2024 Advancement of Animal Law Scholarship Recipients

The Animal Legal Defense Fund Advancement of Animal Law Scholarships are awarded to law students based upon demonstrated commitment to the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s mission, “to advance the interests and protect the lives of animals through the legal system.” Recipients are actively involved with their Animal Legal Defense Fund Student Chapter while in law school and show promise in the field after graduation.

The Stacey Gordon Sterling Scholarship

This inaugural scholarship series celebrates and honors the life and legacy of Animal Law Program Director Stacey Gordon Sterling. Stacey’s unwavering commitment to student success was woven through all her roles, whether as law professor, library director, board member, or program director, and will forever remain in all our work. 

Every year, one student who exemplifies Stacey’s love for student empowerment and animal protection will be selected. In its first year, University of Colorado Law School rising 3L, Mason Liddell, was chosen as the Stacey Gordon Sterling Scholarship recipient.  

After starting the school’s chapter during his first year, Mason has gone on to grow and cultivate an incredibly activate and engaging student chapter that has produced valuable opportunities for its students. Early on, Mason shared that his mission is to ensure that there is a legacy in animal law at his school that continues once he’s graduated. His dedication to this mission can be seen both externally and internally with how he has led the chapter. The University of Colorado Law School Student Chapter saw many successes the last two years, including public commenting opportunities, establishing pro bono hours for students by partnering with a nonprofit organization, networking, fundraising, and more. Mason has also encouraged fellow students to lead the chapter next year, with him serving as an advisor role to pass down knowledge and experience. We applaud Mason for leading by example and for his dedication to creating lasting change for animals and students alike.

Mason Liddell

University of Colorado Law School

Mason Liddell is entering his third year at the University of Colorado Law School. While he was an undergraduate at the College of William & Mary, he double majored in Government and Philosophy. His time there made him more passionate about not only combating the issues facing animals, the environment, and humanity, but the ability of political systems to address those problems. So, soon after arriving at Colorado Law, he founded the Colorado Law Animal Legal Defense Fund. After serving two years as the chapter’s president, he is serving as one of the chapter’s 3L advisors during his final year of law school. This summer, he is looking forward to interning with the Animal Legal Defense Fund Litigation Program.

Academically and professionally, Mason is interested in the intersection of wildlife, animal rights, and environmentalism. He has spent his time at law school exploring those three topics and their relationships through independent academic writing, classes, and various internships. But his passion project has been working to build out animal law at his school. Now that Colorado Law offers a wildlife law class and an animal welfare seminar, he has begun advocating for the school to invest in longer-term experiential learning projects that will advance the interests of animals through the legal system. After graduation, Mason hopes to continue his exploration of the field, both academically and in non-profit practice.

Learn more about Mason Liddell.

Isabella Niven

University of San Francisco School of Law

Isabella (Bella) Niven is entering her third year of law school at the University of San Francisco School of Law, where she will serve as the president of her school’s Animal Legal Defense Fund student chapter. She also serves as Comments Editor for her school’s Volume 59 Law Review. Bella’s passion for animals began when she was four, and strengthened after going vegan in high school. Although she entered her university as a zoology major, she quickly realized that she wanted to devote her life to animal advocacy after volunteering for The Humane League, and decided to pursue animal law. She specifically chose USF Law for its Justice for Animals Program, and loved taking both animal law courses offered at her school. Following her first year of law school, she interned with the Northwest Animal Rights Network and focused on lab animal issues intersecting with the Endangered Species Act. She also interned for the Animal Welfare Institute during her 2L year as a law and policy intern in their Farmed Animal Program. This summer, Bella will be a Legislative Affairs Clerk for the Animal Legal Defense Fund, and she is excited to learn more about animal protection legislation. 

After graduating from law school, Bella intends to pursue a career in animal law, and hopes to work on legislation that both protects the rights and welfare of nonhuman animals. She is primarily interested in farmed animals and big cat issues. Bella is also excited to mentor her student chapter after graduation and hopes to inspire more people to get involved in animal law.

Learn more about Isabella Niven.

Jeremy Sharp

Duke Law

Jeremy is a rising 3L at Duke Law and is pursuing both a J.D. and an LL.M. in International and Comparative Law. He spent his 2L year as president of Duke Law’s Animal Legal Defense Fund Student Chapter and is excited to be serving in the role again next year. 

