Lara B. Fowler

Professor of Teaching, Penn State Dickinson Law
Director of Outreach and Engagement, Center for Energy Law and Policy
Leadership Fellow, Social Science Research Institute
Affiliate Faculty, Penn State School of International Affairs

Email lbf10@psu.edu
Phone 814-865-4806

Expertise

Education

J.D., University of Washington, with honors
A.B., Dartmouth College
Certificate, Harvard Program on Negotiations

Biography

Professor Lara Fowler is an attorney, mediator and facilitator who works at the intersection of law, science, and working with communities. She focuses on challenging questions related to energy, food and agriculture, water, climate, community resilience, and sustainability. In addition to teaching and research, she is the faculty advisor for Dickinson Law’s Alternative Dispute Resolution student group; a nominator for The EarthShot Prize; the jury chair for the Stockholm Junior Water Prize; the vice president of the Chesapeake Bay Journal board of directors; and a board member for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Science and Technology Policy Program (COPA STEP).

Prof. Fowler has been at Penn State since 2012, serving in several roles along with teaching including as Penn State’s Chief Sustainability Officer (2022-2025) and the Institute of Energy and Environment’s Assistant Director for Outreach and Engagement (2013-2022). In her role with Penn State Sustainability, she focused on amplifying sustainability-related action across Penn State and beyond, including with education, operations, and Penn State’s Land Grant mission. During this time, Penn State Sustainability continued to grow student participation with sustainability, applied for and received more than $8 million in funding for Penn State education and operations; on-boarded Penn State Fuller’s Overlook; and engaged with partners both within and external to Penn State. In her work with the Institute of Energy and Environment, Prof. Fowler helped foster interdisciplinary research, led an annual seed grant program, developed numerous workshops, events, and training sessions, and helped link together potential research teams. Fowler served on the Chesapeake Bay Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee from 2014-2022 and was a Fulbright Scholar to Sweden from 2019-2020.

Her own interdisciplinary research centers around water, agriculture, energy, climate, law, and stakeholder engagement. Research projects include the following:

Shulte-Moore, L., et al., Consortium for the Cultivating of Human and Naturally reGenerative Enterprises (C-CHANGE). USDA NIFA, $10 million (2020-2026).
Fowler LB et al., ASCENT 001 Sustainable Aviation Fuel. US DOT FAA. $250,000 (2021-2025).
Chi, G. et al., Pursuing Opportunities for Long-term Arctic Resilience for Infrastructure and Society (POLARIS), Nat’l Science Foundation, $5 million (2020-2024).
Rosinger A. et al., Causes and Consequences of Social Disparities in Water (Dis)Trust and (In)Security in PA, Social Science Research Institute, $50,000 (2021-2023).
Brasier K et al., Securing Water for and from Agriculture through Effective Community and Stakeholder Engagement, USDA NIFA, $5 million (2017-2022).
Fisher-Vanden K et al., Coupled Human-Natural Systems Project, U.S. DOE Cooperative Research Project, $20 million (2016-2020).
Shortle J et al., Center for Integrated Multi-Scale Nutrient Pollution Solutions, EPA Science to Achieve Results (STAR), $2.2 million (2014-2018).
Richard et al., Northeast Woody/Warm-season Biomass Consortium (NEWBio). USDA NIFA, $10 million (2013-2017).

Prior to joining Penn State, Fowler was an attorney at Gordon Thomas Honeywell LLP in Seattle, Washington, where she focused on mediation and dispute resolution of complex natural resource issues, as well as representing clients facing regulatory hurdles in the environmental and energy fields. She has worked on issues such as who is entitled to store groundwater in the greater Los Angeles area, flooding issues in the Chehalis Basin, Washington State’s second largest river basin, and energy issues in the Pacific Northwest. Before pursuing a legal career, she was a senior water resources coordinator with the Oregon Water Resources Department and a policy analyst for the Oregon Water Resources Congress.

