Ann M. Eisenberg
Research Director
Professor of Law
Professor Ann M. Eisenberg joined the faculty of the West Virginia
University College of Law in August 2023 and serves as the Research Director of the Center
for Energy and Sustainable Development. Before joining the WVU faculty, Professor Eisenberg was on the faculty of the University of South Carolina School of Law from 2016 to 2023, where she created and ran the transactional Environmental Law Clinic.
VISITING PROFESSOR
Barton Z. Cowan, Visiting Professor, serves as Senior Counsel for the firm Eckert
Seamans Cherin & Mellott, LLC in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. He received his J.D.
from Harvard Law School cum laude, and an A.B., with distinction and honor from
the University of Michigan. He has been involved in legal matters relating to nuclear
power and power generation facilities, focusing on licensing and regulation issues.
He has testified on numerous occasions as an expert witness on nuclear power licensing
and regulation. He has also counseled clients in the corporate and labor law areas.
Courses taught include Business Transactions Drafting, and Energy Law.
CHARLES H. HADEN II PROFESSOR OF LAW
Professor Patrick McGinley is a graduate of Dickinson College and the Duke University
School of Law where he was a member of the Duke Law Journal Editorial Board. Professor
McGinley served as a law clerk to a Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
and as a Special Assistant Attorney General, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Environmental
Strike Force. In the latter position he was engaged in environmental enforcement
and mine safety litigation.
PROFESSOR OF LAW
James M. (Jamie) Van Nostrand joined the faculty of the West Virginia University College of Law in July of 2011 and served as the Director of the Center for Energy and Sustainable Development. Professor Van Nostrand came to the WVU College of Law from the Pace Law School in White Plains, NY, where he served as Executive Director of the Pace Energy and Climate Center
PROFESSOR OF LAW
Alison Peck teaches and writes in the area of sustainable development, including
environmental and trade law, with special focus on agriculture and food law.
Professor Peck practiced international arbitration and commercial litigation with
Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP in Washington, D.C. She clerked for Judge Jon
O. Newman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and Judge G. Federico
Mancini of the Court of Justice for the European Communities. She received a J.D.
from Yale Law School and an LL.M. in Agricultural Law from the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville.
PROFESSOR OF LAW
LEAD LAND USE ATTORNEY
Jesse J. Richardson, Jr. is the Lead Land Use Attorney at the Land Use and
Sustainable Development Law Clinic and Professor of Law at the West Virginia University
College of Law. Before coming to WVU, Jesse was an Associate Professor in Urban
Affairs and Planning at Virginia Tech, teaching land use law, environmental law,
urban growth management and real estate. His research and experience focuses on
land use law and water law. Prior to his academic endeavors, Jesse was in private
practice in his home town of Winchester, Virginia, first with a large law firm,
then as a solo practitioner.
He presently serves on the Board of Directors of the American Agricultural Law Association,
the Universities Council on Water Resources and the National Cave and Karst Research
Institute. He previously served on the Virginia Farmland Protection Task Force
and the Virginia Water Policy Technical Advisory Committee. Jesse was honored with
the 1999 Professional Scholarship Award from the American Agricultural Law Association,
the 2004 William E. Wine Award for a history of teaching Excellence from Virginia
Tech (the highest teaching award granted by the university), and the 2009 University
Certificate of Excellence in Outreach. He has worked with communities in West Virginia
and Virginia on land use planning issues, including issues related to karst and
water resources. He holds a B.S. and M.S. in Agricultural and Applied Economics
from Virginia Tech and a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.
Office Administrator
Samantha Stefanov is the Office Administrator for WVU Law and for the Center for
Energy and Sustainable Development (CESD). She helps plan and organize all
CESD events, including the annual National Energy Conference and the National Energy
& Sustainability Moot Court Competition.
