TALLAHASSEE—Professor Lee Breckenridge of Northeastern University School of Law will be at the College of Law on February 23 as The Journal of Land Use & Environmental Law Distinguished Lecturer. Her talk is titled “Can Fish Own Water?: Envisioning Nonhuman Property in Ecosystems.” 

The lecture will be presented in D’Alemberte Rotunda at 4:30 p.m., preceded by a 4 p.m. reception. 

Breckenridge, who specializes in environmental and natural resources law, began her career as an attorney with the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, D.C., where she worked on some of the agency’s initial regulatory efforts to implement the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, and the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act. She continued her environmental work as an assistant attorney general with the state Tennessee and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 

At Northeastern, Breckenridge teaches courses in environmental law, wildlife and ecosystems law, and land use zoning and planning, and works with students on independent study projects focusing on related topics, such as urban environmental justice, affordable housing and federal lands management. Her research and advocacy work focuses specifically on aquatic ecosystems and the evolution of property and regulatory systems to manage conflicts over water flow and quality. 

Breckenridge received her bachelor of arts degree from Yale University and her law degree from Harvard University Law School. After graduating from Harvard, she served as a law clerk for Judge Gilbert S. Merritt on the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.