Water law and policy
Energy law and policy
Mediation of environmental and public conflicts
Negotiation and dispute resolution design

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Easton Z, Stephenson K, Benham B, Bohlke JK, Buda A, Collick A, Fowler LB, Gillinsky E, Miller A, Noe G, Palm-Forster LH, Shabman L, Wynn-Thompson T, The Non-point Source Challenge: Obstacles and Opportunities for Meeting Nutrient Reduction Goals in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, J. of American Water Resources Association (2025).
Grogan D, Lisk MD, Zuidema S, Zheng J, Fisher-Vanden K, Lammers RB, Olmstead SM, Fowler LB, Prusevich AA, Bringing Hydrologic Realism to Water Markets: Hydro-economic Modeling of Allocation Transfers from Agriculture to Urban Users, AGU24 (2024).
Chi G, Zhou S, Mucioki M, Miller J, Korkut E, Howe L, Yin J, Holen D, Randell H, Akyildiz A, Halvorsen KE, Fowler LB, Ford J, Tickamyer A, Climate Impacts on Migration in the Arctic North America: Existing Evidence and Research Agenda, Regional Environmental Change 24(2) (2024).
Silvis V, Cooper CM, Iulo LD, Nicholas RE, Fowler L., Strengthening Opportunities to Integrate Informal Resilience Practices in Formal Flood Resilience Planning, Int’l J. of Disaster Risk Reduction V. 107 (2024).
Whitley H, Engle EW, Brasier KJ, Eaton WM, Burbach ME, Fowler LB, Anariba SB, Butzler E, Dixon K, Chaudhary AK, Whitmer W, Stakeholder Engagement in Water Resource Management: A Systematic Review of Definitions, Practices, and Outcomes, J. of Envt’l Planning and Management (2024).
Eaton WM, Burnham M, Robertson T. et al. Advancing the scholarship and practice of stakeholder engagement in working landscapes: a co-produced research agenda. Socio Ecol Pract Res 4, 283–304 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42532-022-00132-8.
Korkut E & Fowler LB, Regulatory and Policy Analysis of Production, Development and Use of Sustainable Aviation Fuels in the United States, Frontiers in Science (Nov. 2021).
Eaton WM, Brasier K, Burbach ME, Whitmer W, Engle EW, Burnham, M, Quimby B, Kumar Chaudhary A, Whitley H, Delozier J, Fowler LB, Wutich A, Bausch JC, Beresford M, Hinrichs CC, Burkhart-Kriesel C, Preisendanz HE, Williams C, Watson J, and Weigle J. A Conceptual Model for Enabling Social and Environmental Change Through Stakeholder Engagement in Water Resource Management, Society & Natural Resources 34(8): 1111-1132 (July 2021).
Fowler LB & Swain A, International Joint Commissions for the Settlement of Water Disputes, Max Planck Encyclopedia of International Procedural Law (May 2020).
Caccese RT & Fowler LB, Reasonable Use?: The Challenges of Riparianism on Transboundary Groundwater Regulation in the Eastern US. Journal of American Water Resources Assoc. (April 2020).

E. Korkut & Fowler LB, Implications of Sea-Level Rise for the Law of the Sea, Int’l Journal of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Vol. 10, Issue 1 (2018).
Tasker TL, WD Burgos, P Piotrowski, L Castillo-Meza, TA Blewett, KB Ganow, A Stallworth, PLM Delompré, G.G. Goss, LB Fowler, JP Vanden Heuvel, F Dorman and NR Warner. 2018. Environmental and human health impacts of spreading oil and gas wastewater on roads. Envt’L Science & Technology (May 2018).

Fowler, LB and Shi, X, Human Conflicts and the Food-Energy-Water Nexus: Building Collaboration Using Facilitation and Mediation to Managed Environmental Disputes, J. of Envt’l Studies & Science (Feb. 2016).

Fowler, LB, Royer, MB, and Colburn, JE, Addressing Death by a Thousand Cuts: Legal and Policy Innovations to Address Nonpoint Source Runoff, CHOICES (Fall 2013).

Book Chapters

Fowler, LB, Swain A, Orozco GG, Attamah S, Bernal Rubio AM, Vitisia B. Transboundary Water Organizations: Mechanisms and Challenges for Managing Evolving Disputes, World Scientific Handbook of Transboundary Water Management: Science, Economics, Policy and Politics. Vol. 3: The Role of Formal and Informal Institutions in Managing Transboundary Basins, pgs. 97-139 (2025).

Fowler LB & Caccese RT, Managing Human Conflicts. In “Introduction to the Food-Energy-Water Nexus”, Springer Press (2019).

