Tulane Law School in New Orleans begins the new academic year with three new women on its full-time faculty.
Francesca Buzzi joins the Women’s Prison Project as a new clinical assistant professor after working as an attorney with Orleans Public Defenders. She represented clients in cases ranging from misdemeanors to offenses carrying life-without-parole sentences, tried more than 15 jury trials, and argued before the Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal and Louisiana Supreme Court. At Tulane, she will supervise students representing incarcerated survivors whose experiences of abuse intersect with the criminal legal system.
Buzzi is a graduate of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, and holds a juris doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley.
Tasia Kastanek is a new clinical assistant professor at the Environmental Law Clinic after serving as an associate regional counsel with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Chicago. She worked on federal environmental enforcement under the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Superfund.
Kastanek is a graduate of the University of Colorado Boulder, where she majored in art history and journalism. She holds a master’s degree in art history and a juris doctorate from Tulane University. As a Tulane Law student, she worked on litigation challenging permits for major industrial facilities in Louisiana.
Jessica Wood joins the permanent faculty of the Domestic Violence Clinic as a clinical assistant professor after serving as a visiting clinical professor during the 2025–26 academic year. Wood has spent more than a decade advocating for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse and neglect. She previously served as managing attorney of the Domestic Violence Unit at Southeast Louisiana Legal Services.
Wood is a graduate of Texas A&M University, where she majored in business administration. She holds a juris doctorate from Tulane Law School.