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June 5, 2025
The Animal Legal Defense Fund Advancement of Animal Law Scholarships are awarded to law students based upon demonstrated commitment to the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s mission, “to advance the interests and protect the lives of animals through the legal system.” Recipients are actively involved with their Animal Legal Defense Fund Student Chapter while in law school and show promise in the field after graduation.
Since 2024, this special scholarship series celebrates and honors the life and legacy of Animal Law Program Director Stacey Gordon Sterling. Stacey’s unwavering commitment to student success was woven through all her roles, whether as law professor, library director, board member, or program director, and will forever remain in all our work.
Every year, one student who exemplifies Stacey’s love for student empowerment and animal protection will be selected. This year’s student selection is Aryana Swanson, a rising 3L at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law.
As president of her school’s SALDF chapter, Aryana has combined her commitment towards bringing awareness to animal protection and her resolve to create and maintain a community of advocates willing to engage in these conversations. One change Aryana made to the chapter was the pacing and format of events; instead of leaning heavily on formal speaker talks, Aryana set out to host smaller, more informal events throughout the year that encourage students to think about their personal choices and professional goals. By planning events like “Careers in Animal Law” and “Using Your Law Degree to Help Animals,” Aryana exemplifies leadership for the betterment of all. We applaud Aryana for this dedication towards lasting change for both animals and law students.
Aryana Swanson is entering her third year at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, where she currently serves as President of the Student Animal Legal Defense Fund chapter. She is also an Articles Editor for Northwestern University Law Review and is writing her student note on a topic at the intersection of criminal and animal law.
Aryana lives in Chicago with her two rescue cats. She has had strong bonds with animals since childhood, which led her to go vegan and get involved in animal rights advocacy in high school. She spent years campaigning for a local ordinance banning horse carriages in Chicago, and her efforts finally paid off when City Council passed a ban in 2020. As powerful as these efforts were, Aryana realized that attending law school could make her a better advocate for animals. After graduating from Columbia University with a degree in Political Science, Aryana moved back to her hometown of Chicago to attend Northwestern Law.
In her first year of law school, Aryana was selected for Northwestern’s moot court team. She has a passion for oral advocacy and plans to have a career in animal impact litigation. During her second year, Aryana externed in the Animal Protection Law department at Humane World for Animals, where she conducted research to support Supreme Court briefs, legislative campaigns, and various lawsuits. After graduation, Aryana is looking forward to staying involved in animal protection and advising her school’s student ALDF chapter.
Learn more about Aryana Swanson.
Amanda is entering her third year of law school at Michigan State University College of Law, where she will serve as the vice president of the SALDF chapter. She is an Associate Editor for the Michigan State Law Review, where her student note about the admissibility of animal cruelty evidence in animal rescue trials was selected for publication. Amanda has previously interned with Mercy For Animals and Animal Welfare Institute. This summer, she is very excited to be a Litigation Clerk for the Animal Legal Defense Fund.
Amanda’s commitment to the animal rights movement began ten years ago when she became vegan and got involved in local grassroots organizing. She has led demonstrations across the country, with highlights including organizing a “die-in” style protest in front of the White House, giving water to pigs outside of slaughterhouses, and wearing a coyote costume with her leg in a real leghold trap to protest Canada Goose. Her advocacy extends to animal rescue efforts: she has fostered chickens rescued from slaughter, served on the board of an animal sanctuary, and spoken about her experience running a microsanctuary at the Animal Rights National Conference.
In her spare time, Amanda enjoys SCUBA diving, reading science fiction, and playing strategy board games. She lives with her cat companion, Andy.
Learn more about Amanda Houdeschell.
Elly is entering her second year at Emory University School of Law, where she will serve as president of the Emory Student Animal Legal Defense Fund chapter for the upcoming academic year. In the upcoming summer, she will serve as a legal intern with the Society for the Protection of Insects and as an animal law research assistant for Professor Ani B. Satz.
Before law school, Elly spent several years as a Program Coordinator at New Roots Institute, a national nonprofit that educates and empowers students to address the impacts of factory farming on people, animals, and the environment. During her undergraduate studies, she studied Environmental Science and International Studies and volunteered with Harvard Law School’s Animal Law & Policy Program, the Humane League, and Vegetarian Resource Group.
Learn more about Elly Ren here.
Francesca is a rising 3L at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University, where she is pursuing a J.D. with an advanced certificate in environmental law. Francesca is Acquistions Editor for the Pace Environmental Law Review, former representative for the Food and Agriculture Division and treasurer of the Environmental Law Society and starting her role as co-president of her school’s Animal Legal Defense Fund Student Chapter, after serving as the org’s treasurer.
Through her work on multiple e-boards she has helped organize and run many events, including but not limited to an Earth Day Jamboree, an educational event on animal testing, and various service projects. Additionally, with SALDF she helped with research supporting a new state law promoting wildlife health.
Francesca is from New Jersey with her menagerie of pets. She is excited to serve as an advisor to her chapter after graduation, as well as her future career working for animal and environmental protection.
Learn more about Francesca Fazio here.
Frannie is a rising 2L at Lewis & Clark Law School and is a lifelong animal lover and advocate. She has an undergraduate degree in anthropology, focused on human-animal interactions, including a semester-long ethnographic project on the relationship between police handlers and their working canines. After finishing her bachelor’s, Frannie worked for an animal rights organization and her local animal shelter. She recently completed a master’s degree in animal science at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, where she sought to strengthen her scientific understanding of the biological needs of wildlife, agricultural, and companion animals. Her degree concluded with a year-long thesis on integrated urban wildlife programs. While in law school, Frannie hopes to expand her advocacy skills by exploring the legal tools and litigation strategies needed to advance animal welfare across diverse sectors. Her primary interests are in human-wildlife conflict resolution and pursuing justice for the suffering caused to animals in both domestic and international settings.
