Spotlight Archive

From themed cupcakes to a Moss Petting Zoo, Lewis & Clark’s annual Moss Week made for memorable television on the April 5 edition of CBS News Sunday Morning. The feature highlights the playful spirit and scientific wonder behind one of campus’s most distinctive traditions.

Katya Schwieterman BA ’24 teaches English at an agricultural high school in Austria, where she uses her liberal arts background in science, forestry, and music throughout her daily life.

The law school’s Global Law Alliance is helping to advance environmental and wildlife protections across the globe while giving students hands-on experience in international law.

A professor of educational leadership travels to the arctic circle on an environmental justice mission to defend a precarious way of life.

Lewis & Clark ranks No. 26 on Princeton Review’s 2026 list of Top 50 Green Colleges, earning national recognition for its strong culture of environmental responsibility and sustainability. The honor appears in the newly released Princeton Review Guide to Green Colleges: 2026 Edition, which profiles 388 institutions that demonstrate an exceptional commitment to environmental stewardship.

“Along with the general biological and ecological knowledge that I use daily as an animal care specialist, my time on campus gave me an immense sense of hope. The support system of professors and classmates I had while studying at L&C allowed me to find my niche in the field of conservation, and the courage to try to make a difference.”

Professor Erica Lyman, Lewis & Clark Law School’s Global Law Alliance, and international partners have launched the Food Systems NDC Scorecard, a new tool evaluating how national climate plans address the role of food systems in climate mitigation and adaptation.

Lena Essak BA ’24 spent a summer as a paid community relations intern in the Portland office of EDP Renewables. Thanks to the Bates Center Summer Sustainability Internship course, she was able to learn, grow, and gain hands-on experience while working alongside two supportive Lewis & Clark alumni.

L&C environmental studies students gained some real-world experience when they visited Tillamook Forest Center to attend the center’s annual Rain Festival, a celebration of the Tillamook Forest and its waterways. They spent the afternoon gathering input from rural community members on what they value most about Oregon’s forests.

Micah Leinbach BA ’14, founder of the Bus for Outdoor Access &Teaching (BOAT), serves community organizations interested in implementing wilderness programs.

Last summer, several Rogers Science Program students immersed themselves in hands-on field work investigating the behavior of deer mice in Tryon Creek State Natural Area with Assistant Professor of Biology Tracy Burkhard―and found their career paths.

Lewis & Clark’s New York City off-campus study program combines interdisciplinary coursework with internships and weekly engagement in the city’s creative life. It offers an immersive path for students exploring careers in art, theatre, media, and more.

Clinical Assistant Professor Cari Zall explains Oregon’s new Social Studies Standards, which introduce fresh perspectives and a more inclusive curriculum, and how the graduate school is preparing future educators to work with these guidelines.

Ben Olsen, assistant professor of physics, is establishing Lewis & Clark’s first Quantum Information Science and Engineering lab to probe how unusual types of matter behave at the subatomic level. But first he and his students have to build “The Apparatus.”

Ishan Abraham BA ’26 and a team of collaborators are developing an AI-powered learning system that delivers hints during hands-on cybersecurity exercises. Their work will be presented at next year’s 21st International Conference on Cyber Warfare and Security in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Inside the Oregon State Penitentiary, a group of Lewis & Clark students compete in a debate tournament that challenges assumptions about justice, communication, and community.

Greg Hermann, professor of biology, has secured a $414,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to unravel how the size of organelles impacts overall cell function in a worm model. This deep dive into the basic workings of cells may lead to future applications in medicine.

Students in the Portland Music Scenes course connect directly with the city’s varied music communities—from country to jazz, punk to R&B, taiko to Irish trad—while learning to use the tools of ethnomusicology.

Global Law Alliance clinic students joined advocacy groups from across the country to urge U.S. negotiators to act aggressively within the scope of their authority as the Global Plastics Treaty negotiations begin to come to a close.

New research by Sharon Torigoe and several undergraduates is among the first to confirm a characteristic of gene expression important for establishing and maintaining naive-state pluripotent stem cells. Their findings may lead to advances in regenerative medicine.

In fall 2021, Lewis & Clark was named a partner recipient of an $8.2 million grant from the Wallace Foundation, kicking off work with Portland Public Schools to train aspiring administrators with programming focused on equity and inclusion. Funding has been awarded for an additional year, extending the program through 2026–27.

In a cross-school collaboration, Professors Greta Binford and Liza Finkel prepare middle and high school teachers to weave real-world data science into their environmental curricula.

The annual Festival of Scholars and Artists celebrates the work of Lewis & Clark’s student body.

Watson was one of 441 students selected from a pool of more than 5,000 nationwide for the Barry Goldwater Scholarship, the preeminent award for undergraduates in the natural sciences, engineering, and mathematics.

Portland’s community gardens became a classroom for Assistant Professor of Biology Heidi Liere and two of her students. Together, they took a hands-on look at Portland’s lady beetle species to understand how these beneficial predators preserve biodiversity and respond to a changing climate.

On a new overseas study program to South Korea and Japan, students use the lenses of religion and art to explore questions of cultural identity.

Assistant Professor of History Nancy O. Gallman has earned a prestigious Graves Award, which recognizes excellence in teaching. The award will support her latest research project, Law’s Borderlands. The manuscript reimagines early American legal history through the lens of cultural interaction in the late-colonial South.

Playing at the Border: Migration and Art examines how migrant and refugee stories are told in film, theatre, and visual art, providing students with opportunities to engage directly with Portland’s immigrant communities.

Lewis & Clark Law students gained hands-on experience in deal strategy and cross-functional collaboration during Intel’s Accelerating the Deal workshop led by in-house counsel Trevor Jones and Elizabeth Borges.

Lewis & Clark Law School has introduced live captioning in every classroom—enhancing accessibility and inclusion for all students. What began as a project to support hearing-impaired learners is now transforming how the entire community engages and connects.