Dahmann KS, Fowler LB, and Smith PM. U.S. Law and Policy and the Biofuel Industry, in “The Law and Policy of Biofuels” (Eds. McLeod-Kilmurray et al) (2016).

Waldo JC, Fowler LB, West CW, Mediation and Voluntary Resolution of Environmental, Natural Resource, and Land Use Conflicts, WSBA Real Property Desk Book, Ch. 17 (2012).

Professional Publications/Law Review Articles/Data Sets

Lisk MD, Grogan DS, Zuidema S, Zheng J, Caccese R, Peklak D, Fisher-Vanden K, Lammers R, Olmstead S, Fowler LB. Harmonized Database of Western US Water Rights (HarDWR). Scientific Data: Nature Publishing Group UK (2024).

Korkut E, Helbing M, Fowler LB, Schulte LA, Arbuckle JG, Stagner F, Montabon F. The Regulatory Landscape of Livestock Anaerobic Digesters and Renewable Natural Gas (RNG), U. of Louisville Brandeis School of Law, J. of Animal & Envt'l Law Vol 15, Ed. 1 (Dec. 2023).

Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC). (2023). Achieving water quality goals in the Chesapeake Bay: A comprehensive evaluation of system response (K. Stephenson & D. Wardrop, Eds.). STAC Publication Number 23-006, Chesapeake Bay Program Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC), Edgewater, MD. 129 pp.

Collins L, Palm-Forster L, Power L, Gibson A, Arbuckle J, Handen A, Fowler L, and Read D., Overcoming the Hurdle: Addressing Implementation of Agricultural Best Management Practices (BMPs) through a Social Science Lens. STAC Publication Number 22-002 (Oct. 2022).

Korkut, E., Fowler, LB, Halvorsen, KE, Holen, D, Howe, EL, Chi G, Addressing Climate Impacts in Alaska Native Tribes: Legal Barriers for Community Relocation due to Thawing Permafrost and Coastal Erosion, UCLA Journal of Environmental Law (2022).

Caccese RT, Fowler LB, Come Hell or High-Water: Challenges for Adapting Pacific Northwest Water Law, Pace Environmental Law Review (2020).

Korkut E, Fowler LB, Melting Ice and Deep Waters: the U.S. and Deep Seabed Mining in the Arctic, American Bar Association Natural Resources & the Environment (2019).

Korkut E, Fowler LB, An Overview of Arctic Legal Regime Re: The Protection of the Marine Environment and Some Suggestions, J. of Territorial & Maritime Studies, Vol. 6, Issue 1 (2019).
Herbstritt S, Vazhnik V, Fowler LB, Richard TL, Harvey A, Nardone D, Kleinman P, Fanok S, Ernst C, Duncan J, Hinrichs C, Circle F, Nicholas S, Coulter T & Stark T. Establishment of Multifunctional Riparian Buffers. STAC Publication Number 19-008 (Dec. 2019), Edgewater, MD.

Fowler LB, Caccese RT, Integrating Law, Science and a Way Forward: Opportunities for Collective Action in a Time of Change, Water Resources Impact (Nov. 2018). 2^nd place, AWRA “Article of the Year.”

Fowler, LB, et al., Flood Mitigation for Pennsylvania’s Rural Communities: Community-Scale Impact of Federal Policies. Center for Rural Pennsylvania (Sept. 2017).

Shi, X, Bracken, N, and Fowler, LB Year in Review, American Bar Assoc. Section on Energy, Environment and Resources Alt. Dispute Resolution Committee. (Mar. 2016).

Fowler, LB, Continuing Collaboration in the Face of Contention: Addressing Water Needs in Oregon’s Deschutes River Basin, ABA Section of Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Dispute Resolution Newsletter (July 2015), available online.

Fowler, LB, Multi-party Negotiation Exercise: “Dogs in the Park”, in Negotiation: Readings, Exercises and Cases, Lewicki, Barry and Saunders (Eds.) (7^th Edition, 2015).

Contributor, Healthy Livestock, Healthy Streams: Policy Actions to Promote Livestock Stream Exclusion, Chesapeake Bay Commission Report (May 2015), available online.

Cronin, AE, and Fowler, LB, Northwest Water Banking: Meeting Instream and Out of Stream Water Needs in the Pacific Northwest, The Water Report (Aug. 2012).

