News : Alumni

September 20, 2021

YSE Alumnus and Current Yale Law Student A.J. Hudson Awarded Switzer Environmental Fellowship

A.J. Hudson ’19 MESc has received a Switzer Environmental Fellowship, which awards emerging environmental leaders studying at universities in New England and California with funding and support for their graduate studies and career development.
July 26, 2021

Addicott Awarded Marine Economics Fellowship to Study Coastal Erosion

PhD candidate Ethan Addicott aims to create a tool to aid beach restoration efforts and maximize the value and utility of every bucket of sand.
July 19, 2021

Sustainable Procurement Key to Lowering Carbon Footprint

As more companies focus on reducing their carbon footprint, there’s one element that is key but often overlooked — reducing emissions from their supply chains.
June 30, 2021

Four YSE Students Named 2021 Sabin International Fellows

Four graduate students from the Yale School of the Environment have been named Andrew Sabin International Environmental Fellows, receiving up to $40,000 of funding for their education and post-graduate service in the environmental sector.
June 24, 2021

YSE Students Spicing up Trail Foods in Sustainable Ways

Mesa, a startup run by Tony Cisneros '21 MEM and Caroline Ebinger '22 MEM, seeks to provide nutritious backpacking meals while supporting core planetary health principles. 
March 22, 2021

The Dirt on Crop Insurance

A new study from YSE researchers investigates the complex world of crop insurance, suggesting a simple adjustment in determining insurance premiums could be beneficial to both farmers and insurers in the face of increased extreme weather events.
March 9, 2021

Eleanor Stokes Named Rising Star for Leading Role in Nighttime Satellite Imagery Project

Eleanor Stokes PhD ’18 has been named one of Geospatial World’s 50 Rising Stars for her work on Black Marble, NASA’s first nighttime light dataset, which provides insights on human settlements and the interactions between urban activities and the environment.
January 27, 2021

A New Foundation for U.S. Forest Policy

Rich Guldin, recipient of the Society of American Foresters’ prestigious Sir William Schlich Award, is eager to talk about how forest research can inform smart forest policy.
January 27, 2021

Connection, Growth and Change

Alumnus startup looks to reimagine the urban tree lifecycle with “reforestation hubs.”
January 27, 2021

The Outsider’s Advantage

Dr. Dorceta Taylor ’85 MFS, ’91 PhD, who joined the YSE faculty in July as a full professor, on why she was excited to return to Yale and her kinship with the celebrated environmentalist Rachel Carson. 
January 19, 2021

Maggie Thomas Named Chief of Staff of New Office of Domestic Climate Policy

Yale School of the Environment alumna Maggie Thomas ’15 MEM, who served on the climate teams of presidential candidates Jay Inslee and Elizabeth Warren, has been named Chief of Staff of the newly created Office of Domestic Climate Policy by President Joe Biden.
October 13, 2020

Ahead of Her Time

As CEO of Fairtrade Australia & New Zealand, Molly Harriss Olson ’85 MES works from many angles to better align economic investments with sustainable development goals. She received YSE’s Distinguished Alumna Award during Reunion Weekend 2020, Oct. 9-11.
October 13, 2020

Success in an ‘Accidental Profession’

A broad science background and some old-fashioned pluck helped Jean Thomson Black ’75 MFS build an impactful career in science publishing, for which she was honored with the School’s Distinguished Service Award at Reunion Weekend 2020.
September 29, 2020

Reforestation Hubs, ‘Coming Soon’ to a City Near You

Cambium Carbon, an initiative founded by YSE students to combat climate change and revitalize urban communities by reimagining the urban tree lifecycle, has earned a $200,000 Natural Climate Solution Accelerator Grant from The Nature Conservancy.
September 10, 2020

A Furious Sky: How Hurricanes Have Shaped American History

In his latest book, “A Furious Sky,” author Eric Jay Dolin ’88 MEM examines how hurricanes have helped to shape American history — and what the nation likely faces in the future.
July 1, 2020