In her first year of law school, Frannie served as a 1L class representative for her Animal Legal Defense Fund chapter. During the upcoming year, she will serve as the chapter’s co-director and looks forward to promoting animal advocacy on campus and at large. She will also serve as a submission editor for the Animal Law Review.
Frannie is excited to grow her understanding of animal legal studies, and in her free time is eager to explore the Oregon coast with her pups!
Learn more about Frannie von Friedeburg here.
Jiaqi (Vicky) Liu is entering her third year of law school at Duke University School of Law, where she will continue to serve as president of her school’s Animal Legal Defense Fund student chapter. Vicky’s passion for animals began when she witnessed firsthand the neglect of a Yorkie abandoned by a classmate during the pandemic—an experience that led her to personally care for the dog for several months and rehome her. Since then, she has become deeply committed to advancing the welfare of animals through law, advocacy, and education.
Her dedication spans rescue animals, companion animals, and farmed animals, with a focus on the legal and systemic challenges they face—from cruelty and abandonment to the impacts of factory farming and natural disasters. Vicky’s involvement with ALDF at Duke has transformed the chapter’s reach and visibility: under her leadership, the organization expanded conference participation, strengthened ties with local sanctuaries, hosted volunteer days, and organized the school’s annual Animal Law Symposium. She has led discussions on issues ranging from anti-cruelty laws to agricultural regulations, all while restructuring the chapter’s leadership to enhance recruitment and sustainability.
After graduation, Vicky intends to continue using her legal training to support the movement for animal protection through litigation, policy reform, and corporate accountability. Her research on animal welfare has focused on anti-cruelty laws and cosmetic testing, and she hopes to explore how legal incentives can support ethical efforts and regulate animal-related practices. With a background in consulting and nonprofit strategy, she also brings a systems-thinking approach to advocacy and has advised local animal organizations on financial sustainability. Vicky is particularly passionate about expanding global protections for animals, especially in jurisdictions where legal frameworks remain underdeveloped. She hopes to build international collaborations that challenge cross-border exploitation and bring animal protection to the forefront of global legal reform.
Learn more about Jiaqi “Vicky” Liu here.
Paige Scatena is entering her second year at University of Illinois Chicago School of Law (UIC). She will continue to serve as the Vice President for UIC’s Animal Legal Defense Fund Chapter. Paige will also be serving as the President of the Chicago Animal Law Student Initiative for the upcoming academic year and is a member of the ABA TIPS Animal Law Committee. She has been a passionate animal rights activist for over a decade and plans to dedicate her legal career to this movement. This summer, she will be working for the Climate Change & Animal Agriculture Litigation Initiative at Yale Law School.
During her undergraduate studies, she was involved in organizing events both in the community and on campus. She was the President and Activism Coordinator for the animal rights club on campus, Vegan Justice League, and started a Students Opposing Speciesism Hub at the University of Colorado-Boulder. During her freshman year, Paige helped organize a 4-day long animal rights conference, Colorado Animal Liberation Forum. This conference consisted of slaughterhouse vigils, a protest on Colorado State University’s campus, multiple trainings, an Animal Rights March on the streets of Boulder, and silent demonstrations. In 2020, Paige won People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Activist of the Year award for her dedication and years of activism. She is extremely passionate about issues involving animals used for food. These issues are particularly close to her heart because she rescued a potbelly pig, Daisy, who is her biggest inspiration. She plans to continue to defend animals like Daisy in the legal system.
Paige pursued law school to pivot her activism to protect animals under the law. She became involved in the animal rights movement after speaking with a volunteer about the cruelty of captivity. Paige has seen firsthand the impact one individual can have and she wants to continue to create change for animals and encourage others to advocate for them. After graduation, she is committed to a career in animal law and serving as a chapter advisor.
Learn more about Paige Scatena here.
Charlene Luo is a law student at Texas Law and is serving as the president of the Animal Legal Defense Fund Student Chapter for the 2024–2025 academic year.
Charlene’s passion for animals began in childhood and deepened through years of volunteer work at local shelters in Southern California. After college, she continued her advocacy by fostering puppies and kittens and gaining hands-on experience at the San Diego Humane Society, where she learned about rescue operations and animal care in practice.
At Texas Law, Charlene has been actively working to grow the ALDF chapter and increase student engagement. She has organized in-person events to foster community interest and hosted guest speakers — including one from New York — to shed light on international animal cruelty issues, marking the first time the chapter has engaged with animal law from a global perspective. She is committed to making the chapter a more active and inclusive space for students passionate about animal advocacy.
She believes that building a more compassionate world for all necessitates a dedicated effort to advancing the rights and well-being of non-human animals within the legal system. Further, she sees student-led initiatives as a powerful tool for raising awareness, building community, and encouraging long-term engagement with animal protection issues.
Charlene looks forward to expanding the chapter’s reach in the coming year through new initiatives, such as collaborative events with other student organizations, educational workshops on legislation and policy, and hands-on volunteer opportunities with local rescues and shelters. She is excited to continue building a strong foundation for future student advocates.
Learn more about Charlene Luo here.
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