Isabel Englehart Guest Lectures at Tulane Law, Her Alma Mater, for Three Environmental Courses She Once Attended

This spring, Fishman Haygood associate Isabel Englehart added two classes to her Tulane University Law School  guest lecturer credits, this time leading discussions in the Coastal and Wetlands Law Seminar and Natural Resources Law course. Teaching is a full-circle moment for Isabel: She once took the very same courses at the very same desks now occupied by the next generation of Tulane Law environmental lawyers.

In the Coastal and Wetlands Law Seminar, Isabel held a class discussion on ecosystem crediting systems and blue carbon markets. Blue carbon refers to atmospheric carbon stored in and emitted by coastal and marine ecosystems, including Louisiana’s expansive coastal wetlands. The discussion focused on emerging law and policy on the issue and especially opportunities and barriers to utilizing carbon markets to turn the restoration of Louisiana’s wetlands into a sustainable source of future coastal financing.

Notably, Fishman Haygood partner Tad Bartlett co-leads this seminar, and taught Isabel when she was a student. Learn more about the class here.

In Natural Resources Law, one of the two foundational courses in environmental law, students learn about programs that govern the use and protection of natural resource systems, including energy, mining, timber, grazing, transportation, and water resources development. For this guest lecturer stint, Isabel introduced the students to federal protection of wetlands, including the navigation servitude, the Rivers and Harbors Act, and the Clean Waters Act.

And during the Fall 2024 semester, Isabel led a Tulane Water Law class. She discussed implications of the recent decision out of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in U.S. v. Abbott, which addressed the issue of navigability after the federal government alleged that Texas had illegally placed buoys in the Rio Grande River in violation of the Rivers and Harbors Act. The course covers the role and influence of the legal system on the use, allocation, and stewardship of water resources in the United States and Louisiana.

After law school, Isabel was a senior research fellow with the Tulane Institute on Water Resources Law and Policy. Prior to joining the firm, she worked in former Governor John Bel Edwards’ Office of Coastal Activities where she assisted in policy development related to coastal protection and restoration. Learn about Isabel here.

Fishman Haygood attorneys regularly lend their expertise to scholarship and teaching of continuing development in the law. Read more about their civic engagement here.