Lewis & Clark Law Professor Tabrez Ebrahim has been awarded a prestigious Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award to conduct comparative legal research in Jordan, studying similarities and differences in intellectual property law and business law between the United States and Jordan, and their corresponding impact on entrepreneurship and innovation. 

Lewis & Clark Law School and Oregon Public Broadcasting are launching the Public Records and Government Transparency Project, a new initiative offering legal training for students and support for journalists navigating Oregon’s complex public records system.

Visiting Assistant Professor Devin Fitzpatrick designed his new course, Data for Good, to challenge students to get their hands dirty—both in messy datasets and in the soil—through a partnership with the Portland-based nonprofit Growing Gardens.

In her Medieval Manuscripts course, Professor of English Karen Gross brings history to life with the help of Watzek Library’s rich archival collections. Students get hands-on experience with centuries-old texts as they explore the art of archival research.

The graduate school offers a dedicated course on crisis counseling and intervention strategies, providing future school counselors with the tools necessary to address the ever-evolving K-12 landscape.

Freddy Vilches partners with Chile’s National Center for Artificial Intelligence on the creation of a Latin America-focused chatGPT and an AI translator of Indigenous languages.

The M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust has recognized Greta Binford, professor of biology, with the 2025 Lynwood W. Swanson Scientific Research Award. The honor celebrates her nationally recognized research on spider biodiversity and venom evolution—much of it conducted alongside undergraduate researchers.

Assistant Professor of Marriage, Couple, and Family Therapy Joslyn Armstrong leverages a unique learning approach in her class by recruiting Lewis & Clark undergraduates to play the role of client, making the mock-therapy sessions more unpredictable and realistic.

Students in L&C’s Applied Data Science Practicum worked with the Multnomah County Health Department to analyze cancer-related deaths in the area, using large-scale datasets to identify trends and demographic connections. In the process, they gained real-world skills, knowledge, and networks that will impact their future careers.

Students received hands-on data science experience with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, predicting the climate and habitat vulnerabilities of the species in our region.

Ishan Abraham BA ’26 and a team of collaborators are developing an AI-powered learning system that delivers hints during hands-on cybersecurity exercises. Their work will be presented at next year’s 21st International Conference on Cyber Warfare and Security in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Lewis & Clark’s Entrepreneur in Residence Mitch Daugherty has been tapped to lead Portland’s newly created Office of Small Business, helping to connect small business owners with the resources they need to thrive.

In a cross-school collaboration, Professors Greta Binford and Liza Finkel prepare middle and high school teachers to weave real-world data science into their environmental curricula.

Assistant Professor of Professional Mental Health Counseling and “Burnout Scholar” Justin Henderson has an innovative approach to understanding workplace well-being.

Almost a decade since its founding, the John E. and Susan S. Bates Center for Entrepreneurship and Leadership has continued to flourish.

Over her summer break, Deenie Bulyalert BA ’27 directed the Table Rock Youth Camp in Grants Pass, Oregon. Bulyalert’s efforts, funded by a Nielson Social Change Innovation Grant, helped young campers develop leadership skills informed by Indigenous teachings.

Skills Labs, offered through the Bates Center for Entrepreneurship and Leadership, give students of any major a leg up on entry to the workplace.

Lewis & Clark Law School has introduced live captioning in every classroom—enhancing accessibility and inclusion for all students. What began as a project to support hearing-impaired learners is now transforming how the entire community engages and connects.

A new online portal from Lewis & Clark’s National Crime Victim Law Institute is providing free legal advice to victims of hate and bias crimes in Oregon, bridging a critical gap in access to justice.

In mid-January, the Bates Center for Entrepreneurship and Leadership hosted its annual entrepreneurial workshop, known as Winterim. The event brought 21 students to campus prior to the start of spring semester for a week of learning, networking, and mentoring, which culminated in a pitch competition for more than $10,000 in prizes.

Offering both practical training for students and affordable legal assistance to entrepreneurs, the Small Business Legal Clinic is a win-win for Oregon businesses and the next generation of business attorneys.

The M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust has recognized Greta Binford, professor of biology, with the 2025 Lynwood W. Swanson Scientific Research Award. The honor celebrates her nationally recognized research on spider biodiversity and venom evolution—much of it conducted alongside undergraduate researchers.

Lewis & Clark is the first liberal arts college to offer an in-person, 4-credit Salesforce course leading to the company’s associate credential.

Assistant Professor of Marriage, Couple, and Family Therapy Joslyn Armstrong leverages a unique learning approach in her class by recruiting Lewis & Clark undergraduates to play the role of client, making the mock-therapy sessions more unpredictable and realistic.

Students in L&C’s Applied Data Science Practicum worked with the Multnomah County Health Department to analyze cancer-related deaths in the area, using large-scale datasets to identify trends and demographic connections. In the process, they gained real-world skills, knowledge, and networks that will impact their future careers.

Students received hands-on data science experience with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, predicting the climate and habitat vulnerabilities of the species in our region.

In May, L&C undergraduate students headed to Puerto Rico and Oaxaca, Mexico, for service learning trips organized by the Center for Social Change and Community Involvement.

Caroline Gray BA ’17 spent a transformative year in Nairobi as a U.S. Fulbright Scholar, forging academic partnerships and exploring the geopolitical forces shaping international trade. Now back in the U.S., she reflects on the experience that deepened her understanding of international relations.

With funds from a Projects for Peace grant, Latifatou “Lati” Savadogo BA ’24 spent the summer working to provide life-saving health screenings to displaced women in her home country of Burkina Faso.

On a new overseas study program to South Korea and Japan, students use the lenses of religion and art to explore questions of cultural identity.

Lewis & Clark has earned a spot on Study Abroad Aide’s list of top U.S. liberal arts colleges for international students, recognizing our commitment to global education and community.

Professor Bill Chin and Abbee Mortensen JD ’27 worked with Afghan Female Student Outreach to teach women pursuing education under extraordinary circumstances.

