Papers of George William Sherk

George William (Jerry) Sherk has had a full career as both an attorney and a professor, specializing in natural resources and environmental law and policy at numerous government agencies, private law firms, and universities. His main interests include interstate water compacts and state water laws.

Sherk was born in 1949 in Washington, Missouri. He earned his bachelor's (1972) and master's (1974) degrees in political science from Colorado State University. He then attended the University of Denver College of Law, earning his Juris Doctorate with a focus on natural resources and environmental law in 1978. In 2002, he earned a Doctorate of Science in Engineering Management from the School of Engineering and Applied Science at The George Washington University where he focused on Environmental Management and Health.

As an attorney, Sherk worked in various positions, with the longest being six years (1984-1990) as a trial attorney in the General Litigation Section of the Land and Natural Resources Division in the U.S. Department of Justice. He followed this with a position of counsel to the law firm of Will & Muys between 1990 and 1993, working as an assistant to and forming a close relationship with Jerome Muys, who was Special Master for Texas and Oklahoma vs. New Mexico. Later, Sherk was heavily involved in the water allocation conflicts over the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint Basin (ACF) and the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa River (ACT) Commissions, working with the state of Georgia (1994-1996) and LaGrange/Troup County, Georgia (1999-2003).

For over forty years, Sherk also worked as an associate or adjunct professor at multiple universities. He taught more than twenty different courses, including political science, engineering law, environmental law, environmental management, international law, natural resources, public land and resources, renewable energy, and water law and politics. He has also published widely, including articles, book chapters, legal proceedings, and books.

Sherk has received awards for teaching, research, and writing and is a member of several academic honor societies. He also holds five bar memberships, including the State of Colorado, Territory of American Samoa, and United States Supreme Court. His professional activities include service on committees for the American Bar Association and the American Society of Civil Engineers. Currently, he is consulting in both the United States and Canada, working as sessional on the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Regina and as an adjunct professor in the School of Environment and Sustainability at the University of Saskatchewan.