LexisNexis Practice Guide: North Carolina Environmental Law

Professor Maria Savasta-Kennedy is a clinical professor of law at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill where she teaches environmental law courses and directs the law school's Externship Program. Originally from Northern California, Prof. Savasta-Kennedy grew up hiking in the Sierra Nevada mountains. She has been teaching at UNC Law for 20 years and is proud to call North Carolina, with all of its natural splendors, her home. She began her teaching career at NYU School of Law's Lawyering Program. Before teaching, she litigated federal and state environmental, civil rights, and commercial cases. She represented grass roots organizations in complex environmental cases at both the trial and appellate level while an associate attorney with Earth Justice. She attended the University of California at Los Angeles for both undergraduate and law school.

Professor Savasta-Kennedy also teaches CLE programs on environmental law and practical lawyering skills. She is a long-standing member of the North Carolina Bar Association Environment, Energy and Natural Resource Council where she currently chairs the sustainability committee. Her research interests include social and environmental justice, and exploring regulatory and market responses to pollution control and climate change. Professor Savasta-Kennedy was awarded a Fulbright to teach in Xi'an, China in 2012.