When Lewis & Clark Law student Danielle Morvan ’25 takes the stage at an international legal conference in South Africa, she’ll shine a spotlight on how forced arbitration quietly strips vulnerable consumers of their day in court.

Lewis & Clark has climbed into the top 15 percent of the 2025 World University Rankings for International Students, according to Study Abroad Aide. The ranking highlights L&C’s appeal to international students and its strong academic reputation.

Lewis & Clark Law Professor Tabrez Ebrahim has been awarded a prestigious Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award to conduct comparative legal research in Jordan, studying similarities and differences in intellectual property law and business law between the United States and Jordan, and their corresponding impact on entrepreneurship and innovation. 

The Karuna Foundation recently funded a new scholarship for students from the Himalayan region. The scholarship—the first of its kind for the environmental program—will provide significant funding for an international student with a passion for environmental law and climate change mitigation.

Freddy Vilches partners with Chile’s National Center for Artificial Intelligence on the creation of a Latin America-focused chatGPT and an AI translator of Indigenous languages.

Ben Olsen, assistant professor of physics, is establishing Lewis & Clark’s first Quantum Information Science and Engineering lab to probe how unusual types of matter behave at the subatomic level. But first he and his students have to build “The Apparatus.”

Greg Hermann, professor of biology, has secured a $414,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to unravel how the size of organelles impacts overall cell function in a worm model. This deep dive into the basic workings of cells may lead to future applications in medicine.

Global Law Alliance clinic students joined advocacy groups from across the country to urge U.S. negotiators to act aggressively within the scope of their authority as the Global Plastics Treaty negotiations begin to come to a close.

New research by Sharon Torigoe and several undergraduates is among the first to confirm a characteristic of gene expression important for establishing and maintaining naive-state pluripotent stem cells. Their findings may lead to advances in regenerative medicine.

Assistant Professor of Professional Mental Health Counseling and “Burnout Scholar” Justin Henderson has an innovative approach to understanding workplace well-being.

The annual Festival of Scholars and Artists celebrates the work of Lewis & Clark’s student body.

Watson was one of 441 students selected from a pool of more than 5,000 nationwide for the Barry Goldwater Scholarship, the preeminent award for undergraduates in the natural sciences, engineering, and mathematics.

Portland’s community gardens became a classroom for Assistant Professor of Biology Heidi Liere and two of her students. Together, they took a hands-on look at Portland’s lady beetle species to understand how these beneficial predators preserve biodiversity and respond to a changing climate.

In a historic achievement, Lewis & Clark Law Professor Lydia Loren has helped lead the first-ever Restatement of Copyright to completion as one of five reporters appointed by the American Law Institute.

When Lewis & Clark Law student Danielle Morvan ’25 takes the stage at an international legal conference in South Africa, she’ll shine a spotlight on how forced arbitration quietly strips vulnerable consumers of their day in court.

Lewis & Clark Law Professor Tabrez Ebrahim has been awarded a prestigious Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award to conduct comparative legal research in Jordan, studying similarities and differences in intellectual property law and business law between the United States and Jordan, and their corresponding impact on entrepreneurship and innovation. 

In her Medieval Manuscripts course, Professor of English Karen Gross brings history to life with the help of Watzek Library’s rich archival collections. Students get hands-on experience with centuries-old texts as they explore the art of archival research.

For Associate Professor Melanie Kohnen, San Diego Comic Con is a fieldwork site, where she investigates how the blockbuster event reflects deeper media trends around fans, brands, and technology.

Freddy Vilches partners with Chile’s National Center for Artificial Intelligence on the creation of a Latin America-focused chatGPT and an AI translator of Indigenous languages.

The M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust has recognized Greta Binford, professor of biology, with the 2025 Lynwood W. Swanson Scientific Research Award. The honor celebrates her nationally recognized research on spider biodiversity and venom evolution—much of it conducted alongside undergraduate researchers.

Students in L&C’s Applied Data Science Practicum worked with the Multnomah County Health Department to analyze cancer-related deaths in the area, using large-scale datasets to identify trends and demographic connections. In the process, they gained real-world skills, knowledge, and networks that will impact their future careers.

Rachel Young BA ’11 recently published groundbreaking research in the journal Nature on the long-term health impact of tropical cyclones. The article is part of her growing scholarship on the quantifiable social effects of climate change and natural hazards.

Students received hands-on data science experience with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, predicting the climate and habitat vulnerabilities of the species in our region.

Nhân Hàn BA ’27 and Thoan Nguyễn BA ’27, with project manager Zoë Maughan BA ’19, curated a 15-panel, bilingual traveling exhibit highlighting stories from Vietnamese Portland: Memory, History, Community, an archive documenting experiences of Vietnamese Portlanders.

Lewis & Clark’s partnership with local nonprofit Blanchet House enables students to provide dignified aid to those living with housing and food insecurity in downtown Portland.

Lewis & Clark’s Entrepreneur in Residence Mitch Daugherty has been tapped to lead Portland’s newly created Office of Small Business, helping to connect small business owners with the resources they need to thrive.

Inside the Oregon State Penitentiary, a group of Lewis & Clark students compete in a debate tournament that challenges assumptions about justice, communication, and community.

In fall 2021, Lewis & Clark was named a partner recipient of an $8.2 million grant from the Wallace Foundation, kicking off work with Portland Public Schools to train aspiring administrators with programming focused on equity and inclusion. Funding has been awarded for an additional year, extending the program through 2026–27.

The Center for Community and Global Health offers funding for health and humanities internships with Portland-area partners. Whether over the summer or during the school year, L&C students benefit from paid internships that turn career exploration into action.

The new collaboration will build a hub for education and economic opportunity within Portland’s redeveloped Lower Albina district to foster learning as a core value of the community and provide opportunities for Albina residents and Lewis & Clark students, staff, and faculty.

