WVU College of Law Class of 2022
Photo by WVU College of Law.
By Kristen Uppercue
Madison Hinkle, a community advocate at the Mountain Watershed Association, is a tenth-generation West Virginian—her family has been living here since before it was even a state. This sparked her passion to serve the Mountain State and its people in her career.
“I always tell people that I have two true passions: the planet and the state of West Virginia,” Hinkle says. “It’s hard to explain that feeling you get in your chest when you know you love something and you’re truly passionate about it, but anytime I think of this state and its people, I get that feeling.”
Hinkle was born in Ranson, WV, and grew up in Shenandoah Junction. She attended West Virginia University (WVU), where she received a bachelor’s degree in biology in 2019 with minors in psychology and business administration.
Hinkle then attended WVU College of Law, where she graduated with a concentration in energy and sustainable development law in 2022—taking every environmental law course she could during her time at the school. Hinkle was recognized at graduation for obtaining the Pro Bono Distinction, Community Service Honors and 3L Legacy Award, which is awarded to a third-year student who leaves a lasting legacy at the WVU College of Law.
“Being a student at the WVU College of Law was an amazing experience,” Hinkle says. “I feel really blessed that I was able to attend one of the top public service schools in the country, and it was extremely evident that so many of my classmates were pursuing a legal education so that they could help better the lives of others and their communities.”
Hinkle says the most challenging aspect of law school was attending during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The pandemic struck during my second semester of law school,” she says. “It made it challenging to feel as connected to my peers and the classes, but I was lucky to have some stellar professors that made the change easier to handle.”
While in law school, Hinkle served as president of the Environmental Law Society, president of the West Virginia Fund for Law in the Public Interest, executive editor of Volume 124 of the West Virginia Law Review and secretary for the Energy Law Association. She was also involved with the Public Interest Advocates, served as the student representative on the Faculty Sustainability Subcommittee and was a student clinician in the WVU Land Use and Sustainable Development Clinic. She also volunteered with Friends of Deckers Creek and received a CALI Excellence for the Future Award in Energy Law.
“I saw extracurriculars in law school as a way to not only become closer with my classmates and make connections with students interested in similar things to me, but I saw it as a way to get more of a first-hand experience with the type of law and the types of people I would one day be engaged with,” she says. “Community service projects, guest speakers and actual legal assignments, when it came to the clinic, helped solidify my knowledge that I wanted to practice environmental law and engage with community members to make them feel heard and empowered.”
Hinkle previously worked with the Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center in Whitesburg, KY, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and as a research assistant to two of her professors.
In her role as a community advocate with the Mountain Watershed Association, a nonprofit in Melcroft, PA, she is dedicated to the protection and preservation of clean water in the Youghiogheny River watershed.
“I’m really looking forward to engaging with community members and helping fulfill the mission of the organization,” she says. “From my first day of law school, it was my dream to practice nonprofit environmental law, and I’m ecstatic that I am going to be able to do this kind of work in an area so close to home.”
