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University of Colorado Law School students Piper Lacy��(’27) and Lex Padilla (’27) have been named the 2025-2026 Colorado Law Wyss Scholars in U.S. Lands Conservation. , funded by the , is awarded to two Colorado Law students each year. The scholars program supports graduate-level education for promising leaders in United States land conservation. Recipients receive generous financial assistance to cover the full cost of one year of law school, as well as funds for internship opportunities, research assistance, and postgraduate support.��Wyss Scholars learn the latest in conservation law and policy and apply that knowledge in careers at land management agencies and nonprofit conservation groups.

Piper Lacy’s connection to the land and commitment to environmental conservation developed while she was growing up on her family’s farm in Western Massachusetts. As an undergraduate at Mount Holyoke College, Piper leaned into her passion for environmental stewardship and created a Sustainable Agriculture and Food Justice Fellowship with the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts at its Hadley Farm. This led her to study sustainable agriculture as an avenue for promoting land conservation and combating climate change.��

Before law school, Piper worked as a soil ecology and cropping systems lab technician at Montana State University and the University of Massachusetts. Conducting research on farmland in rural Montana highlighted the environmental harms caused by mainstream agricultural practices and the vulnerability of rural communities. Inspired by this experience, Piper decided to pursue a legal career focused on promoting sustainable agriculture, land conservation, and community resilience.

Piper’s background in soil science and sustainable agriculture has influenced her to pursue a legal career that involves range management and restoration of native grasslands and forests. Because so much public and private land in the United States is used for agricultural purposes, Piper hopes to engage in work that reduces the negative impacts of agriculture on biodiversity, water quality, and soil health.

As a student at Colorado Law, Piper has taken advantage of opportunities to become a part of and contribute to Colorado Law’s environmental law community as a member of the board of the Colorado Environmental Law Society and as Lead Notes Editor for the Colorado Environmental Law Journal. Piper has also pursued experiential learning opportunities to establish a well-rounded foundation in environmental law and conservation. She has externed with Earthjustice’s Sustainable Food and Farming Program and participated in Colorado Law’s Getches-Green Natural Resources, Energy, and Environmental Law Clinic.��

Piper is also very passionate about the conservation of public lands for recreational and cultural purposes. In her free time, Piper escapes to the mountains to go backcountry skiing, trail running, mountain biking, and rock climbing. Informed by her own experiences in the outdoors, Piper believes that people are far more likely to be motivated to protect wild places if they have had the opportunity to experience those places and all they have to offer. She hopes to pursue a career with a focus on protecting and improving access to public lands, while also advocating for sustainable and responsible use of public lands to conserve essential ecosystems and wildlife habitat. She looks forward to gaining insight into local conservation efforts and land use planning as a Law Clerk with the Boulder County Attorney’s office this summer.

Lex Padilla’s interest in public land conservation started with noticing how little nature remained in the suburban landscape where she grew up. Moments like watching her grandmother look for birds outside her window made her aware of how fragile those everyday connections to land and wildlife had become. Seeing events like the Flint water crisis unfold reinforced her sense that environmental issues are closely tied to fairness, community health, and access.

She lives by this quote, attributed to Dr. Lilla Watson, “If you have come to help, you are wasting your time. If you have come because your liberation is bound together with mine, let us walk together.” If the land is not free, the air is not clean, and the birds are dying, then are we really, truly liberated? For these very reasons, Lex has developed a lifelong commitment to environmental law and conservation.

Through college and law school, that early awareness turned into a clear academic and professional
direction. She studied political science with a strong focus on environmental ethics and justice, worked in environmental education and climate policy, and supported CEQA compliance. In law school, she deepened her focus through the Environmental Law Journal, the Natural Resources Clinic, and research roles with the Getches-Wilkinson Center and Professor Mark Squillace. Her internships with Earthjustice and the Colorado Attorney General’s Office gave her practical experience with the legal frameworks that govern land, water, and air.

She now hopes to build a career as a public interest attorney in the American West, working on public lands, resource management, and conservation. Her goal is to join the Colorado Attorney General’s Natural Resource Fellowship Program and continue serving the state through work that supports both ecological health and community needs.