Burton Scheer BA ’25 is bringing their studies in English to the professional world of creative writing and literature through an events internship with the acclaimed Portland nonprofit Literary Arts.

Lewis & Clark Law School and Oregon Public Broadcasting are launching the Public Records and Government Transparency Project, a new initiative offering legal training for students and support for journalists navigating Oregon’s complex public records system.

Visiting Assistant Professor Devin Fitzpatrick designed his new course, Data for Good, to challenge students to get their hands dirty—both in messy datasets and in the soil—through a partnership with the Portland-based nonprofit Growing Gardens.

In June, Lewis & Clark partnered with the Energy Trust of Oregon to offer a one-week training course designed to prepare college students for internships in the energy efficiency sector.

Warren, who assumes the new role on August 4, will spearhead Lewis & Clark’s historic partnership with Albina Vision Trust, as well as cultivate new institutional partnerships.

Nhân Hàn BA ’27 and Thoan Nguyễn BA ’27, with project manager Zoë Maughan BA ’19, curated a 15-panel, bilingual traveling exhibit highlighting stories from Vietnamese Portland: Memory, History, Community, an archive documenting experiences of Vietnamese Portlanders.

In fall 2021, Lewis & Clark was named a partner recipient of an $8.2 million grant from the Wallace Foundation, kicking off work with Portland Public Schools to train aspiring administrators with programming focused on equity and inclusion. Funding has been awarded for an additional year, extending the program through 2026–27.

This summer, students gained hands-on work experience through paid internships, thanks to L&C’s Career Center. Check out the experiences of some of these students!

Portland’s community gardens became a classroom for Assistant Professor of Biology Heidi Liere and two of her students. Together, they took a hands-on look at Portland’s lady beetle species to understand how these beneficial predators preserve biodiversity and respond to a changing climate.

Lewis & Clark Law students gained hands-on experience in deal strategy and cross-functional collaboration during Intel’s Accelerating the Deal workshop led by in-house counsel Trevor Jones and Elizabeth Borges.

This transformational approach to career readiness will integrate career competencies and work-ready skills into every undergraduate’s academic journey; a commitment from Heidi Hu BS ’85 and Daniel Hsieh establishes an endowment to support it.

“My practicum was a career-altering experience that changed my post-graduation ambitions. I realized I actually want to work more in a multicultural, advising, and/or equity and inclusion office, instead of my initial plan to continue my work in a study abroad office.”

In June, Lewis & Clark partnered with the Energy Trust of Oregon to offer a one-week training course designed to prepare college students for internships in the energy efficiency sector.

The graduate school offers a dedicated course on crisis counseling and intervention strategies, providing future school counselors with the tools necessary to address the ever-evolving K-12 landscape.

Come along with Tara Elsa BA ’25 for a day in her life as an intern with Symbol Design in Portland!

Assistant Professor of Marriage, Couple, and Family Therapy Joslyn Armstrong leverages a unique learning approach in her class by recruiting Lewis & Clark undergraduates to play the role of client, making the mock-therapy sessions more unpredictable and realistic.

Lewis & Clark Law School’s extensive externship program enables students to earn academic credit while gaining hands-on professional experience across the corporate, public interest, private law, and government sectors.

Over the next several weeks, hundreds of families and friends will celebrate the College of Arts and Sciences, Graduate School of Education and Counseling, and School of Law Classes of 2026.

In the Princeton Review’s 2026 guide, Lewis & Clark appears among the nation’s top 391 colleges and received high marks for most beautiful campus (No. 9), most politically active students (No. 13), and best college newspaper (No. 19).

Lewis & Clark swimmer Ezra Billings BA ’26 was named the Oregon Small College Men’s Collegiate Athlete of the Year by Sport Oregon. A native of Fairbanks, Alaska, Billings won four events at the Northwest Conference Championship Meet and became the first L&C student to win Northwest Conference Men’s Swimmer of the Year honors.

Micah Depper BA ’10, a seventh-grade science teacher in Maine, is one of a handful of teachers nationwide selected for a $25,000 Milken Educator Award, part of the nation’s preeminent teacher-recognition program.

Diego Flores Hernandez BA ’26, an economics and international affairs double major, will address graduates at the College of Arts and Sciences commencement.

Second-year law students Brooke Helstrom JD ’27 and Henry Sollitt JD ’27 are the 2026 Wyss Scholars, joining a new generation of leaders advancing land and environmental conservation through public interest law.

Claire Tonry ’09 is carrying on a powerful legacy of environmental justice. Her work was recognized with the prestigious Kerry Rydberg-Jack Tuholske Award for Public Interest Litigation at the Public Interest Environmental Law Conference.

Associate Professor Oren Kosansky has received a prestigious Fulbright award for his project, “Digital Humanities Scholarship and Jewish Cultural Heritage in Contemporary Morocco”. Building on his extensive background in anthropology and Moroccan studies, this project bridges the gap between Middle East and North African (MENA) studies and Jewish studies.

Lewis & Clark Law School’s Environmental Moot Court Team recently secured its ninth national championship at the Jeffrey G. Miller National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition (NELMCC) at Pace University, further solidifying its status as the most successful school in the competition’s history.

In the lab and on the track, Malia Heien BA ’26 has built a Lewis & Clark career defined by stamina, achievement, and a remarkable drive to succeed.

Watson is one of 441 students selected from a pool of more than 5,000 nationwide for the Barry Goldwater Scholarship, the preeminent award for undergraduates in the natural sciences, engineering, and mathematics. 

Brooke Mayo ’22 was selected for her equity-centered systems leadership, her ability to lead with courage and care in complex work, and her lasting impact on both student belonging and adult learning.

At Lewis & Clark, Lilia has embraced a community defined by inquiry, reflection, and justice.

Piros was presented with the award at a surprise assembly in front of a gym full of excited middle school students in the fall, and will be formally honored at COSA’s annual Seaside Conference in June 2025.

