Laws designed to protect planet Earth and its diverse inhabitants came into focus during a string of events during the spring.

On March 29, the Drexel Law Student Animal Legal Defense Fund and the Drexel Environmental Law Society teamed up to present "Old McDonald Had a Factory," a panel discussion of the intersecting issues of animal rights and environmental law.

Erin Williams, communications director of the Humane Society of the United States' Factory Farming Campaign discussed the lack of federal legislation to protect the rights of animals raised on farms.

Describing the battery cages, gestation crates and veal crates where hens, pigs and calves are kept, Williams said billions of these animals suffer discomfort and pain throughout their lives.

"These abuses would be illegal, if visited upon dogs and cats," Williams said, adding that many states have begun taking steps to outlaw some of the egregious conditions that livestock face.

Pennsylvania stands alone in allowing pigeon shoots, in which the birds are released from boxes to serve as live targets for hunters, Williams said, urging support for Senate Bill 626, which would outlaw the practice.

Bruce Myers, senior attorney with the Environmental Law Institute, outlined adverse impacts of livestock farming on the air, water and the climate itself.

Livestock accounts for 55 percent of pesticide usage in the U.S., Myers said, adding that agricultural run-off is the single largest source of pollution in rivers and streams.

Nutrient pollution has created algae-overgrown "dead zones" that kill fish in the Gulf of Mexico and the Chesapeake and San Francisco bays, Myers added.

"It's undeniable that animal-related agriculture plays a role in climate change," he said.

Students had a chance to learn about the Animal Law class that will be offered again this fall during a lunchtime "sneak peek" by Professor Dara Lovitz on April 14.

The ELS sponsored an April 7 trip to Greensgrow Farm, a one-block reclaimed plot in Philadelphia's Kensington neighborhood, where students planted seedlings and got their hands dirty with earthworm compost.

For students mulling careers in environmental law and policy, the Drexel Environmental Law Society and the Drexel American Constitution Society organized an April 21 career panel.

That event was designed to introduce students to potential career pathways, to offer insights about the most pressing needs for future generations of environmental lawyers and policymakers and to identify courses that would prepare them for this work, said Shari Berger Kulanu, co-president of the ELS.

Berger said changes are in store next year for the environmental group, which has aggressively recruited 1Ls and 2Ls and will be known as the Environmental Policy Association.

The group aims to promote more environmentally minded practices at the law school, such as reducing food waste and participating in Philly Compost a citywide initiative to eliminate such content from landfills.

Berger, who will spend her summer interning with Meyer Glitzenstein & Crystal, a Washington, D.C.-based firm that represents non-profit organizations that seek to protect the environment and wildlife, said she looks forward to learning creative strategies for future advocacy.