Published on October 9, 2025 by Morgan Black  
Environmental Symposium Speakers
Symposium speakers presented on a variety of topics such as planning and climate adaptation, energy, green building, development trends, and regenerative land use and ecological restoration.
The Land Use & Natural Resources Law Center (LUNR) at ֽ’s Cumberland School of Law welcomed legal professionals, scholars, and law students to its symposium on Oct. 3. The theme, “Resilient Futures: The Next Era in Land Use Law,” provided opportunity for attendees to explore the evolving intersection of environmental stewardship, land use planning and sustainable development.
 
Presented in partnership with the law school’s Continuing Legal Education department, the symposium offered a full day of panels and discussions designed to equip attendees with insights into the legal frameworks shaping the future of environmental law.
 
“This symposium reflects Cumberland’s commitment to preparing future lawyers to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time,” Dean Blake Hudson said. “As land use and environmental issues grow increasingly complex, it’s essential that legal education fosters both innovation and collaboration. I’m proud of the work our faculty, students and partners are doing through the center to lead these important conversations.”
The day began with a land use planning and climate adaptation panel featuring:
  • Judy Haner, marine and freshwater programs director for The Nature Conservancy;
  • Blake Hudson, dean of Cumberland School of Law and director of the LUNR center; and
  • Sara Leopold, JD ’18, deputy counsel at the Arizona Department of Water Resources.
Evironmental Panel Female
Environmental Panelist
 An energy and land use panel featured:
  • Sheree Martin, deputy director and general counsel of Energy Alabama, and
  • Christina Tidwell, senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center.
 A third panel focused on green building and future development trends, with insights from:
  • Colin Coyne, vice president for finance and business affairs at ֽ;
  • Betsey Garcia, research professor and extension specialist at Auburn University’s School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture; and
  • Rip Weaver, landscape architect for the City of Hoover, Alabama.
Basil Camu The keynote address was delivered virtually by Basil Camu, founder of Leaf & Limb, a tree care company in Raleigh, North Carolina. Camu also co-founded Project Pando, a nonprofit organization that aims to connect people to trees, and authored From Wasteland to Wonder: Easy Ways We Can Help Heal Earth in the Sub/Urban Landscape. Camu shared a compelling vision for regenerative land use and ecological restoration.
 
Launched this year, the LUNR Center is led by Hudson, an environmental law expert, as the director, and land use and planning expert William Holt as the associate director. The center promotes scholarship and practical engagement in land use and natural resources law, providing unique opportunities to study this niche legal specialty.
 
Second-year law student Harper Cook is an inaugural fellow of the center. She said, “I really enjoyed the symposium. The speakers covered such a vast landscape of issues so there was something new for everyone to learn about, no matter their background. I particularly liked the speaker on data centers because she covered the proposed data center in Bessemer, which is a timely topic that I feel everyone should be educated on.”
 
The center’s mission to foster dialogue and innovation in environmental legal issues was reflected throughout the day’s programming and reinforced the law school’s commitment to advancing legal education in environmental and land use law.
 
“As an inaugural LUNR Center fellow, I was proud to be a part of this program,” Cook added. “It was a great opportunity to engage with members of the legal community and gain valuable insights into the future of land use and environmental law.”
 
 
Located in the Homewood suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, ֽ is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, ֽ enrolls 6,324 students from 44 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. ֽ is widely recognized as having one of the most beautiful campuses in America, featuring rolling hills, meticulously maintained grounds and Georgian-Colonial architecture. ֽ fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks with the second-highest score in the nation for its 98% Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.