This is part of a series of posts by recipients of the 2021 Career Services Summer Funding Grant. We’ve asked funding recipients to reflect on their summer experiences and talk about the industries in which they spent their summer. You can read the entire series here.
This entry is by Ben Salinger, COL ’22
During the summer of 2021, I had the opportunity to work as a regulatory law research assistant for Professor Coglianese in the Penn Program on Regulation (PPR) at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. Despite the challenges of doing research completely virtually, I was able to work on fascinating projects and foster relationships with my coworkers, all of whom were rising 2L’s at Penn Law. I worked on a variety of projects, including editing journal articles on deregulation and corporate lobbying, conducting background research for a forthcoming environmental law textbook, and entering publications into the PPR research data base.
Through editing several of Professor Coglianese’s forthcoming journal articles, I was able to apply my copy-editing skills in a fast-paced environment. Proofreading these dense articles often at a moment’s notice and under strict time constraints, I honed my skills in digesting and fine-tuning legal scholarship. I also learned a lot about the realities of federal regulations in the United States, complementing my PPE studies in public policy and constitutional law.
Besides reviewing journal articles, I spent a lot of time finding and synthesizing sources for an environmental regulation book project. I sifted through books, scientific studies, lengthy research reports, and news articles to get the most up-to-date information on the state of the environment and the history of environmental regulation in the United States and around the world. I learned a lot about not only the far-reaching effects of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change, but also the power of regulation and public policy to slow– and even reverse– these effects.
Finally, I spent a large portion of the summer working on the Penn Program on Regulation faculty database. I entered bluebook citations for over 600 PPR faculty affiliate publications, doubling the size of the database. Though tedious at times, I found it extremely rewarding to learn about distinguished legal scholars and a breadth of niche legal topics.
I enjoyed this position so much that I will continue working for Professor Coglianese and PPR through the academic year. This job helped me bridge the gap between my academic studies and the law, narrow the scope of my legal interests, and ultimately decide that I want to attend law school. The skills and knowledge I acquired in this position will provide an invaluable foundation for me to build upon in my future academic and professional pursuits.
