Melissa Powers is an Associate Professor of Law at Lewis & Clark Law School. She teaches energy law, climate change law, the Clean Air Act, torts, and administrative law. Her research interests include energy law (with a specific focus on laws designed to promote renewable energy), domestic policies aimed at mitigating climate change, and U.S. pollution control laws. She is also interested in comparative law study in each of these areas.
Melissa is a Governing Board member of the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law, representing the North American and Caribbean region. She was the co-chair of the Research Committee of the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law and is currently the ex-officio representative from the Governing Board serving on the Research Committee. Melissa has also taught as a visiting professor at several schools, including the University of Trento, Italy, in 2008, 2011 and 2012, the University of Navarra, Spain, in 2011, and the University of Maine School of Law in 2007.
Melissa began her legal career as an attorney at public interest environmental law firms doing pollution control litigation. From 2003-2008, Melissa was a Clinical Professor at the Pacific Environmental Advocacy Center (PEAC), the environmental law clinic at Lewis & Clark.