As president, Jeremy worked hard to revive the Duke Law chapter, which had been on the verge of deactivation prior to his tenure. He expanded the chapter to a record number of active member. Additionally, Jeremy organized and moderated a number of popular events and activities, such as the 2024 Animal Law Symposium and a virtual discussion with Howard Baskin about the Big Cat Public Safety Act. These events raised awareness for many local, national, and global animal law issues, and Jeremy cannot wait to continue to coordinate similar events next year. 

Jeremy has always had a love for animals. He became particularly interested in animal law after working on a small farm for a summer and witnessing the pain and injustice farmed animals suffer. Following graduation, Jeremy intends to serve as a chapter advisor and hopes to be in a position to adopt a rescue in the future.

Learn more about Jeremy Sharp.

Elizabeth Nisbet

Georgia State University College of Law

Elizabeth (Libby) is entering her third year of law school at Georgia State University College of Law, where she currently serves as the president of the Student Animal Legal Defense Fund chapter. She is also an associate editor for the Georgia State Law Review, where her student note regarding issues surrounding biogas subsidies and CAFOs was selected for publication.  

Libby has been passionate about animal protection for both domestic and farmed animals since she was young. During her time as an undergraduate, she studied biology and was very involved in the local animal shelter, where she both volunteered and fostered dogs. Libby took several years off before applying to law school, and during those years she worked first at an emergency animal hospital and then at the Atlanta Humane Society. Driven by her desire to fight for better protections for all animals, especially farmed animals, she applied to law school.  

Libby aspires to work in animal law, specifically in farmed animal litigation. In Libby’s second year of law school, she had the opportunity to extern with Animal Outlook where she worked with Animal Outlook’s incredible litigation team. Libby will return to extern with Animal Outlook again in the fall of her 3L year. During the upcoming summer, she is honored and excited to work as a Research Assistant at the Yale Law School Climate Change and Animal Agriculture Litigation Initiative.

Learn more about Elizabeth Nisbet.

Gabriela Martinez

Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University

Gabriela is a rising 3L at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University, where she is pursuing a J.D. with an advanced certificate in environmental law. Gabriela is a Latin American Law Student Association member, a representative within the Food and Agriculture Division in the Environmental Law Society, and served as co-vice president of her school’s Animal Legal Defense Fund Student Chapter during her 2L year.  

As co-vice president, Gabriela was instrumental in many of the chapter’s successes, including its celebrated Wildlife Wednesday blog and student spotlight series, organizing community events, and creating animal law presentations for students on topics like humane-washing food labels and Ag-Gag laws. Gabriela also worked with Pace Undergraduate School’s Animal Advocacy Clinic on a research initiative to stop wildlife killing contests. Gabriela looks forward to acting as co-president this coming year to continue the work and hopes to bring in diverse voices and experiences on all animal law topics. 

Gabriela is from the beautiful island of Puerto Rico and now lives in New Jersey with her beloved dachshund and chihuahua, who keeps things lively. She plans to serve as an advisor to her chapter upon graduation and to work in animal protection.

Learn more about Gabriela Martinez.

Jinhua Zhang

University of Texas School of Law

Jinhua Zhang is a rising 3L at The University of Texas School of Law, where she serves as the president of the Animal Legal Defense Fund Student Chapter. During her 2L year, she worked diligently to reactivate the chapter, demonstrating her commitment to animal law advocacy. In the Fall Semester of 2023, Jinhua interned at Animal Partisan, working directly with founder Will Lowrey. Her passion for animal law is rooted in her extensive experience in animal rescue. She is also a student member of the State Bar of Texas Animal Law Section and a dedicated foster parent for Austin Pets Alive. Next year, Jinhua aims to bridge the gap between law students and the field of animal law by facilitating their involvement in pro bono projects. This initiative is designed to provide students with valuable hands-on experience in addressing pressing animal law issues.   

Jinhua actively participates in mock trial competitions at law school, continuously honing her advocacy skills to better represent the interests of animals who cannot speak for themselves.   

After graduating from law school, Jinhua intends to pursue a career focused on animal and environmental law. She is also considering further specialization by pursuing an LLM in Animal Law.

Learn more about Jinhua Zhang.

Lla Anderson

Harvard Law

Lla is a 2L at Harvard Law School and a second-year graduate student at Harvard Divinity School. As a law student, Lla has served as a 1L Section Representative and Campus Advocacy Co-Chair for the Harvard Animal Law Society, and will serve as its president for the upcoming academic year.  

Additionally, Lla has worked as a Teaching Fellow for Harvard Law School’s Animal Law Course which is offered every spring semester, and has volunteered for Legal Impact for Chickens. This summer, Lla will be working at Legal Impact for Chickens and Mercy for Animals as a summer litigation intern and Tommy Raskin Summer Legal Intern, respectively.