Curtis D, Fowler LB, Implementation of a Comprehensive Flood Warning System in West Central WA, ASCE-WERI World Envt’l & Water Resources Congress (May 2012).

Spohr D, Fowler LB Application of the Endangered Species Act to Tribal Actions: Can Ambiguity be a Good Thing? Seattle Univ. School of Law Envt’l Journal (Spring 2009).

Conway D, Fowler LB, The Innocent Purchaser Exemption in Washington and Oregon, ABA Environmental Litigation and Toxic Torts Committee Newsletter (April 2005).

Fowler LB, Instream Flow Protection in the Walla Walla River: Possible Strategies for Integrating the ESA and Bi-State Flow Protection Issues, ABA Water Comm. (Feb. 2005).

Fowler, LB, From Statutory Fix to Reg. Mix: Japan’s New Envt’l Law, 12 PAC. RIM L. & POL’Y J. 441 (2003).

Co-author, Mitigating the Effects of Groundwater Development on Streamflow in the Upper Deschutes Basin, Oregon, Eos, AGU Journal, Fall Meeting Compendium (2000).

Blogs

Seth Blumsack & Lara B. Fowler, Getting to Net Zero Emissions: How Energy Leaders Envision Countering Climate Change in the Future. The Conversation (Oct. 2022), reprinted in Nextgov.com.
SCOTUSBlog posts about Florida vs. Georgia (US Supreme Court case)
- No April Fool’s joke for Florida: Water rights case is dismissed (Apr. 1, 2021).
- In interstate water disputes, two stories, conflicting evidence & an uncertain outcome (Feb. 23, 2021)
- Florida and Georgia face off again in long-running fight over water rights (Feb. 19, 2021)
- New special master finds for Georgia in most recent round of water dispute (Jan. 9, 2020).
- Water-rights dispute Florida v. Georgia seems to have stalled (July 9, 2019).
- Florida wins another chance, and the case goes back to the drawing board (June 27, 2018).
- Can Florida’s needs for more water be “redressed” by a consumption cap in Georgia? (Jan. 9, 2018).
- The long-standing water dispute between Florida & Georgia gets a(nother) day in Court (Jan. 2, 2018)

Indisputably Blog Post for “Theory of Change Symposium”: Floods, Fires, Drought and More: The Climate is Changing and Dispute Resolution Tools are Needed (Now!) (19 January 2019); republished by the University of Utah Quinney School of Law Environmental Dispute Resolution Blog (Oct. 2020).

In teaching any given topic, Prof. Fowler focus on helping students understand the real world implications of the topic. Many of her classes support community capacity building through Penn State’s Sustainable Communities Collaborative, which matches courses or student project with community needs. For example, the Mediation of Environmental and Public Disputes course has supported several important community challenges or facilitated sessions, including the following:

Materials to support a potential stormwater ordinance for the Borough of State College (2014);
Potential processes to consider local energy supplies for the Borough of State College (2016);
A community dialogue on management of the Spring Creek (PA) watershed (2018);
A public stakeholder meeting for 150+ people to support development of the Centre County Climate Adaptation and Action Plan (2021);
Alternatives to consider for the proposed 322 Highway through Centre County (2023).

Similarly, the Negotiation and Dispute Resolution Design students have supported work on several projects as well:

Ideas for how three local communities might manage single use plastics (2019, 2022);
Considerations for odor management in agricultural communities (2019);

For each of these courses, students interviewed interested people, conducted background research, and helped develop recommendations of potential next steps.

In addition to teaching courses, Prof. Fowler has supervised more than 10 independent studies and served as an outside faculty member on three masters or Ph.D. theses or dissertations.

November 2025

Professor Lara Fowler participates in panel discussing recent Pennsylvania delegation trip to Denmark

October 2025

Professor Lara B. Fowler presents keynote speech for the 2025 Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful conference

August 2025

Professor Lara B. Fowler chairs jury for the Stockholm Junior Water Prize

August 2025

Professor Lara B. Fowler moderates Ag Progress Days Panel

August 2025

Professor Lara B. Fowler appears in widely shared Plastic Free July video

August 2025

Professor Lara B. Fowler quoted in Lancaster Farming News article