On July 5, 2018, students and faculty in the UCLA Frank G. Wells Environmental Law Clinic filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of a group of world-class scientists including E.O. Wilson, Stuart Pimm, and UCLA's Brad Shaffer. Sean Hecht authored the brief with assistance from students Jen Garlock '19 and Heejin Hwang '19. The brief argued the Court and federal agencies should employ a scientific understanding of habitat, not a dictionary definition that would inadequately protect species, to implement the Endangered Species Act in the way Congress intended.