A $100,000 gift from a Bend brewery owner will allow the UO School of Law to pursue groundbreaking work through its highly ranked Environmental and Natural Resources Center.

Roger Worthington, owner of Worthy Brewing, is passionate about environmental issues and believes the center can help society address issues around climate change, sustainability and more. The center was ranked No. 8 in the nation last year in U.S. News & World Report.

“Oregon’s ENR Center offers innovative multidisciplinary solutions to today’s environmental challenges while enhancing students’ educational opportunities,” law school Dean Marcilynn A. Burke said.  “I am deeply grateful to Roger Worthington for his generous support, which benefits our students, our state and our society.”

Through its Interdisciplinary Research Projects and Fellows Program, the natural resources center provides legal and policy analysis to community partners and decision-makers through an innovative educational program that prepares students for the legal profession while providing solutions to the most challenging environmental issues of our day.

“I am thrilled to make this gift to the UO’s outstanding Environmental and Natural Resources Law Center,” Worthington said. “Highly-trained lawyers are critical to our democracy and future prosperity in these challenging times. We must invest in those who are working to combat climate change, protect our environment and advocate for sustainability. I hope to inspire others to give to the ENR Center so that together we can make a meaningful impact for Oregon and our world.”

Mary Wood, Philip H. Knight Professor and faculty director of the center, also thanked Worthington and said the gift will help advance the center’s work.

“The current political climate demands that we come up with productive solutions to large, systemic problems to deal with global climate changes,” she said. “This gift will help the law school continue to contribute to those solutions.”

The gift will enhance the positive impact already made by the center and provide funds to support law students and the communities affected by their work. It joins previous and ongoing grants from the Evergreen Hill Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation.