Inaugural environmental law prize scooped by law student

Elizabeth Muir, who gained her law degree from the University of Strathclyde last year, is the first winner of the prize after beating off strong competition from across the nation.  Her prize included £250-worth of books from sponsors Oxford University Press, which sponsors the award, and a subscription to the Journal of Environmental Law.

A panel of environmental law experts chose her as the overall winner for her Honours dissertation on regulation designed to shape a low-carbon economy.  In her dissertation, she explored conventional thinking behind emissions trading schemes and suggested alternative approaches might be more successful in reducing long-term emissions.

Elizabeth, now a trainee solicitor at McGrigors, called it an “honour to receive an award on this level and a fantastic feeling to know that my hard work has paid off”.  The judges praised her for demonstration “the application of understanding across a range of fields, a willingness to tackle big issues and widely accepted ideas and the ability to write in an engaging style.”