Michelle Bryan

Professor Michelle Bryan was drawn to the fields of natural resources and environmental law after growing up in ranching and farming communities in the West. Prior to joining the academy, she worked in private practice representing a variety of clients including local governments, private landowners, non-profits, developers, and affected neighbors and community groups. She brings this diversity of perspective to her scholarship and teaching, and seeks pragmatic solutions that make measurable differences for both people and place. She enjoys exploring the vast spaces of the American West, and brings her passion for these places into the classroom. 

Research interests:protection of sacred waters and landscapes, state-tribal natural resources reconciliation, local-federal land use collaboration, the relationship between land and water use, the modernization of water rights legal systems, planning in an age of climate change, the balancing of environmental and land use rights, and the role of public trust in water use.