The White House Office of Science and Technology announced the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching awards on January 13, 2025. Krishnan was recognized as a 2023 Mathematics awardee from Oregon.

Six students from Lewis & Clark’s speech and debate team traveled to Athens, Greece, for the 36th International Forensics Association’s Championship Tournament. They returned to campus with three championships.

Lewis & Clark ranks No. 26 on Princeton Review’s 2026 list of Top 50 Green Colleges, earning national recognition for its strong culture of environmental responsibility and sustainability. The honor appears in the newly released Princeton Review Guide to Green Colleges: 2026 Edition, which profiles 388 institutions that demonstrate an exceptional commitment to environmental stewardship.

Now in her fourth year with the Dallas School District, Darr is one of two school psychologists serving students at Whitworth and Oakdale Heights elementary schools, Dallas Community Charter School, and Dallas High School. Last year she served 86 students through the evaluation process and 90 students the year prior.

Corey Van Landingham BA ’08 was named a 2025 Guggenheim Fellow, one of the nation’s most prestigious awards for creative and intellectual achievement. The fellowship underwrites a yearlong poetry project that explores how isolation can sharpen both perception and imagination.

Dr. Holmes-Sullivan was nominated for her exceptional leadership as a university administrator over her career to improve the lives of students.

Professor Susan Felstiner was honored by the Oregon Hispanic Bar Association with its inaugural Alianza Award, recognizing decades of mentorship, advocacy, and community-building within Oregon’s Latine legal community.

Instructor of Japanese Satomi Newsom was named Teacher of the Year on April 16 for her commitment to student success.

Lewis & Clark’s speech and debate program won a pair of championships at recent national tournaments. The team of Maltin Tocani BA ’25 and Isabella Moore BA ’26 won the Honors division at the YODL national British Parliamentary debate championships, while the Lewis & Clark contingent at the National Speech Tournament won the team title in the limited entry category.

Lewis & Clark Law School’s student team took first place for Drafting Counsel in a national competition for transactional law.

The student newspaper’s recent slate of state awards—along with a national ranking from The Princeton Review—attest to the team’s talents, grit, versatility, and sense of community.

From themed cupcakes to a Moss Petting Zoo, Lewis & Clark’s annual Moss Week made for memorable television on the April 5 edition of CBS News Sunday Morning. The feature highlights the playful spirit and scientific wonder behind one of campus’s most distinctive traditions.

Global Law Alliance clinic students joined advocacy groups from across the country to urge U.S. negotiators to act aggressively within the scope of their authority as the Global Plastics Treaty negotiations begin to come to a close.

Lewis & Clark Law School’s Environmental Moot Court Team recently secured its ninth national championship at the Jeffrey G. Miller National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition (NELMCC) at Pace University, further solidifying its status as the most successful school in the competition’s history.

OPB reporter Elizabeth Miller followed a class of future secondary teachers and their professors as they explored the implications of an I-5 expansion on a North Portland neighborhood and middle school. 

Katya Schwieterman BA ’24 teaches English at an agricultural high school in Austria, where she uses her liberal arts background in science, forestry, and music throughout her daily life.

Cara Tomlinson’s Art and Ecology class uses waste materials from around Portland to create beautiful and meaningful works of art. This course offers a fresh approach to creative practice, merging art and ecology to help students respond to the climate crisis, explore the agency of materials, and build connections to place.

The law school’s Global Law Alliance is helping to advance environmental and wildlife protections across the globe while giving students hands-on experience in international law.

Lewis & Clark is ranked No. 17, up 20 spots from last year, in Princeton Review’s 2025 list of the nation’s most environmentally responsible colleges and universities.

A professor of educational leadership travels to the arctic circle on an environmental justice mission to defend a precarious way of life.

Lewis & Clark ranks No. 26 on Princeton Review’s 2026 list of Top 50 Green Colleges, earning national recognition for its strong culture of environmental responsibility and sustainability. The honor appears in the newly released Princeton Review Guide to Green Colleges: 2026 Edition, which profiles 388 institutions that demonstrate an exceptional commitment to environmental stewardship.

“Along with the general biological and ecological knowledge that I use daily as an animal care specialist, my time on campus gave me an immense sense of hope. The support system of professors and classmates I had while studying at L&C allowed me to find my niche in the field of conservation, and the courage to try to make a difference.”

Mateo was an active student leader on campus, and started the beloved Apiary Garden through the Students Engaged in Eco-Defense (SEED) Club. “I hope that the garden will continue to grow into an educational space where students can learn about beekeeping and pollinator ecology more broadly.”

Professor Erica Lyman, Lewis & Clark Law School’s Global Law Alliance, and international partners have launched the Food Systems NDC Scorecard, a new tool evaluating how national climate plans address the role of food systems in climate mitigation and adaptation.

Lewis & Clark’s annual Moss Appreciation Week recently garnered national media attention on NPR’s Morning Edition. Moss Week combines scientific exploration with creative, playful events, celebrating the everyday wonders of moss.

Lena Essak BA ’24 spent a summer as a paid community relations intern in the Portland office of EDP Renewables. Thanks to the Bates Center Summer Sustainability Internship course, she was able to learn, grow, and gain hands-on experience while working alongside two supportive Lewis & Clark alumni.

Factory farms have polluted groundwater across much of Oregon. But, explains Lewis & Clark Professor Michele Okoh, simply banning large dairy farms won’t ensure Oregonians have safe drinking water.

Vincent Montanic Sheoships is this year’s Nelson D. Terry Scholarship recipient. “I am close to achieving my dream of becoming a practicing attorney, and I look forward to fanning the flames of Tribal sovereignty through upholding federal laws that make Tribes distinct and unique.”

L&C environmental studies students gained some real-world experience when they visited Tillamook Forest Center to attend the center’s annual Rain Festival, a celebration of the Tillamook Forest and its waterways. They spent the afternoon gathering input from rural community members on what they value most about Oregon’s forests.

