC is currently seeking applicants for the 2021 SGLDIP. New York Sea Grant has been selected as the 2021 SGLDIP partner. This summer, the intern will contribute to a New York Sea Grant project on nuisance flooding in the Jamaica Bay watershed in a variety of ways, including conducting background legal research, interviewing stakeholders, or drafting content for outreach materials. The intern will also assist with NSGLC projects and participate in professional development opportunities provided by the NSGLC.

If COVID-19 travel impediments are lifted, the intern may choose to spend nine weeks of the internship at NSGLC offices in Oxford, Mississippi and travel to the Science and Resilience Institute at Jamaica Bay at Brooklyn College in Brooklyn, New York for a one-week placement. Otherwise, the intern will participate virtually. Interested applicants should submit a personal statement, resume, a letter of recommendation, and transcript (need not be an official transcript) to Terra Bowling, NSGLC Research Counsel II at tmharget@olemiss.edu by January 15, 2021. The selected intern will receive a stipend, as well as paid travel expenses for the placement week at the Science and Resilience Institute.