Jonathon J. Keene, who goes by the nickname “JT”, is a Florida attorney with a desire and drive to protect Florida’s natural resources. From the precious aquifer, to the humble manatee, Jonathon has been actively involved for more than 30 years in bringing awareness of the environmental harms caused by reckless watercraft operation, uncontrolled deforestation, over development, and air, soil, and water pollution throughout the state. A resident of Orlando for all but 7 years of his life, he attended Colonial High School, graduated from both Valencia College and UCF with degrees in Humanities, before receiving his Juris Doctor from Barry University School of Law. While at Barry, Jonathon was an active member of the Environmental Law Society, and focused on a potential career as an environmental attorney before graduating and turning his passion for helping people into an estate planning and probate practice. He worked for nearly three years at a law firm in central Florida where he engaged in debt collection and insurance subrogation cases, honing his civil litigation skills in nearly every courthouse in the state of Florida. Upon leaving that firm to renew his estate planning practice, he was offered the incredible opportunity to return to Barry Law and work in his preferred field as the Director for the Center for Earth Jurisprudence.
Outside of his legal career, Jonathon is an avid sports fan, a devoted husband, and a punk rock drummer. He enjoys visiting the many parks and wildlife refuges the state has to offer, along with traveling the world with his wife, Emily, whenever time allows for it. Jonathon believes that protecting the Earth, and every living being’s right to exist, is at the core of today’s environmental law education, and that building the same passion that exists within him and instilling that into the Earth jurisprudence advocates of tomorrow is the key to Nature’s continued survival.
Margaret R. Stewart, Esq., MPA., LL.M
Faculty Advisor
mstewart@barry.edu
Margaret serves as the Faculty Advisor at the Center for Earth Jurisprudence. She oversees CEJ's programs and operations and has created educational forums throughout the United States and abroad. She also serves as the key Advisor to Barry University law students that work with CEJ as Earth Law & Policy Fellows.
Margaret formerly served on the Executive Committee and chaired the Legal Committee of the Florida Springs Council. She is on the Executive Committee of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature (GARN), a network of organizations and individuals committed to the universal adoption and implementation of legal systems that recognize, respect and enforce “Rights of Nature” and to make the idea of Rights of Nature an idea whose time has come. She currently facilitates the GARN Legal Hub, a global connection of legal experts in the areas of Earth law and environmental justice. At Barry University, she serves on the Laudato Si’ Committee, the Adrian Dominican Institute Roundtable (ADIR), and as an Inclusive Teaching and Learning Consultant through the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) office.
Margaret is a contributing author to the first ever Earth Law textbook, Earth Law: Emerging Ecocentric Law: A Guide for Practitioners and has written on the intersection of Earth law and environmental justice.
She earned her undergraduate degree in Political Science from Randolph-Macon Woman's College, her Masters in Non-Profit & Human Resources Management from Penn State University, her Juris Doctor from Barry University School of Law, and her LL.M. from Western New England School of Law. While in law school, Margaret earned her Environmental Law Honors Certificate and worked two semesters in the Environmental and Earth Law Clinic. She now lectures on Earth Jurisprudence and Earth Law at Barry and around the world.
Margaret enjoys traveling and exploring new destinations. Originating from an urban jungle like Philadelphia, Margaret has delighted in the natural treasures of Florida and is devoted to protecting them for future generations. Her belief in the intrinsic rights of all members of the Earth community was deepened when she met Thomas Berry as a teenager and she remains a staunch advocate for the legal recognition of those rights.
She is a member of the Florida Bar.