“Students are not yet lawyers—they’re on the way. My role, therefore, is to translate legal concepts into language that’s accessible and meaningful, especially for those individuals to whom the law may feel unfamiliar or intimidating. Whether I’m working with students or with clients, humility is essential to making this happen.”

With a career rooted in justice and a deep commitment to clean soil and water, tribal sovereignty, and resilient communities, D.S. Pensley brings more than 15 years of legal, academic, and on-the-ground experience to the classroom—where law meets land, and advocacy meets action. A graduate of Cornell Law School (J.D., cum laude), where they earned multiple honors and were an editor for Cornell Law Review and a managing editor for the Cornell Journal of Law & Public Policy, Pensley focuses on property law, environmental and natural resource law, and land use law.

Pensley’s academic path is as interdisciplinary as their professional one, with an M.A. in Historic Preservation Planning from Cornell University, an A.B. in Public Policy from Princeton University, and additional coursework in Marxist theory from Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany. Engaging deeply with issues of land governance and sustainability, their scholarship has appeared in publications such as the International Journal of Urban and Regional Planning, Cornell Law Review, the Environmental Law Reporter, Pace Environmental Law Review, and Wicazo Sa Review. Their current research explores the empirical and legal dimensions of subsistence practice and the implications of living off the land for progressive property theory.

After law school, Pensley first clerked for the Honorable Victor J. Wolski on the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. Subsequently, their legal practice included stints as an assistant attorney general for the State of Alaska and as of counsel at a boutique law firm specializing in appellate and tribal environmental law. They have drafted tribal constitutions and cleanup regulations, overhauled the historic preservation plan for a remote island community, negotiated agreements regarding tribal court jurisdiction, and assisted in litigation arising from the contamination of a municipal water supply by forever chemicals.

Pensley has also taught public lands law in the Natural Resources Management Program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and is a wilderness first responder. Prior to law school, Pensley worked as a Volunteer in Service to America to develop affordable housing in Everett, Washington, and later founded the first Alaskan community land trust. 

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