Suma Peesapati

Suma Peesapati serves as a Lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law and holds the inaugural position of Environmental Justice and Community Engagement Officer at the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. With over two decades of legal experience, she previously served as Assistant General Counsel for Enforcement at CalEPA (appointed by Governor Newsom in 2019) and as a Deputy Attorney General focusing on environmental enforcement in underserved communities.

Her academic credentials include:

• J.D. from UC Law, San Francisco (1999)
• B.S. and B.A. from UC Berkeley (1996)

Professor Peesapati's expertise centers on Environmental Justice, Environmental Law, Administrative Law, Natural Resources, and Energy Law. Her career integrates public service, nonprofit advocacy, and private practice with a consistent focus on equitable environmental enforcement in low-income communities and communities of color. She founded Peesapati Law, a plaintiff's environmental law firm, and has collaborated with organizations including Earthjustice and Communities for a Better Environment.

She has held academic appointments as a visiting assistant professor at UC Irvine’s Environmental Law Clinic and adjunct faculty at UC Davis. Additionally, she advises the Executive Committee of the California Lawyers Association’s Environmental Law Section.