Mia Montoya Hammersley

Mia Montoya Hammersley is the Director of the Environmental Justice Clinic and an Assistant Professor of Law at the Vermont Law & Graduate School. She is a member of the Piro-Manso-Tiwa Indian Tribe, Pueblo of San Juan de Guadalupe, and a Yoeme (Yaqui) descendant. In her work, Mia has represented conservation organizations in protecting land from extractive industries, Tribes in defending and asserting their land and water rights, and communities experiencing disproportionate environmental health harms.

In addition to completing her J.D. with dual certificates in Indigenous Peoples Law & Policy and Environmental Law, Science, and Policy, Mia holds a Master of Science in Water Policy from the University of Arizona. Her chapter, "The Water-Energy Nexus and Environmental Justice: the Missing Link Between Water Rights and Energy Production on Tribal Lands" was published in the UA Press Series, Indigenous Environmental Justice, in 2020. In 2021, she was a recipient of the Young, Gifted, and Green 40 Under 40 Award by Black Millennials for Flint for her work in the field of environmental justice.