Jacob Hill
Texas Tech University School of Law
Jake Hill, a recipient of EMLF’s General Fund Scholarship, is entering his third year at Texas Tech University School of Law. He’s been intimately involved in the wildlife and natural resource profession over the last six years.
“Conservation is built upon three different yet equally important pillars – research, policy, and management. Academic institutions provide the science, policy makers provide the ruling/law, and field professionals implement the science. As a legal professional, I seek to bridge the gap between these pillars when emotions, politics, or bureaucracy restrict conservation from being achieved. By becoming a natural resource attorney, I intend to become a weapon for conservation. This developing social attitude is bringing in a new era that blends economics with natural resources creating a never seen before pool of natural resource capital. No doubt this new era will be full of gray areas, layered with red tape and legal minefields.As time progresses, there will be a high demand for lawyers versed not only in the legal aspects of such emerging enterprises but also in the actual on-the-ground management of natural resources. My field background as a wildlife biologist and forester will aid my legal career, providing a contextual basis for navigating the unknown waters of modern natural resource management,” Hill said in his scholarship application personal statement.