has been an attorney in New Haven, Connecticut since 1964. A graduate of Yale College in 1960, and Yale Law School in 1964 with a Master of Urban Studies from Yale in 1965, Mr. Cooper served as Zoning Director of New Haven from 1965 to 1970 when he entered private practice.
Concentrating his practice in the areas of estate planning, environmental law, and planning and zoning, Mr. Cooper has been affiliated with many of the environmental groups in the State of Connecticut. General Counsel to the Connecticut Fund for the Environment since 1985, he has also served as counsel to the National Resources Defense Council and the Environmental Defense Fund on various cases. He served as chairman of the Connecticut Chapter of the Nature Conservancy from 1978-1982 and 1987-1989, where he is now Trustee Emeritus.
At the Nature Conservancy’s 50th anniversary Mr. Cooper was named the environmental “Hero” for Connecticut. From 1990-1994 he started and co-taught the environmental law clinic at Yale Law School. In 1998 he received the Charles J. Parker Legal Services Award from the Connecticut Bar Association. Most recently, in 2008, the Connecticut Fund for the Environment created the Peter B. Cooper Science/Legal Fellowship in his honor. He is a former director of the Connecticut Audubon Society and the Woodbridge Land Trust. He now serves as a member of the New England Advisory Council of the Trust for Public Land.