The WVU College of Law's Center for Energy and Sustainable Development is seeking a fellow for 2014-16, and the details are below. As I have written before, the Future of Business is the Future of Energy. Just today, the New York Times Dealbook has an article, Norway’s Sovereign Wealth Fund Ramps Up Investment Plans, which notes:
Norway’s giant sovereign wealth fund said on Tuesday that it would manage its $884 billion portfolio more aggressively over the next three years, taking larger stakes in companies and increasing its real estate portfolio.
. . . .
The fund’s investments have grown increasingly sophisticated under Yngve Slyngstad, the chief executive of Norges Bank Investment Management, who came to the fund in 1998 to build an equity portfolio and became C.E.O. in 2008. Since the end of 2007, equities have increased as a percentage of the portfolio to about 61 percent from 42 percent.
Mr. Slyngstad has also diversified the holdings into smaller companies and into emerging markets, but the stock investments remain concentrated in Europe and North America. The fund’s largest equity holdings are all companies based in Europe, including Nestlé, Novartis, HSBC Holdings, the Vodafone Groupand Royal Dutch Shell.
The fund has been under pressure from environmental groups and some political parties in Norway to shed investments in oil and natural gas and coal companies and to increase its green investments. The government has so far largely resisted. It created a panel of experts this year to study the issue.
Understanding the interplay between energy, finance, and the environment is becoming more and more critical to businesses (and their lawyers). Please share this opportunity with anyone you know who might have an interest in exploring this area.
FELLOWSHIP IN
ENERGY AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT LAW
FOR 2014-16
Accepting Applications Until June 30, 2014
West Virginia University College of Law’s Center for Energy and Sustainable Development is now accepting applications for a Fellowship in Energy and Sustainable Development. The fellowship combines the opportunity to work with attorneys, faculty and students at the Center for Energy and Sustainable Development with the opportunity to obtain the WVU Law LL.M. degree in Energy and Sustainable Development Law. The LL.M. program provides a uniquely deep and balanced curriculum in perhaps the nation’s richest natural resource region. The fellowship position involves policy and legal research and writing, and assisting with organizing projects such as conferences and workshops.
The Center for Energy and Sustainable Development
The Center is an energy and environmental public policy and research organization at the WVU College of Law. The Center conducts objective, unbiased research and policy analyses, and focuses on promoting practices that will balance the continuing demand for energy resources—and the associated economic benefits—alongside the need to reduce the environmental impacts of developing the earth’s natural resources. One mission of the Center is to train the next generation of energy and environmental attorneys. The Center benefits from being located on the campus of a major research institution, with expanded opportunities for inter-disciplinary research and an integral role for the Center in providing the policy, legal and regulatory analyses to support the technical research being conducted across the WVU campus.
LL.M. in Energy and Sustainable Development Law
The WVU College of Law LL.M. in Energy and Sustainable Development Law is the only LL.M. program in the United States that provides a balanced curriculum in both energy law and the law of sustainable development. Working with WVUCollege of Law’s Center for Energy and Sustainable Development, LL.M. students will develop the expertise to advise clients and provide leadership on matters covering the full range of energy, environmental and sustainable development law. The LL.M. in Energy and Sustainable Development Law provides a broad and deep offering of courses, experiential learning opportunities, and practical training for every part of the energy sector. Our broad spectrum of courses allows our students to prepare to be lawyers serving energy companies, investors, environmental organizations, landowners, utilities, manufacturing companies, lawmakers, policymakers, regulators and land use professionals.
Energy and Sustainable Development Law Fellow
This fellowship is a part-time (at least twenty hours per week), two-year position from August 2014 through July 2016. The Fellow will receive an annual stipend of $20,000 and tuition remission for the LL.M. program. The Fellow would take 6-7 credits per semester allowing time for part-time work at the Center. The Fellow will further the work of the Center by pursuing research on issues relating to energy and sustainable development law and policy, under the direction of the Center’s Director and the WVU Law faculty associated with the Center. The Fellow will be expected to generate policy-oriented written work to be published through the Center and other venues such as law journals. The Fellow will also assist with projects relating to the Center’s programs, including organizing conferences and other events, and public education and outreach efforts. Efforts will be made to match project assignments with the Fellow’s interest.
Fellowship Qualifications
Candidates should possess a J.D.; a strong academic record; excellent analytical and writing skills; a demonstrated interest and background in energy, sustainability or environmental law and policy; and admission to the LL.M. program at West Virginia University College of Law (application for LL.M. admission can occur concurrently with the fellowship application).
Applicants should apply to Samatha.Stefanov@mail.wvu.edu. Please submit a letter discussing qualifications and interests, a resume, a law school transcript, a recent writing sample and contact information for three references.
We are now accepting applications. The application deadline is June 30, 2014(concurrent with the deadline for admission to the LL.M. program) or until the post is filled.
Visit our website at http://energy.law.wvu.edu/ for more information about our programs.
West Virginia University College of Law is an equal opportunity employer and has a special interest in enriching its intellectual environment through further diversifying the range of perspectives represented by its faculty and teaching staff.