Ethan Middlebrooks

 Ethan Middlebrooks is in his third year at CUNY Law School and second year as a fellow with CUER. His interest in the environment began at a young age in his hometown of Birmingham, Alabama, where he would romp about the creeks and woods and clean up garbage. Growing up in Birmingham, a former steel town and heart of the Civil Rights Movement, also exposed him to the social and environmental inequities that came with both industrial and urban development.

Ethan attended college at Cornell University, where he enjoyed the beautiful Finger Lakes surroundings, and became active with on and off-campus environmental and sustainability groups. Before starting CUNY Law, he moved to New York City and volunteered with Hudson Riverkeeper and NY Cares while working as a paralegal. This past summer he enjoyed interning with New York Lawyer’s for the Public Interest’s Environmental Justice Unit. Ethan’s interested in water quality and access, reclamation of damaged lands and sustainable development both in the form of urban renewal and new building. Outside of law school, his interests include road racing, chaotic music, eating new foods, and traveling.