Micah Leinbach BA ’14, founder of the Bus for Outdoor Access &Teaching (BOAT), serves community organizations interested in implementing wilderness programs.

Last summer, several Rogers Science Program students immersed themselves in hands-on field work investigating the behavior of deer mice in Tryon Creek State Natural Area with Assistant Professor of Biology Tracy Burkhard―and found their career paths.

Ishan Abraham BA ’26 and a team of collaborators are developing an AI-powered learning system that delivers hints during hands-on cybersecurity exercises. Their work will be presented at next year’s 21st International Conference on Cyber Warfare and Security in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Lewis & Clark’s Entrepreneur in Residence Mitch Daugherty has been tapped to lead Portland’s newly created Office of Small Business, helping to connect small business owners with the resources they need to thrive.

With a grant from Projects for Peace, Nichole Champion BA ’25 created the Holistic Wellness Initiative, an effort to create spaces of belonging, healing, and empowerment for Portland youth.

“I am very passionate about working to improve systems, which led me to create Aspasia Wealth Management, where we focus on expanding financial services to be more inclusive of those who have historically been excluded. Beyond my work in financial services, I also engage with organizations dedicated to systemic change as an Officer for All Hands Raised, a board member of YMCA Columbia-Willamette, and president of the Portland Rotary Club.”

In a cross-school collaboration, Professors Greta Binford and Liza Finkel prepare middle and high school teachers to weave real-world data science into their environmental curricula.

Assistant Professor of Professional Mental Health Counseling and “Burnout Scholar” Justin Henderson has an innovative approach to understanding workplace well-being.

Almost a decade since its founding, the John E. and Susan S. Bates Center for Entrepreneurship and Leadership has continued to flourish.

Over her summer break, Deenie Bulyalert BA ’27 directed the Table Rock Youth Camp in Grants Pass, Oregon. Bulyalert’s efforts, funded by a Nielson Social Change Innovation Grant, helped young campers develop leadership skills informed by Indigenous teachings.

Skills Labs, offered through the Bates Center for Entrepreneurship and Leadership, give students of any major a leg up on entry to the workplace.

Lewis & Clark Law School has introduced live captioning in every classroom—enhancing accessibility and inclusion for all students. What began as a project to support hearing-impaired learners is now transforming how the entire community engages and connects.

A new online portal from Lewis & Clark’s National Crime Victim Law Institute is providing free legal advice to victims of hate and bias crimes in Oregon, bridging a critical gap in access to justice.

In mid-January, the Bates Center for Entrepreneurship and Leadership hosted its annual entrepreneurial workshop, known as Winterim. The event brought 21 students to campus prior to the start of spring semester for a week of learning, networking, and mentoring, which culminated in a pitch competition for more than $10,000 in prizes.

Offering both practical training for students and affordable legal assistance to entrepreneurs, the Small Business Legal Clinic is a win-win for Oregon businesses and the next generation of business attorneys.

The M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust has recognized Greta Binford, professor of biology, with the 2025 Lynwood W. Swanson Scientific Research Award. The honor celebrates her nationally recognized research on spider biodiversity and venom evolution—much of it conducted alongside undergraduate researchers.

Lewis & Clark is the first liberal arts college to offer an in-person, 4-credit Salesforce course leading to the company’s associate credential.

Assistant Professor of Marriage, Couple, and Family Therapy Joslyn Armstrong leverages a unique learning approach in her class by recruiting Lewis & Clark undergraduates to play the role of client, making the mock-therapy sessions more unpredictable and realistic.

Lewis & Clark students are finding real-world meaning in narrative medicine—an emerging field that blends writing, empathy, and health care. For graduates like Edie Tavel BA ’23, an internship experience led directly to a full-time role at Fora Health.

Students in L&C’s Applied Data Science Practicum worked with the Multnomah County Health Department to analyze cancer-related deaths in the area, using large-scale datasets to identify trends and demographic connections. In the process, they gained real-world skills, knowledge, and networks that will impact their future careers.

Students received hands-on data science experience with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, predicting the climate and habitat vulnerabilities of the species in our region.

Last summer, several Rogers Science Program students immersed themselves in hands-on field work investigating the behavior of deer mice in Tryon Creek State Natural Area with Assistant Professor of Biology Tracy Burkhard―and found their career paths.

Dylan Hankins BA ’20 didn’t realize an extracurricular acting class, combined with his study abroad trip, would change his life. But with Faena, his Spanish-language play, Hankins proves himself one of Portland theater’s most eclectic young artists.

Lewis & Clark’s Animal Legal Defense Fund is hosting an evening event that celebrates the power of art to inspire a vision of a better world for all and challenges the mainstream paradigm of how we perceive and value animals. Attendees will connect with local artists and photojournalists, explore their impactful work, and enjoy a special presentation by award-winning photographer, author, and photo editor Jo-Anne McArthur, founder and president of We Animals.

During this virtual event, Professor Emeritus Kim Stafford will discuss his journey to publish A Proclamation for Peace: Translated for the World. There will be a reading of his poem in different languages by L&C alumni from around the world.

Students in the Portland Music Scenes course connect directly with the city’s varied music communities—from country to jazz, punk to R&B, taiko to Irish trad—while learning to use the tools of ethnomusicology.

Cara Tomlinson’s Art and Ecology class uses waste materials from around Portland to create beautiful and meaningful works of art. This course offers a fresh approach to creative practice, merging art and ecology to help students respond to the climate crisis, explore the agency of materials, and build connections to place.

Playing at the Border: Migration and Art examines how migrant and refugee stories are told in film, theatre, and visual art, providing students with opportunities to engage directly with Portland’s immigrant communities.

Lewis & Clark enters the second year of its engagement with the Portland Art Museum’s paid college internship program, an opportunity for students to facilitate interactive K-12 group visits in the galleries.