The New Forestry is Urban

The Natural Areas Conservancy, led by Sarah Charlop-Powers ’09 M.E.M., is helping to preserve and restore critical urban forests in New York City and beyond.
June 23, 2020

Feasting Wild: Alum’s Debut Book Searches for the ‘Last Untamed Food’

In her debut book, “Feasting Wild: In Search of the Last Untamed Food,” Gina Rae La Cerva ’15 M.E.Sc. chronicles our relationship to “wild foods” by tracing the shift in America from foraging and hunting to wild foods becoming expensive luxuries. 
June 1, 2020

Dorceta Taylor, Preeminent Environmental Justice Scholar, to Join the F&ES Faculty

Dorceta Taylor ’85 M.F.S., ’91 Ph.D., one of the nation’s preeminent scholars in the field of environmental justice, has been named full professor at the Yale School of the Environment.
May 4, 2020

When Disaster Strikes Locally, Urban Networks Spread the Damage Globally

Disasters that occur in one place can trigger costs in cities across the world due to the interconnectedness of the global urban trade network. In fact, these secondary impacts can be three times greater than the local impacts, a Yale study finds.
January 27, 2020

Alumna Receives Yale’s Highest
Graduate Honor

Dorceta Taylor ’85 M.F.S., ’91 Ph.D., one of the nation’s leading environmental justice scholars and activists, was recently named a recipient of the 2020 Wilbur Lucius Cross Medal, the highest honor Yale Graduate School bestows on its alumni.
January 2, 2020

A Campus for the 21st Century: Online
Programs Open Yale Expertise to the World 

Two new online certificate programs — on tropical forest landscapes and renewable energy, respectively — have made F&ES expertise available beyond the university’s New Haven campus. Working professionals from a range of sectors — and 34 countries — are already taking advantage. 
December 19, 2019

Sustainability Summit Tackles ‘Unprecedented’ Biodiversity Crisis

Environmental experts, alumni, and students confronted the issue of biodiversity at the Yale Environmental Sustainability Summit, which reached a new level of importance at this year’s United Nations climate conference.
November 18, 2019

Should Scientists Change How They View (and Study) Same Sex Behavior in Animals?

In a new article, researchers from the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies argue these behaviors may actually have been part of the original, ancestral condition in animals and have persisted because they have few — if any — costs and perhaps some important benefits.
October 31, 2019

How a Marine Monument in the Atlantic
Became an ‘Anchor’ for Ocean Protection

The first and only national monument in the Atlantic Ocean, the Northeast Canyons & Seamounts Marine National Monument, has been protected for three years under the Antiquities Act of 1906. Advocates for its designation and community members recently gathered at F&ES to commemorate the unique importance of this marine monument.
October 22, 2019

A Better Planet: New Book Offers
Big Ideas for a Sustainable Future

The Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies this week released a book, “A Better Planet: 40 Big Ideas for a Sustainable Future,” in which dozens of experts share their suggestions for tackling global environmental challenges.
October 8, 2019

Using Real-World Experience
To Tackle Real-World Complexity

Carmen Guerrero Pérez ’10 M.E.M., director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Caribbean Environmental Protection Division, will receive the 2019 Prospect Street Award for her years of work in environmental conservation and community engagement in Puerto Rico.
October 8, 2019

Capitalizing on Opportunity

As an F&ES student, Jim Lyons ’79 M.F. was advised to branch out and take classes that didn’t focus on just forestry. After 40 years in education, conservation, and politics, the Distinguished Alumni Award winner reflects on how important that advice has been for his career.
October 8, 2019

Of Parks and People

Rose Harvey ’84 M.E.S. believes that access to nature is a fundamental human right. As commissioner of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, she took it upon herself to deliver that access, especially to communities that need it the most.
October 7, 2019

IUFRO Names an F&ES Alumnus,
John Parrotta, as Its Next President

John Parrotta ’83 M.S. ’83 For, ’84 M.Phil, ’88 Ph.D., who serves as national research program leader for international science issues with the U.S. Forest Service, this week was named president of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO).
October 7, 2019