Learn more about Lla Anderson.

Mei Brunson

Lewis & Clark Law School

Mei Brunson is a rising 3L at Lewis & Clark Law School. She desires to leverage litigation to advance justice for individuals, communities, animals, and places traditionally afforded the least legal protections. While remaining cognizant of the law’s limitations, Mei is eager to expand her legal toolkit, and believes that creativity and tenacity are key to challenging the entrenched assumption that animals (along with everything else under the sun) are exploitable.  

Mei is excited to clerk with Earthjustice’s Northwest Regional Office this summer, a program she admires for its concurrent uplift of wildlife, Indigenous, rural, and farm worker communities, and the forest and sea. During law school, Mei has interned with Animal Partisan, the Center for Animal Law Studies, Farm Sanctuary, and the Humane Society of the United States. She currently serves as a submissions editor for the Animal Law Review and co-directs the Lewis & Clark Law School Animal Legal Defense Fund Student Chapter. During undergraduate, she studied critical animal and gender studies, and volunteered with Food Empowerment Project.   

When she’s not studying, Mei enjoys supervising her two senior cats’ backyard access, discovering swimming holes, and hosting vegan dinner parties with friends.

Learn more about Mei Brunson.

Natalie Zisa 

Widener University Delaware Law School

Natalie Zisa is entering her third year at Widener University Delaware Law School. With the help of her peers, she reactivated Delaware Law’s Animal Legal Defense Fund Student Chapter and will serve her second term as President this year. She is also a law student member of the NJSBA Animal Welfare Law Special Committee. In 2023 she received a first-place award for Legislative Drafting and Lobbying in the National Animal Law Competitions. Natalie holds a Bachelor of Science in International Trade and Marketing, with a double minor in Sustainability and Economics from SUNY Fashion Institute of Technology.   

During her undergraduate studies, she began researching animal testing alternatives and became fascinated with animal rights in the beauty and fashion industries. She quickly realized that to facilitate meaningful reform, pursuing an education in law and policy would help her accomplish these goals. Natalie’s research also opened her eyes to the magnitude of issues for farmed animals. Prior to law school, she worked at Catskill Animal Sanctuary, where she formed strong bonds with farmed animals rescued from neglect and exploitation. Her experience at the sanctuary inspired her to pursue a legal career to ensure the protection and safety of animal cruelty victims across all sectors.   

Upon graduation, Natalie aspires to work in criminal justice and legislative advocacy. She believes that creating a more compassionate world for all requires a commitment to advancing the lives of non-human animals in our legal system. Further, she is excited to serve as an advisor for her school’s student chapter after graduation. In her spare time, Natalie enjoys veganizing her favorite Italian American dishes and relaxing with her rescue dog, Salvatore. 

Learn more about Natalie Zisa.

Shelby White

University of Colorado Law School

Shelby is a rising 3L at Colorado Law where she serves as the Secretary for Colorado’s Animal Legal Defense Fund Chapter. From a young age, she has been an advocate for animal rights, and she looks forward to using her law degree to protect animals from harm. She is particularly interested in pet and farmed animal law but just about every field of animal law intrigues her.  

Last summer, she worked for the Animal Welfare Institute on the Animals and Family Violence team. There, she researched pet protection orders, cross-reporting laws for animal and human abuse, and the effectiveness of the PACT Act. This furthered her passion for protecting pets from abuse, and influenced her to write her seminar paper on Reconsidering Animal Cruelty as a Categorical Exclusion from the First Amendment. Shelby sought to broaden her understanding of animal advocacy by externing with Environmental and Animal Defense this past fall, where she worked on more pet law cases. She dipped her toes into the agricultural field by submitting a FOIA request relating to the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act.   

Shelby is also a member of Colorado’s Environmental Law Journal and wrote her student note on regulating Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations by enforcing NPDES permits. She hopes to litigate CAFO-related cases in the future and hold accountable those who exploit animals for profit. She’s also interested in regulating CAFOs because of the profound environmental justice problems associated with these operations.  

Currently, Shelby serves as a law clerk for the Animal Law Firm, where she is actively involved in various animal law cases, including pet custody disputes, dog bite defense, and veterinary malpractice. She has learned a lot about animal law through this experience and looks forward to continuing to learn so she can be the best advocate for animals. She hopes to continue working in animal law and advocating for animal rights after graduating this fall.  

Learn more about Shelby White.