Music, theatre, and dance might not be the first things you think of when you hear “library,” but Lewis & Clark’s Aubrey R. Watzek Library is much more than a place for quiet study. On the first Friday of every month, Arts@LC takes over the Watzek atrium to showcase student participation in the performing arts. The final events of the fall semester featured actors from the Main Stage theatre production Into the Woods and dancers from theatre’s contact improv class.

The Hoffman Gallery’s current exhibit features immersive paintings, bodily ceramic sculpture, and monumental paper sculpture by Catherine Fairbanks. This work is accompanied by intimate poetry by Catherine Barnett, which has been hand-drawn for the exhibition by Nuria Kiesebrink-Pareick.

The Lewis & Clark Art Therapy program has released a documentary film exploring its expansion into the Community Counseling Center and discussing the benefits that the new space has to offer to both graduate students and community members alike.

Lewis & Clark Graduate School’s newly expanded Community Counseling Center serves as a training ground for counseling students and a thriving mental health resource for Portland.

The nearly $2 million Oregon Health Authority grant will support graduate students pursuing degrees in counseling, therapy, and school psychology over the next two years.

In a Seattle Times opinion piece, Robin Holmes-Sullivan, president of Lewis & Clark and a clinical psychologist, addresses how parents and caregivers can prepare their students for the“monumental transition” to college while supporting their autonomy and growth.

L&C’s hybrid school psychology graduate program increases access to a fully accredited program, specifically in rural Oregon districts where the school psychologist shortage is felt most acutely.

Lewis & Clark’s Graduate School of Education and Counseling received a $1.1 million federal grant to train school psychologists to effectively support students in high-need rural and urban districts.

Lewis & Clark’s Mental Health Validation Program (MVP) brings counseling services, mental health workshops, student-athlete peer support groups, and more to the college’s student-athletes.

For first-year students interested in public interest law, 1LIFE is a valuable opportunity to gain hands-on legal experience, receive mentorship from experienced professionals, and establish a network of connections.

At a recent campus event, community members learned how to practice the 3-Minute Mental Makeover, a quick writing exercise designed to reduce stress and improve communication and connection with others.

Lewis & Clark’s partnership with local nonprofit Blanchet House enables students to provide dignified aid to those living with housing and food insecurity in downtown Portland.

Lewis & Clark’s Entrepreneur in Residence Mitch Daugherty has been tapped to lead Portland’s newly created Office of Small Business, helping to connect small business owners with the resources they need to thrive.

Inside the Oregon State Penitentiary, a group of Lewis & Clark students compete in a debate tournament that challenges assumptions about justice, communication, and community.

A group of L&C students got an exclusive tour of Nike headquarters in Portland, connecting with alumni and discovering what it’s like to work at one of the world’s leading sportswear brands.

With a grant from Projects for Peace, Nichole Champion BA ’25 created the Holistic Wellness Initiative, an effort to create spaces of belonging, healing, and empowerment for Portland youth.

In fall 2021, Lewis & Clark was named a partner recipient of an $8.2 million grant from the Wallace Foundation, kicking off work with Portland Public Schools to train aspiring administrators with programming focused on equity and inclusion. Funding has been awarded for an additional year, extending the program through 2026–27.

Portland Music Scenes, a course taught by Associate Professor of Music Kaley Mason, allows our students to engage with the city and its residents while learning the tools of ethnomusicology. Students recently took a field trip to the Portland Japanese Garden, where students watched Yumi Torimaru, instructor in shamisen, perform as part of the duo Takohachi X.

On Being a Porous Boundary—a new art exhibit copresented by Lewis & Clark and Portland-based A-B Projects—features immersive paintings, bodily ceramic sculpture, and monumental paper sculpture by Catherine Fairbanks. This work is accompanied by intimate poetry by Catherine Barnett, which has been hand-drawn for the exhibition by Nuria Kiesebrink-Pareick.

WE ARE HERE, a new exhibit in the Art Therapy Gallery at L&C’s Community Counseling Center, features works by art therapy faculty, students, supervisors, and alumni as a way to educate the public about the art therapy program, to honor the unique people who are in our community, and to celebrate this important moment of growth and expansion to serve Portland.

Originally drawn to law school to seek justice for animals in captivity, Rianka Macwan JD ’24 maximized her student experience by fully exploring and participating in all of her interests. Through this personal and professional work, she decided to launch her career as the Lewis & Clark Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic’s ABA Tax Fellow.

The Center for Community and Global Health offers funding for health and humanities internships with Portland-area partners. Whether over the summer or during the school year, L&C students benefit from paid internships that turn career exploration into action.

The new collaboration will build a hub for education and economic opportunity within Portland’s redeveloped Lower Albina district to foster learning as a core value of the community and provide opportunities for Albina residents and Lewis & Clark students, staff, and faculty.

Burton Scheer BA ’25 is bringing their studies in English to the professional world of creative writing and literature through an events internship with the acclaimed Portland nonprofit Literary Arts.

Lewis & Clark Law School and Oregon Public Broadcasting are launching the Public Records and Government Transparency Project, a new initiative offering legal training for students and support for journalists navigating Oregon’s complex public records system.

Visiting Assistant Professor Devin Fitzpatrick designed his new course, Data for Good, to challenge students to get their hands dirty—both in messy datasets and in the soil—through a partnership with the Portland-based nonprofit Growing Gardens.

Lewis & Clark enters the second year of its engagement with the Portland Art Museum’s paid college internship program, an opportunity for students to facilitate interactive K-12 group visits in the galleries.

In June, Lewis & Clark partnered with the Energy Trust of Oregon to offer a one-week training course designed to prepare college students for internships in the energy efficiency sector.

Warren, who assumes the new role on August 4, will spearhead Lewis & Clark’s historic partnership with Albina Vision Trust, as well as cultivate new institutional partnerships.

Sports and entertainment attorney Nic Mayne teaches a new Sneaker Law course at Lewis & Clark Law School, providing hands-on contract drafting experience through the lens of the athletic footwear industry.