A Native Alaskan Campaigns to
Protect Bristol Bay, and A Way of Life

Verner Wilson's family has fished the waters of Bristol Bay, in southwestern Alaska, for thousands of years. Now the F&ES alum is working to protect the bay from what he calls the greatest threat it has ever faced: the proposed Pebble Mine.
September 27, 2019

YED Explores ‘Big Ideas’ as Kickoff
To Climate Week in New York City

The Yale Environmental Dialogue, an F&ES-based initiative that aims to add new energy to the national conversation about environmental issues, hosted an event at the Yale Club of New York to kick off Climate Week NYC.
July 9, 2019

F&ES Graduate Honored with
Presidential Early Career Award

Nedal Nassar ’11 M.E.Sc., ’14 M.Phil., ’15 Ph.D. was recently named a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.
June 18, 2019

Recent Doctoral Grad Honored
For Contributions to Soil Science

Noah Sokol ’18 Ph.D. has received the Truog Soil Science Outstanding Dissertation Award, a national award that recognizes outstanding contributions to soil science. 
March 19, 2019

Landmark Report Finds Urban Natural
Forests Require Greater Management

Researchers at F&ES have partnered with the Natural Areas Conservancy and the Trust for Public Land on a first-of-its-kind report on how U.S. cities manage urban natural forests — critical greenspaces that they found are frequently lacking the proper resources.
March 13, 2019

Grist List of 50 Environmental ‘Fixers’ Features Three Alums from Yale F&ES

The new Grist list of 50 young leaders who are doing potentially “game-changing” sustainability work includes three graduates of the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies.
February 14, 2019

Video: Microsoft Helps Yale-Launched
Business Map the Future of U.S. Forests

While he was a student at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (F&ES), Zach Parisa ’09 M.F.S. developed a technology that uses satellite data to determine the size and species of trees in forests.
February 6, 2019

Rwanda Had Different Plans: Yale
Partners with Environmental ‘Rising Star’

Rwanda has become a global leader in sustainability and environmental stewardship. A new reciprocal partnership between Yale and the African nation will create opportunities for collaborative teaching and research, foster an exchange of resources, and allow Yale students to study, intern, and conduct research in Rwanda.

January 14, 2019

Outgoing Connecticut DEEP
Commissioner Comes Back to F&ES

Robert Klee, who spent nearly a decade in the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) — becoming commissioner in 2015 — this semester will return to F&ES, where he earned his master's degree and Ph.D.
January 8, 2019

One F&ES Alum Succeeds Another
As New York State Parks Commissioner

Erik Kulleseid ’94 M.F. has been appointed commissioner of the New York State’s Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Reservation, replacing Rose Harvey ’84 M.E.S.
November 16, 2018

‘Raise Green’ Wants to Help Small-scale
Investors be Part of the Climate Solution

A new social venture launched by recent F&ES graduates aims to help everyday investors support projects that are tackling the climate challenge — from solar installations to electric vehicle-charging stations — while also strengthening their local communities.
November 8, 2018

‘Let the Rodent Do the Work’:
Reflections of a Beaver Believer

Author Ben Goldfarb ’13 M.E.M. says the near eradication of the once ubiquitous North American beaver had a profound impact on the continent’s landscapes and ecosystems. Now, he says, restoration of beaver populations can help humankind fight drought, improve water quality — even address climate change.
October 3, 2018

Alum Introduces New Yorkers to
The Forest in Their Own Backyard

The city of New York contains more than 20,000 acres of forests and wetlands, a fact that even many New Yorkers might not realize. Sarah Charlop-Powers ’09 M.E.M. is trying to change that: her nonprofit is working to restore and conserve these natural spaces — and to get more city residents outdoors.
October 3, 2018

Eleanor Sterling Recognized With
F&ES Distinguished Alumni Award

Conservationist Eleanor Sterling ’83 B.A., ’93 Ph.D., chief scientist at the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation,has spent her illustrious career combining biological conservation, research, and education.
October 2, 2018

