Brooke Mercaldi

Brooke Mercaldi
Brooke Mercaldi Staff Attorney, Marine Affairs Institute and Rhode Island Sea Grant Legal Program

Contact Information

401-254-5352bmercaldi@rwu.eduMarine Affairs Institute & RI Sea Grant Legal Program

Education

J.D., Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University
MEM, Yale School of the Environment
B.S., Southern Connecticut State University

 

Brooke Mercaldi is a Staff Attorney with the Marine Affairs Institute and Rhode Island Sea Grant Legal Program. Prior to joining the Marine Affairs Institute, Brooke was an Environmental Law & Policy Consultant for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

While an undergraduate student at Southern Connecticut State University, Brooke was a Research Coordinator and Research Assistant for the Werth Center for Coastal and Marine Studies and wrote her Honors Thesis on the physical dynamics of the Connecticut shoreline. She subsequently completed the joint degree program at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University (Haub Law) and the Yale School of the Environment. As a law and master’s student, Brooke interned at the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Save the Sound, and Haub Law’s Global Center for Environmental Legal Studies. She also worked as a Research Assistant in Haub Law’s Land Use Law Center, the Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy, and Yale Law School’s Climate Change & Animal Agriculture Litigation Initiative.

Brooke received her J.D. from Haub Law and Master of Environmental Management from the Yale School of the Environment in December 2023 and her B.S. in Environmental Systems & Sustainability Studies from Southern Connecticut State University in 2020. 

Close Course Type Descriptions

Course Types

We have classified RWU Law classes under the following headers. One of the following course types will be attached to each course which will allow students to narrow down their search while looking for classes.

Core Course

Students in the first and second year are required to take classes covering the following aspects of the law—contracts, torts, property, criminal law, civil procedure, and constitutional law, evidence, and professional responsibility.  Along with these aspects, the core curriculum will develop legal reasoning skills.

Elective

After finishing the core curriculum the remaining coursework toward the degree is completed through upper level elective courses.  Students can choose courses that peak their interests or courses that go along with the track they are following.

Seminar

Seminars are classes where teachers and small groups of students focus on a specific topic and the students complete a substantial research paper.

Clinics/Externships

Inhouse Clinics and Clinical Externships legal education is law school training in which students participate in client representation under the supervision of a practicing attorney or law professor.  RWU Law's Clinical Programs offer unique and effective learning opportunities and the opportunity for practical experience while still in law school.