Member Spotlight
Check this page often to read about members who are involved in the Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources (SEER).
Kevin Pregent is Assistant General Counsel at the University of Delaware (UD), where he focuses on all aspects of the university’s transactional matters. Prior to his role at UD, Kevin began his career in private practice, then served as Associate Counsel at the Delaware River Basin Commission.
In 2024, Kevin was selected to participate in the SEER Leadership Development Program, and he currently serves SEER in a number of roles, including co-chair of the Special Committee on Written Content, Year in Review vice chair on the Water Resources Committee, vice chair on the Special Committee on Marketing and Communications, and planning committee member for the 54th Spring Conference on Environmental Law. Kevin’s involvement with SEER has provided him an ever-expanding and invaluable professional and personal network.
An avid outdoor enthusiast, Kevin can often be found enjoying his two favorite rivers, the Delaware and the St. Lawrence, by kayak, bike, skis, or on foot.
Harrison Bench
Harrison Bench is a 2L and Haub Environmental Scholar at Pace University’s Elisabeth Haub School of Law. He currently serves as a junior associate on the Pace Environmental Law Review, a Land Use Law Center scholar, Bailiffs Vice-Chair of the National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition, and a Sustainable Business Law Hub Student Scholar. This past summer, Harrison interned with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Next semester, he is interning with the N.Y. Department of Public Service.
In 2023, Harrison graduated from the University of South Carolina Honors College with a degree in environmental policy. While at USC, he interned with Senator Tim Scott, Congressman Jim Clyburn, NOAA, and the S.C. Department of Environmental Services. Harrison has also served as Deputy Executive Director of Students for Climate Action, an environmental non-profit, for the past 4.5 years. These experiences helped him realize his passion for bipartisan climate and energy policymaking, which motivated him to pursue a career in environmental law.
Harrison is an avid member of SEER. He currently serves as programs vice chair of the SEER Environmental Law Society Network (ELSN). Harrison attended the 2024 SEER Spring Conference on Environmental Law in Chicago and the 2024 SEER Fall Conference in Seattle, both of which were transformative experiences for him. He is honored to be assisting with outreach projects related to the forthcoming SEER 33rd Fall Conference, taking place in Arlington, VA, October 22-24, 2025. Harrison is excited to continue his involvement in SEER, which has helped him meet new people and learn more about the field.
Aside from school, Harrison enjoys spending time with family and friends, going to concerts, visiting the beach, and taking walks with his dog, Lucky.
Patrick Paul
Patrick Paul is a partner and practice group leader at Snell & Wilmer in Phoenix, AZ, specializing in environmental law, regulatory compliance, land use, and renewable energy. He assists clients with the development of manufacturing facilities, power plants, and hospitality venues. A graduate of SUNY Albany and Vanderbilt Law School, Patrick served as Managing Editor of the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law.
The son of Irish immigrants, Patrick grew up in New York City, where as a young man he was an award-winning step dancer. Patrick lives in Phoenix with his wife, Amy, and their sons. An avid marathon runner, he has raced around the world and enjoys the challenge and camaraderie of the sport.
A dedicated member of SEER for 25 years, Patrick values the collegiality of the Section and his work on the Natural Resources & Environment editorial board.
Tenney Kapellusch
Tenney is in her final year of law school at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University, graduating in May 2025. She is also a first-generation law student and actively involved with Haub Law's Environmental Law program. While at Pace, she served as the National Environmental Moot Court Competition (NELMCC) Scoring and Grading Vice Chair for 2023-2024. Tenney was also a Spring 2024 Extern with the Pace Energy and Climate Center (PECC) working on various energy-related matters. During her 2L summer, she was a Summer Law Clerk at Lewis, Longman, and Walker at their West Palm Beach Office. She is excited to join Lewis, Longman, and Walker as a Law Clerk at their West Palm Beach Office after she graduates law school.
Before law school, she attended the University of Florida where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Sciences and a minor in Agricultural and Natural Resources Law. She was actively involved with her university's Phi Alpha Delta (PAD) Pre-Law club on campus serving various executive board roles. She also was a Teaching Assistant in the School of Forest, Fisheries, & Geomatics Sciences for the Natural Resources Policy and Economics course. She worked on a paper titled "Fanning the Flames of Cooperation: A Collective Action Approach to Prescribed Fire Agreements" which was ultimately published in 2022.
Tenney currently serves as co-chair of the SEER Environmental Law Society Network (ELSN) as well as the ABA Law Student Division Liaison to SEER. She also serves as a vice chair on the SEER Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) Committee. She is grateful to have had the opportunity to attend the SEER Spring 2024 Conference in Chicago and the SEER Fall 2024 Conference in Seattle. She serves on the Planning Committee for the 2025 SEER Spring Conference on Environmental Law, taking place in Philadelphia on March 26-28, 2025. Tenney is excited to continue her involvement in SEER for the future!
