Trisha Salvia ’06
Pennsylvania Staff Attorney, Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Most attorneys can look back to a moment when they first became interested in the law. For Trisha Salvia ’06, it was on summer break while she was in high school, where she attended Penn State’s Conservation Leadership School.
“It was an overnight camp that allowed students to participate in numerous conservation and environmental science activities,” Salvia said. “This is what truly sparked my interest in the environmental law sector.”
After earning her undergraduate degree at Elon University, she timed her arrival at Widener Law Commonwealth with that of Professor John Dernbach, who joined the Widener Law Commonwealth faculty and started teaching an environmental law survey course.
During Salvia’s time at WLC, she enjoyed the small school atmosphere, along with the connections she made with fellow students and her professors. She was also active in a variety of student groups, including the Student Bar Association, the Trial Advocacy Honor Society, and the Moot Court Honor Society. It was during moot court competitions she found she preferred appellate verses trial work.
Since the environmental law program was in its infancy, which meant only one environmental law class and no certifications, Salvia pursued her environmental advocacy passions through her other courses. She admitted she was attending WLC during a very challenging time in the early days after September 11th “when law school applications were high and jobs were scarce,” she explained. It was those factors that led her to pursue a Master of Laws degree in environmental law following graduation. “This is something I probably would not do today, given the depth of environmental law classes and the certification program now offered,” she added.
She credits the education she received at WLC and the connections she made through her professors that helped her land valuable internships and to the jobs she wanted, including working for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and at her current position at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
As far as advice she has for current and future law school students, Salvia recommends taking as many different classes and internships as possible to help discover new passions and interests, and to get involved in student organizations and related activities. “This helps build relationships with other students, professors and lawyers outside of school who can help with job searching later,” she said.
Salvia also recommends expanding your scope when looking for environmental law internships and related opportunities. “There are numerous non-governmental organizations (NGOs) looking for legal internship, even when it’s not posted. Volunteer at environmental NGOs to build connections. The environmental law field is relatively small, and many of the attorneys know each other well. It’s a great community and offers many networking opportunities.”
Interview was conducted in Summer 2023.