The Value of Nature: Changing the
Equation on Global Conservation

Early in his career, Michael Jenkins ’88 M.F. came to realize that traditional conservation methods would have limited effectiveness until they put a proper value on the natural world. Over the past two decades Jenkins, the CEO and founder of Forest Trends, has helped change the equation.
September 19, 2018

Selling the Farm

Joe Orefice ’09 M.F. gave up his farm, an endowed position at Cornell, and the verdant Adirondack Mountains to oversee Yale’s forests. Why? There are a few reasons.
May 24, 2018

F&ES Doctoral Student Receives
2018 Yale Public Scholar Award

Gao Yufang ’14 M.E.Sc., a doctoral student at F&ES, this week received the 2018 Graduate School Public Scholar Award for his commitment to public service.
May 7, 2018

Student Solar Project Gets Switched On

A few years ago a group of F&ES students designed a “hypothetical” solar project for a class assignment, but for team leader Timothy White ’15 M.E.M. the ambitions were never really hypothetical. He would eventually bring it to his hometown of Cheshire, Connecticut, which recently made the proposal a reality.
May 2, 2018

‘How Can I Support Her?’ Network Empowers Women Woodlands Owners

The Yale-based Sustaining Family Forests Initiative — and a cadre of F&ES alums — are leading an effort to empower female landowners to become better stewards of their woodlands.
April 25, 2018

A Champion for Woodland Owners—and
Students—Retires After Two Decades

Mary Tyrrell ’97 M.F.S. was in her early 40s when she decided to change careers and enrolled at F&ES. That midcareer transition would transform her life — and the School.
April 4, 2018

Environmental Film Festival: ‘Proud
Parent’ Reflects on 10 Years of EFFY

In an interview, Eric Desatnik ’10 M.E.M., founder of the Environmental Film Festival at Yale, discusses original vision for the festival, how it has evolved over the past decade, and why film is such an important medium for telling environmental stories.
March 5, 2018

This Week: Former Parks Service
Scientist on the Future of Conservation

If conservation in American has entered turbulent waters, “The Future of Conservation in America,” a new book by Gary Machlis ’79 Ph.D. aims to serve as a navigation guide.
February 26, 2018

IUCN Partners With Yale to Train
Tropical Leaders Through Online Learning

A partnership between the F&ES-based Environmental Leadership and Training Initiative and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) delivered online training in forest restoration to 125 professionals from 32 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
December 13, 2017

Doctoral Graduate Honored for Research
On Unexpected Impact of Small Ponds

Meredith Holgerson ’16 Ph.D., an aquatic ecologist who has provided new insights into the unexpected role of small pond systems, has received a national science award for research she conducted as an F&ES doctoral student.
November 10, 2017

Message to Bonn Climate Talks:
Internal Carbon Pricing Shows Promise

In an interview, Casey Pickett, director of the recently launched Yale Carbon Charge, discusses how the initiative aims to change behavior across campus, the broad range of research opportunities made possible by the initiative, and how it might ultimately be applied by other organizations.
October 23, 2017

Rethinking the Private Sector’s Role in Disaster Relief

Latent potential within the private sector could provide a powerful new solution to disaster relief, according to a report out of the Yale Center for Business and the Environment.
October 17, 2017

Yale Environmental Sustainability Summit Focused on Change Makers

The second biennial Yale Environmental Sustainability Summit (YESS) will be held on November 3 and 4. Organizd by alumni from F&ES and across the university, the public event will focus on catalyzing, cultivating, and connecting sustainability-driven change makers.
October 4, 2017

Pioneering Scientist Bridges Research and Policy to Create a More Sustainable Future

Over the past four decades, Jerry Melillo '72 M.F.S., '77 Ph.D., has established himself as one of the world's preeminent scientists, expanding our understanding of the how terrestrial ecosystems respond to climate change. Now, the real challenge, he says, is for scientists to make their research understandable and useful to decision makers. 
October 4, 2017

