STUDENT ORG SPOTLIGHT – Environmental Law Society
Colorado Law is home to nearly 50 active student organizations. These organizations empower law students to increase their knowledge, gain leadership experience, network, and collaborate with the legal community—all while building connections with classmates that will last throughout their careers and beyond.
In this series, we are highlighting extraordinary organizations run by Colorado Law students.
Meet the Environmental Law Society (ELS) at Colorado Law.
The association is run by President Celeste Baro ’27; Vice-President Jonah Dixon ’27; Treasurer Meryl Compton ’27; Events Director Corinne Griffin ’27; Community Outreach Director Ella Reichard ’27; Networking & Alumni Coordinator Piper Lacy ’27; GWC Liaison Sydney Stellato ’27; and Bar Association Liaison Stephen Hayes ’27. Professor Michael Pappas is the Faculty Advisor.
The goal of ELS is to create opportunities for law students to connect with lawyers working in Boulder; and the greater Denver area. This is done by hosting attorneys at lunch panels, holding annual networking events, or through the ELS mentorship program. Baro clarified that the main purpose of
these programs is to establish networking and job opportunities. Specifically, the mentorship program allows students to be paired with attorneys in Denver and Boulder in a practice area of environmental law that they are interested in.
“Because Colorado is such a small legal bubble, current practicing attorneys are so willing to help students and future lawyers in Colorado,” said Baro. “Whether you're working in environmental conservation or compliance, everybody's ultimately trying to protect something. I think because everyone's on the same page, we're also willing to share knowledge and information and give opportunities”
ELS collaborates with a variety of organizations and causes both at Colorado Law, and elsewhere, including the Getches-Wilkinson Center.
“The Getches-Wilkinson Center is awesome because of things like their fellowship, research assistants, and scholarship opportunities. We're always trying to work in conjunction with them to plug any of the opportunities they offer,” said Baro.
Annual Hike with Professor event from September 2025.
The Project Team, led by Lacy, allows students to share their comments and implement changes on larger environmental projects across the state.
“When government agencies want to [make changes], they're required to open for public comment. If you develop a significant comment, then those agencies are actually required to respond to it. So, we are tasking our students and dividing them up. We're trying to affect change and make the government respond to the thoughts and opinions of the people here,” said Dixon.
The Campus Initiatives Team, led by Reichard, is responsible for creating opportunities for the organization to engage with Boulder and greater environmental legal community. Currently, Reichard and ELS are working with and a variety of nonprofit groups, to help pass a Green Amendment for the state of Colorado.
“It’s a really cool opportunity to involve the students in something that could impact the history of the state of Colorado and the way that we protect the environment,” said Baro.
“We want every interaction the students have with the club to bring them outside of the books, more into the real world, and connect with what it would actually be like to practice and implement change through environmental law,” said Dixon.
Additionally, theCommunications Teamis currently working towards publishing the first ELS newsletter, which will highlight the successes and initiatives pursued by this student organization.
“I don't think I would have grown into the person I am today without ELS. I wouldn't have had all the opportunities for leadership, networking, and exposure to different areas of law,” said Baro.
To get involved with ELS, students can email ELS@colorado.edu.