In her free time, Tenney enjoys spending time with her family and reading all genres of books. She also enjoys exploring parks and wilderness areas in Florida where she can admire the beauty of Florida's native flora and fauna. Her favorite animals include Koala Bears and Manatees!
Talia Gordner
Talia is a regulatory and commercial litigation partner at McMillan LLP in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She assists clients in all areas of environmental compliance and advocacy and has a full understanding of environmental reporting and approvals obligations at the federal, provincial, and municipal levels, including greenhouse gas emissions, plastics, waste and chemical management, and stewardship regimes.
She represents clients in the management and resolution of complex environmental and regulatory disputes and in environmental matters involving recent, ongoing, and historical contamination. Talia also advises on environmental risk, liability, and due diligence issues at all stages of complex real estate, business, and financing transactions with a focus on getting the deal across the finish line.
Talia regularly speaks and publishes on environmental law topics and is currently serving as co-chair of the SEER Enforcement and Litigation Committee. Talia has enjoyed meeting her American counterparts through her involvement in the ABA and learning where U.S. and Canadian environmental law correspond or diverge.
Cheerful Catunao
Cheerful Catunao is an associate at Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt, P.C. in Seattle, where she practices a full range of environmental and natural resource matters. Her practice includes environmental litigation, regulatory compliance, and advising clients. Her litigation and regulatory compliance experience includes defending against citizen suits, enforcement actions, and rulemaking challenges. She has advised clients on matters arising under the CAA, CWA, SDWA, ESA, NHPA, CERCLA, TSCA, NEPA, CZMA, and SMCRA.
Prior to joining Schwabe, Cheerful served in the Office of the Governor of Guam as associate counsel and was an assistant attorney general with the Washington Attorney General’s Office, Ecology Division. During law school, she served as a judicial intern to the Honorable Chief Judge Tydingco-Gatewood of the U.S. District Court of Guam.
In 2023, she was selected to participate in the SEER Leadership Development Program (LDP). Participating in LDP provided a valuable platform to work on critical Indigenous issues related to environmental and natural resources law. Her LDP cohort developed the Environmental Law and Indigenous Peoples CLE Webinar Series. Cheerful serves as a vice chair on the SEER's Oceans and Coasts Committee and Indigenous Law Committee.
Cheerful is an avid freediver and enjoys surfing, snowboarding, and standup paddleboarding.
Cameron Hughes
Cameron Hughes is an associate at Hogan Lovells US LLP in the energy regulatory practice. She advises on matters involving nuclear regulation and the broader energy sector. During law school, she interned with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and served as the Student Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of National Security Law and Policy. Prior to law school she worked in clean energy policy at ClearPath, where she wrote on advanced nuclear and fusion energy policy. Her experience drafting legislation provides a unique insight into the laws affecting the nuclear industry and clean energy deployment.
Cameron’s involvement with the ABA began in her second year of law school when she joined the SEER Nuclear Law Committee as a programs vice chair, a role that she continues to serve in today. Organizing programs provided a launchpad to network with a range of nuclear law professionals and monthly meetings with the committee helped grow her mentorship network in the crucial early stages of her legal career. Both activities taught her the key players and issues in nuclear law, which in turn eased her transition into the industry.
Outside of her career as an attorney, Cameron maintains an interest in post-Soviet issues. She obtained her undergraduate degree in history and Russian language and literature and completed a Fulbright Fellowship in Kutaisi, Georgia, where she retains personal and professional connections.
Temple Stoellinger
Temple Stoellinger is the Associate Dean and a Wyoming Excellence Chair at the University of Wyoming's Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, with a dual appointment in the College of Law. She teaches courses on wildlife law, environmental law, NEPA, and public land law and policy. As an interdisciplinary legal scholar, Temple explores innovative approaches to decision-making around valued natural resources.
Temple's involvement with the ABA has been instrumental in her professional growth. During the 2023-2024 ABA year, she participated in the ABA SEER Leadership Development Program, an experience that accelerated her service to SEER and provided her with valuable skills and insights. Currently, Temple serves on the ABA SEER Natural Resources & Environment Magazine Editorial Board and is the co-chair of the SEER Biodiversity Committee. These roles have provided many rewarding opportunities to collaborate with and learn from leading experts in the field.
Prior to joining the University of Wyoming, Temple advised Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal on natural resource issues and worked as legal counsel for Shell International B.V. On the weekends, you can find Temple hiking, biking, or skiing in the Rocky Mountain West with her family.
