ASU Law grad heads to Israel on Fulbright Scholarship

As a Phoenix native, Quinne Daoust is no stranger to water scarcity and drought. But her time at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University gave her a new passion for water law and policy that helped earn her a competitive Fulbright Scholarship.

“It is a dream,” she said. “This opportunity feels made for me. I’m excited to research and learn more.”

Daoust is one of three U.S. students chosen for research opportunities in Israel. She will study how they regulate and permit water desalination facilities in order to learn how to create more successful systems here in the U.S. Her time abroad will include a four-month fellowship at Tel Aviv University and then five months as a research assistant at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies in the Jordan River Valley. 

When she returns to Arizona, she hopes to have her research published in a legal journal before starting to practice as a attorney in a field she’s come to love. 

Daoust said she always wanted to go to law school but wasn’t sure what shape that path would take. It wasn’t until she took a property law class with Professor Rhett Larson, a water law expert, that her interest was sparked. 

“It’s collaborative. We’re building things,” she said. “It’s an area of law that’s all about creation, and it’s solutions driven. I’m glad the world sees value in researching it. There are problems in the way the legal system allocates water, and I can’t wait to get in on the action.”

Larson helped her pick her research topic, and Assistant Dean Andrew Jaynes, a former Fulbright scholar, was instrumental in the application process. Externship opportunities at Salt River Project and the Arizona House of Representatives helped prepare her as well. She graduated from ASU Law in May with her Juris Doctor.

“I applied on a whim,” she said of the Fulbright program. “Don’t be afraid to throw your name in the ring. A lot of people apply, but I’m so glad I did it and it panned out.”

Daoust will head to Israel in October after sitting for the Arizona bar exam in July.