Professor Erwin selected as Stegner Center Young Scholar of the Year

The University of Utah has selected Professor Erwin as Stegner Center Young Scholar of the Year. He will be speaking at the 19th Annual Stegner Center Young Scholar Lecture on November 19, 2023.

Professor Erwin will explore legal challenges to predator hunting. He will taxonomize existing case law and explain why successful challenges to state hunting regimes are difficult and rare. As apex predators are being federally delisted under the Endangered Species Act and returned to state management, there is significant potential for over-harvest. This was seen most recently in Wisconsin in 2021, when nearly a third of all gray wolves in the state were killed over a weekend after the species was temporarily delisted. This work is also motivated by his experiences as a scientist studying the effects of hunting on mountain lion populations and a growing body of scientific literature that is critical of current trends in predator hunting.