Sabrina Ashijan
Sabrina Ashjian is a clinical supervising attorney and project director for the Emmett Institute on Climate Change & the Environment at UCLA School of Law. In this role she teaches the California Environmental Legislation & Policy Clinic. She also does legislative & regulatory consulting internationally, nationally, and locally with clients ranging from investment firms to nonprofit organizations. She previously was with the Environmental Law Clinic at UC Berkeley School of Law where she taught environmental justice and legislation courses.
Her other environmental roles include serving on the Los Angeles Water Quality Control Board after being appointed by Governor Newsom, the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission Governing Board, and as an advisory member of California Lawyers Association Environmental Law Section.
Sabrina joined SEER following her participation in its ABA Section, Division, and Forum (SDF) Coordination Committee as a liaison for the Civil Rights & Social Justice Section (as one of the Vice Chairs of the Environmental Justice Committee). She enjoyed the collaborative approach so much that she just began serving as Co-Chair of the SDF Coordination Committee in 2023. She looks forward to becoming more involved with SEER this year and is excited for the opportunities to collaborate and coordinate with environmental lawyers across the country.
Jamie Morin
Jamie Morin is a founding member of Confluence Law, PLLC, in Washington State. Her practice revolves around advising clients in matters related to water rights, and the management and use of water resources. This includes acquisition, adjudication, protection, reallocation, and regulation of water rights, as well as collateral issues that arise for entities engaged with water resource issues including public, private, and nonprofits organizations.
Jamie renewed her membership in the ABA after founding Confluence Law, PLLC, for all the great small firm resources. As an added bonus, the ABA is a great way to stay up to date on what is happening in water resources in other states and around the west.
Rarely one to let a plea for help go unanswered, Jamie answered a call to serve as SEER Water Resources Committee co-vice chair of communications in 2021, which led to an opportunity to work with a group of great lawyers from around the country to update the 2023 ABA Resolution on Tribal Water Rights Settlements and ultimately to step into her current role, Water Resources Committee Chair.
Jamie was admitted to the Washington State Bar on the eve of the last century after attending the University of Montana. Jamie considers herself a citizen of the Columbia Basin and can often be found enroute to obscure locations in the region, or out walking in the woods with her dog, Ari.
Molly Leisen
Molly Leisen is an associate at Fredrikson & Byron, where she is a member of the Environmental, Energy & Natural Resources and Energy Regulation & Permitting groups. She assists clients with environmental due diligence, allocation of environmental liabilities and obligations, and drafting of environmental provisions in mergers and acquisitions and real property transactions. Molly is experienced at reviewing, researching, and analyzing complex legal and regulatory requirements to provide clients with advice regarding environmental regulatory and compliance matters.
Molly previously worked at the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission where she gained experience in regulatory matters including energy facility siting and permitting, approval of innovative renewable energy projects, and review of utilities’ cost recovery requests. She attended the University of Minnesota Law School, where she received her J.D. in 2016.
Molly was recently appointed to the Women’s Environmental Network (WEN) of Minnesota’s board of directors. WEN is a collective of volunteers who are passionate about fostering professional networks for women and underrepresented genders working in the environmental sector, or those simply passionate about stewardship and conservation of our natural resources.
Molly is a member of SEER’s Membership Diversity Enhancement Program (MDEP) and serves as Programs Vice Chair on the SEER Transactions and Brownfields Redevelopment Committee. Her ABA involvement has created leadership opportunities and broadened her professional network. She comments that SEER’s resources enable her to stay-up-to-date with changes and new developments in the field.
Molly enjoys traveling, hiking, embroidery, and spending time with her husband and two-year old son.
Rachel James
Rachel James is an Associate Attorney in the Charlottesville, Virginia office of the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC). As an Associate, Rachel participates in case development, conducts legal research and writing, and applies her expertise in utility policy and energy justice across cases.
In 2022, Rachel moved to Virginia from Hawai‘i. As a Staff Attorney at the Hawai‘i Public Utilities Commission, she worked on the integration of energy justice into energy planning processes, distributed energy resources, electrification of transportation, energy efficiency, and grid service purchase agreements.
During law school, Rachel also worked full-time as a project manager focusing on projects that converted vehicles’ internal combustion engines to hydrogen fuel cells. She worked for a small solar developer after law school.
Since joining the ABA in 2022 as a part of the Membership Diversity Enhancement Program (MDEP), Rachel has enjoyed the excellent articles and publications offered on topics that are both of general interest and of immediate importance to the work she undertakes at SELC. She has found a wonderful community of support amongst the MDEP members and enjoys the webinars offered by various sections of the ABA.
Rachel currently serves as Co-Chair of the Section’s Special Committee for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging. Jogging, hiking, learning guitar, reading, and gathering with family and friends are activities Rachel regularly makes time to enjoy.