National Wildlife Federation Hires Oday Salim as Staff Attorney, Director of U of M Law School Environmental Law & Sustainability Clinic

Ann Arbor, MI – Today, National Wildlife Federation Great Lakes Regional Center announced the hire of Oday Salim as staff attorney, which comes with an appointment as director of the University of Michigan Law School’s Environmental Law & Sustainability Clinic. Salim comes to the National Wildlife Federation from the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center, where he was the executive director and managing attorney.

“We are thrilled that Oday Salim will be joining the National Wildlife Federation team. He has proven to be a strong environmental advocate in the courtroom in the classroom,” said Mike Shriberg, Great Lakes regional executive director for the National Wildlife Federation. “We look forward to working with him to advance solutions to the urgent conservation challenges facing people and wildlife alike in the Great Lakes region.”

As staff attorney for the National Wildlife Federation Great Lakes Regional Center, Salim will be responsible for developing, coordinating, and pursuing legal strategies, including litigation in federal and state courts on the most pressing wildlife conservation and environmental issues in the Great Lakes region.

“I cannot wait to be part of the amazing work of the Great Lakes Regional Center, which includes eliminating the unacceptable risk Line 5 poses to our Great Lakes, preventing invasive species like Asian carp from spreading, and addressing the destructive algal blooms in the western Lake Erie basin,” said Salim. “As an immigrant from Iraq who has worked with minority and low income communities on various environmental issues, I am also eager to advance NWF's goal of doing increasingly more environmental justice work.”

Salim will also direct and manage the University of Michigan Law School Environmental Law and Sustainability Clinic, which for more than 30 years has worked with the National Wildlife Federation Great Lakes Regional Center on issues ranging from the Great Lakes Compact to ballast water rules.

“We’re excited to work with Oday to continue the ongoing partnership between the University of Michigan Law School and the National Wildlife Federation. This partnership gives students the opportunity to apply what they learn in the classroom to real-world environmental problems,” said Debra Chopp, Associate Dean for Experiential Education at the University of Michigan Law School. “The Environmental Law and Sustainability Clinic is instrumental in developing and shaping the next generation of environmental attorneys.”

In addition to directing the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center, Salim has taught energy law and oil and gas law as an adjunct professor at Wayne State University Law School, the University of Pittsburgh Law School, and Lewis & Clark Law School. As an environmental attorney in Pennsylvania, he participated in federal citizen suit litigation, land use and zoning hearings, and administrative permit challenges. His recreational interests include hiking, kayaking, old-growth forests and reading about popular science and insects.

Founded in 1936, the National Wildlife Federation is the largest grassroots nonprofit conservation organization in the United States, representing more than 6 million members and supporters and 51 state and territorial affiliates. Its mission is to unite all Americans to ensure wildlife thrive in a rapidly changing world.

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