“For most of my life, I’ve known I wanted to do something related to environmental advocacy and I came to the understanding that environmental law might be at the intersection of the most powerful ways to do that. I also got interested in federal Indian law. Growing up, I kept seeing tribes and Indigenous people leading environmental struggles and I wanted to understand the legal infrastructure surrounding their relationship with the government.
The law school experience that stands out most for me is the Environmental Justice Clinic, run by Professor Ruhan Nagra. Environmental justice is about who bears the burden of environmental harms and who gets the benefits. It brings a human element to the natural world that I find really inspiring. This spring, two of my good friends and I did clinic work on water security on the Navajo Nation in Utah. We went down, interviewed community members and met with local chapter governments about how we might support their efforts. Having communities invite us in to do that work is such an honor.
One thing the clinic drove home for me is that the law is a powerful tool, but it’s just one of many. Realizing that has been invigorating. The other highlight has been the National Native American Law Students Association moot court competition. This includes writing briefs, traveling and making oral arguments before judges. It’s one thing to understand your argument on paper; it’s another to stand in front of a judge. The coach, Dean Kronk Warner, is one of the foremost scholars on the intersection of environmental and federal Indian law. She is one of the reasons I chose to come to the U.
Law school confirmed something I vaguely knew: I love writing and logic and the law is fundamentally both. It requires you to fit facts and law together like a puzzle, structured enough to keep you grounded and creative enough to keep it from feeling stilted. I’ve also learned I want continuous learning to be integral to my work for the rest of my life. Next year I’m clerking for a judge. After that, I want to do the environmental justice advocacy I’ve been thinking about for over a decade. I’ve had glimpses of what real, helpful legal work looks like. Now I get to go do it full-time.”
— Isaac Santos, Class of 2026, J.D., S.J. Quinney College of Law, from Olalla, Washington