Lin Harmon
Assistant Director, Environmental & Natural Resources Law Program

Specialty Areas & Course Descriptions

Environmental Negotiation & Mediation Seminar and
Robert R. Merhige, Jr. National Environmental Negotiation Competition

Academic Credentials

B.A., magna cum laude, 1978 The College of Idaho
J.D., magna cum laude, 1991 Northwestern School of Law of Lewis & Clark College

Professional Background

Ms. Harmon joined the law school in 2000, bringing both law practice and executive directing experience to her work.

She practiced law for several years with Portland law firms Hallmark, Keating and Abbott and Gordon and Polscer. She received the Multnomah Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers Project's "Rookie of the Year" award in 1993 for her pro bono work on behalf of domestic violence survivors. She also served as a Cooperating Attorney with the Northwest Environmental Defense Center.

After taking mediation training in 1996, she switched gears and became a non-profit executive director. During her three years directing Friends of Trees, Harmon supervised the work of eight staff people and thousands of volunteers in the "Seed the Future" campaign, resulting in the planting and maintenance of over 85,000 trees and seedlings throughout the Portland metropolitan area. From 1999 to November 2000 she directed the Oregon Mediation Association, a statewide organization dedicated to the development, support and advocacy of mediation as a way of resolving conflict.

Harmon has served on numerous boards and commissions, including the Sustainable Portland Commission and the National Alliance for Community Trees.

She teaches the Environmental Negotiation & Mediation class and coaches the law school's Merhige National Environmental Negotiation Competition team. She has co-organized several environmental law conferences, including national Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act conferences, and participated in training U.S. Forest Service line officers as part of the law school's Endangered Species Act agency training program. She is the editor of the Natural Resources Law Institute publication, NRLI News.