By Chris Patrick, staff writer
Kevin MacWhorter’s interest in environmental law began with a book. Or rather, with many book proposals.
After undergrad, the native of Purcellville, VA, was trying to figure out what he wanted to do. He ended up working as an editorial intern at an environmental publishing company in Washington, DC.
“I did a lot of mundane stuff,” MacWhorter says. “But the best part was reading proposals for books and deciding whether I thought they should be published or not.”
MacWhorter learned a lot about environmental law and policy from reading book proposals. He liked the material so much he decided to return to William & Mary, his alma mater, for law school.
MacWhorter is currently in his final year at the law school and a student in the Virginia Coastal Policy Center (VCPC). He’s excited to get some real-world experience with the VCPC.
“After spending five semesters taking classes, I thought it would be a good time to take a sort of practical class,” he says.
While in the VCPC, MacWhorter will work on a project investigating possible changes to the National Flood Insurance Program’s regulations. He will research the effectiveness of green infrastructure—water management techniques that mimic nature—in stormwater and flooding management to find evidence that these techniques should qualify as flood insurance credits.
MacWhorter says he values the hands-on experience he’ll get working on this project, as well as VCPC’s frequent guest speakers and field trips. After graduation MacWhorter wants to work in public interest environmental law.
MacWhorter received a bachelor’s degree from William & Mary in 2012. He majored in history and minored in French.
An extension partner of Virginia Sea Grant, VCPC at William & Mary Law School provides policy and legal analysis to its partners on coastal resource and community issues in its mission to educate and train the future lawyers and leaders of tomorrow.
