Ethan Elkind is the Director of the Climate Change and Business Program with a joint appointment at the UC Berkeley School of Law and the UCLA School of Law. In this capacity, he serves as the lead author of UCLA-UC Berkeley’s grant-funded series of policy reports on business solutions to combat climate change.  He also researches and writes on the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), climate change law, environmental justice, and other environmental and energy law topics.  His book Railtown: The Fight for the Los Angeles Metro Rail and the Future of the City was published by University of California Press in January 2014.  Previously, Elkind taught at UCLA Law School’s Frank Wells Environmental Law Clinic and served as an environmental law research fellow. In 2005, he co-founded The Nakwatsvewat Institute, Inc., a Native American nonprofit organization that provides alternative dispute resolution services and support for tribal governance, justice and educational institutions.B.A. Brown University, 1998
J.D. UCLA, 2006

Executive Director of the Center for Law, Energy, and the Environment (CLEE) at the UC Berkeley School of Law.  The Center channels the expertise and creativity of the Berkeley Law community into pragmatic policy solutions to environmental and energy challenges in California and across the nation.  Jordan’s work focuses on ensuring environmental laws and policies are based on the best information available, developed through inclusive and transparent processes, and implemented through adaptive and accountable systems.  Prior to joining CLEE, Jordan was the Co-Director of the Ocean Program at the Environmental Law Institute, where she concentrated on strengthening ocean and coastal governance at local and regional levels, including improving and integrating Gulf of Mexico coastal conservation and restoration, supporting the role of Alaska Natives and other indigenous peoples in Arctic marine governance, and analyzing offshore energy management and enforcement systems.Jordan holds a JD and certificate in environmental law from Berkeley Law, where she was the managing editor of Ecology Law Quarterly, and a BA in earth and environmental sciences and a certificate in environmental studies from Wesleyan University, where she received the Sease Prize for outstanding work in environmental science.  In 2013, Jordan received the ABA Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources Distinguished Environmental Advocates: The Next Generation award.

Sean B. Hecht is the Co-Executive Director of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at UCLA School of Law.  He teaches Public Natural Resources Law and Policy, Environmental Law, the Environmental Law Clinic, and a Climate Change Seminar at the School of Law.  Sean builds collaborations on environmental issues involving academia, practicing environmental lawyers, advocacy organizations, policymakers, and the business community.  His current research projects include evaluating the way courts review environmental impact analysis under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), analyzing the insurance and finance sectors’ roles in helping society adapt to climate change impacts, and studying the adaptation of decision-making in the governmental and private sectors to changing climatic conditions.  As Co-Director of the Frank G. Wells Environmental Law Clinic, he plans and supervises the provision of student legal services to nonprofit and government partners and clients.  He also serves as Chair of the Harbor Community Benefit Foundation, a nonprofit whose mission is to carry out mitigation and other public benefit projects that assess, protect, and improve health, quality of life, and the natural environment, with a focus on the near-port communities of San Pedro and Wilmington, California.

Before he attended law school, he worked in the nonprofit sector, overseeing environmental programs relating to energy conservation, recycling, and hazardous waste.  After law school, he served as law clerk for Hon. Laughlin E. Waters of the United States District Court for the Central District of California.  He began law practice at the firm Strumwasser & Woocher, litigating cases involving election law, employment law, environmental and land-use law, and insurance regulation.  More recently, he served as a Deputy Attorney General for the California Department of Justice, representing the Attorney General and state agencies on environmental and public health matters.  He blogs about environmental law and policy topics, along with other UCLA and UC Berkeley law faculty, at legal-planet.org.

B.A. Yale, 1988
J.D. University of Michigan, 1995

Cara Horowitz is the Co-Executive Director of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at UCLA School of Law.  The Emmett Institute was founded as the first law school center in the nation focused on climate law and policy.  Cara teaches at the law school and directs the work of the Emmett Center to advance innovative research, public policy debate, and legislative reform to address climate change and its effects.

Cara’s areas of focus include California and federal climate policy and local sustainability.  She has testified to the California legislature on climate policy and has been quoted in the Washington Post, the Daily Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and other media.  She serves on the governing boards of local and national environmental organizations, including the Climate Law Institute, Climate Resolve, and the Green LA Coalition.

Prior to joining UCLA, Cara worked in the non-profit sector as a staff attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council, where she litigated high-profile cases and advocated domestically and internationally to preserve and protect oceans and wildlife.  She has also worked at Caldwell, Leslie and Proctor, a litigation boutique, and served as law clerk to the Honorable Dorothy W. Nelson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.  Horowitz is a 2001 graduate of the UCLA School of Law, where she was an articles editor of the UCLA Law Review and finished first in her class.

B.A. Yale, 1996
J.D. UCLA, 2001