The work of second-year College of Law student Virginia Whitener has won acclaim from the Tennessee Bar Association.
Whitener is the winner of the 2019 Jon E. Hastings Memorial Award Writing Competition. Through the competition, sponsored by the Environmental Law Section in memory of Hastings, the Tennessee Bar Association seeks to improve the understanding of environmental law in Tennessee and strengthen the relationship among Tennessee environmental law professors, students and practitioners.
Whitener’s paper, “Protecting the Jefferson National Forest Against the Mountain Valley Pipeline,” addresses a controversial interstate natural gas pipeline that would cross 83 acres of the Jefferson National Forest.
The annual competition is open to law students enrolled in a Tennessee law school, and in addition to a cash prize, Whitener’s work will be published in the newsletter of the environmental law section.