Coral Gables, FL (June 4, 2009) – LawFuel.com – Activism is an integral part of both the human and academic experience. Two graduates from the University of Miami School of Law live by this concept. Sara Gonzalez-Rothi (Alachua, FL), JD ’09, and R. Scott Nuzum (Venice, FL), JD ’08, were selected for Everglades Foundation Congressional Fellowships by the UM Leonard and Jayne Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy.
The fellowships include a one-year placement in Washington, D.C. with a congressional committee or federal agency that has jurisdiction over issues affecting the Everglades. The fellows also receive a $45,000 stipend for the year. The 12-month placement begins in August.
Gonzalez-Rothi has been placed in Florida Senator Bill Nelson’s office with his Deputy Legislative Director and key Everglades Staffer Susie Perez-Quinn. Nuzum has been placed with the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). The CEQ works closely with agencies and the White House in the development of environmental policies and initiatives.
“It’s a great opportunity for those selected because they are getting the opportunity to see how government works and how policy is made,” said UM Law Professor and Dean Emerita Mary Doyle, founding director of the Abess Center. “[They] get to participate in policy making that has a broad impact on not just the Everglades, but on all wetlands.”
This is the first year that the fellowships are being offered through the Abess Center’s partnership with the Everglades Foundation, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to advancing an understanding of the Greater Everglades Ecosystem and its irreplaceable environmental and economic value.
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