Nhân Hàn BA ’27 and Thoan Nguyễn BA ’27, with project manager Zoë Maughan BA ’19, curated a 15-panel, bilingual traveling exhibit highlighting stories from Vietnamese Portland: Memory, History, Community, an archive documenting experiences of Vietnamese Portlanders.

Last summer, several Rogers Science Program students immersed themselves in hands-on field work investigating the behavior of deer mice in Tryon Creek State Natural Area with Assistant Professor of Biology Tracy Burkhard―and found their career paths.

Clinical Assistant Professor Cari Zall explains Oregon’s new Social Studies Standards, which introduce fresh perspectives and a more inclusive curriculum, and how the graduate school is preparing future educators to work with these guidelines.

As a new member of College Presidents for Civic Preparedness, President Robin Holmes-Sullivan is joining 91 other college presidents from across the country to advance higher education’s pivotal role in preparing students to be engaged citizens and to uphold free expression on campus.

Todd Lochner and Ellen Seljan of the political science department served as consultants to the City of Gresham, sharing their expertise on electoral systems and local political institutions.

In a time of significant political polarization, how do the first amendment’s free speech protections inform civil discourse?

As a counterpoint to the rise in uncivil discourse, Lewis & Clark is taking a different approach. President Robin Holmes-Sullivan launched L&C’s Community Dialogues program, an ongoing multiyear initiative focused on building capacity to have constructive discussions.

L&C’s Center for Social Change and Community Involvement and the League of Women Voters are putting on an event for students to learn more about ranked choice voting and how to understand your ballot.

Lewis & Clark is taking part in the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, working to improve civic engagement and achieve at least 80 percent voter turnout in the upcoming election.

“I chose L&C’s graduate school primarily because the student-teaching practicum was a full year in the same classroom. I was especially appreciative of the emphasis on interdisciplinary instruction and the focus on embedding teaching for social justice in content areas you wouldn’t immediately think of, like math and science.”

In fall 2021, Lewis & Clark was named a partner recipient of an $8.2 million grant from the Wallace Foundation, kicking off work with Portland Public Schools to train aspiring administrators with programming focused on equity and inclusion. Funding has been awarded for an additional year, extending the program through 2026–27.

Feya Dawkins BA ’25 spent her summer as an intern at SCRAP, a local nonprofit that turns trash into treasure.

OPB reporter Elizabeth Miller followed a class of future secondary teachers and their professors as they explored the implications of an I-5 expansion on a North Portland neighborhood and middle school. 

This summer, students gained hands-on work experience through paid internships, thanks to L&C’s Career Center. Check out the experiences of some of these students!

Lewis & Clark’s John S. Rogers Science Research Program gave these young alumni scientists the skills—and the confidence—to soar into graduate programs nationwide.

Skills Labs, offered through L&C’s Bates Center for Entrepreneurship and Leadership, give students of any major a leg up on entry to the workplace.

Portland’s community gardens became a classroom for Assistant Professor of Biology Heidi Liere and two of her students. Together, they took a hands-on look at Portland’s lady beetle species to understand how these beneficial predators preserve biodiversity and respond to a changing climate.

“L&C gave me a rigorous education in the fundamentals of law, offered a variety of experiential learning opportunities, and empowered me to pursue a public interest law career!”

“I am an environmental health and safety intern for the Quaker Oats manufacturing plant in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. I gained tangible experience and industry knowledge that I can apply to future careers through this internship.”

Lewis & Clark Law students gained hands-on experience in deal strategy and cross-functional collaboration during Intel’s Accelerating the Deal workshop led by in-house counsel Trevor Jones and Elizabeth Borges.

This transformational approach to career readiness will integrate career competencies and work-ready skills into every undergraduate’s academic journey; a commitment from Heidi Hu BS ’85 and Daniel Hsieh establishes an endowment to support it.

“My practicum was a career-altering experience that changed my post-graduation ambitions. I realized I actually want to work more in a multicultural, advising, and/or equity and inclusion office, instead of my initial plan to continue my work in a study abroad office.”

Lewis & Clark Law School is partnering with Metropolitan Public Defenders to offer a year-long Public Defense Practicum, giving our students practical experience at a time when Oregon is facing a crisis-level shortage of public defenders.

In June, Lewis & Clark partnered with the Energy Trust of Oregon to offer a one-week training course designed to prepare college students for internships in the energy efficiency sector.

The graduate school offers a dedicated course on crisis counseling and intervention strategies, providing future school counselors with the tools necessary to address the ever-evolving K-12 landscape.

“During the [teaching] practicum, I was able to actively witness my students engaged in science content. Seeing my students excited about learning made me excited to teach! They recently completed a lab that modeled cell membrane functions through playing with bubbles, and just seeing how excited they were made me eager for new labs and lessons to come!”

L&C’s Small Business Legal Clinic offers students direct opportunities to provide legal support for small business owners and entrepreneurs throughout Oregon, including in rural areas where low-cost/no-cost legal services are unavailable.

Come along with Tara Elsa BA ’25 for a day in her life as an intern with Symbol Design in Portland!

Lewis & Clark is one of the first liberal arts colleges to offer an in-person, 4-credit Salesforce course leading to the company’s associate credential.

Assistant Professor of Marriage, Couple, and Family Therapy Joslyn Armstrong leverages a unique learning approach in her class by recruiting Lewis & Clark undergraduates to play the role of client, making the mock-therapy sessions more unpredictable and realistic.

This summer, L&C students gained hands-on work experience through paid internships. These opportunities that give them the skills they need to be successful in a variety of careers.

Lewis & Clark students are finding real-world meaning in narrative medicine—an emerging field that blends writing, empathy, and health care. For graduates like Edie Tavel BA ’23, an internship experience led directly to a full-time role at Fora Health.

Lewis & Clark Law School’s extensive externship program enables students to earn academic credit while gaining hands-on professional experience across the corporate, public interest, private law, and government sectors.