Shavonnie Carthens

Assistant Professor of Law

Professor Shavonnie Carthens teaches Public Health Law, Healthcare Organizations & Finance, and Civil Procedure II at UK Rosenberg College of Law. She is also an associate with the UK Center for Appalachian Research in Environmental Sciences. Her scholarly work broadly examines the connections among public health law, environmental law, and health outcomes, particularly how legal interventions impact the reduction of health disparities and improve access to healthy living environments. Her recent work has appeared in journals such as the Cleveland State Journal of Law and Health, Rhetoric of Health & Medicine, and the University of Kentucky Journal of Equine, Agriculture, and Natural Resources Law, with an article forthcoming in the University of Colorado Law Review.

Her dedication to promoting environmental health is evident in her work with the Environmental Health Literacy Coalition (EHLC). The EHLC’s “Air Justice Project” research focuses on air pollution issues in Louisville, aiming to increase community engagement and create resources that make the science and law related to air pollution more accessible to the public. Professor Carthens and EHLC partners extended this work in 2024 through a collaboration with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. Carthens is also part of the Kentucky Resources Council’s Environmental Health and Justice Working Group, and she frequently contributes to discussions on environmental health law and health equity by speaking at universities and community organizations.

Professor Carthens joined the faculty at UK Rosenberg College of Law after serving as an Assistant Professor at the University of Louisville, Brandeis School of Law, and a Law Success Instructor at St. Mary’s University School of Law. Before pursuing a career in academia, Carthens worked in private practice in the Washington, D.C., metro area. She earned her Juris Doctor with honors from North Carolina Central University School of Law and her B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.