Driven by ‘Game-Changing’ Fire, Alum Models Ecosystems Approach to Land Management

In the arid Southwest, intense wildfire has become a game-changer, says Laura McCarthy '87 M.F., director of The Nature Conservancy's Rio Grande Water Fund. It's just the latest project in a long career where the conservationist has applied an ecosystems approach to complex environmental challenges. This weekend, McCarthy will be honored with a Distinguished Alumna Award at the annual F&ES Reunion.
September 13, 2017

Building Climate Resilience After Irma: An
Interview with F&ES Alum Lia Nicholson

Hurricane Irma devastated parts of the Caribbean last week, including the island of Barbuda, known for its sandy beaches and abudant wildlife. We reached out to Lia Nicholson '14 M.E.M. who works on climate change adaptation and mitigation for the Government of Antigua and Barbuda to learn more about living with the threat of hurricanes and what small island nations are doing to build climate resilience. 
August 14, 2017

Yale-Inspired Connecticut Green Bank
Wins National Award for Innovation

The Connecticut Green Bank, a first-of-its-kind model for green financing first conceptualized at Yale, has been awarded the 2017 Innovation in American Government Award from Harvard’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation.
April 26, 2017

Study Reveals Deep Nature Appreciation In the U.S. — but also Barriers to Connection

A national study co-led by Stephen Kellert prior to his death in 2016 has reported a troubling disconnect between people and nature in the United States. But it also found reasons for hope.
April 3, 2017

In Sri Lanka, a Village Garden Yields Timeless Lessons in Forest Conservation

Since October, Blair Rynearson ’15 M.F., Logan Sander ’15 M.F., and Laura Lutttrell, have been in Sri Lanka as fellows with the F&ES-based Sri Lanka Program for Forest Conservation In an ongoing series of posts, they share their experiences of learning about — and then developing — a traditional village tree garden.
March 1, 2017

On the Front Lines of Justice: Strategies
To Support Embattled Local Activists

Across the world indigenous leaders have been targeted with violence and imprisonment for defending their homes and local resources. In an op-ed, Peter Kostishack ’00 M.E.Sc., whose organization supports these individuals and groups, describes strategies urgently needed to protect their homes, their freedom, and their ways of life.
February 22, 2017

Opportunity and Optimism
During an Uncertain Time

For some students poised to enter the job market, the political turmoil in Washington, D.C. is adding another layer of uncertainty. But during a two-day job trek in the nation’s capital, F&ES students found reasons for optimism.
February 22, 2017

‘Resurrection’ of Dormant Eggs Reveals
Unexpected Evolutionary Response to Toxins

Using “resurrection ecology” and lake sediment archives, a recent F&ES graduate was able to determine that a tiny freshwater crustacean, known as Daphnia, actually became more sensitive to heavy metals as concentrations increased over time contrary to expectation.
February 1, 2017

Ucross Symposium Addresses
Complexities of Ranching with Carnivores

The symposium, Ranching with Carnivores: Modern Perspectives on Coexistence, held this week at F&ES, will bring together a range of perspectives from people working to balance livelihoods with conservation of the West’s most iconic predators.
January 10, 2017

As First Siccama Lecturer, Duguid Aims
To Get More Yale Students into the Field

Marlyse Duguid ’10 M.F. ’16 Ph.D. has been appointed the first Thomas G. Siccama Lecturer in Environmental Field Studies, a new endowed position that emphasizes the teaching of field studies and ecology.
December 7, 2016

‘Getting Beyond Our Borders’:
The National Parks in the 21st Century

Jonathan Meade ’99 M.E.Sc., deputy regional director of National Park Service’s Northeast region, describes the major challenges facing the NPS in the coming decades and the opportunities to expand both the boundaries of the NPS and the chorus of voices that can be part of the movement.
October 20, 2016

From River Guide to Academia,
Exploring Nature’s Power to Inspire

After spending nearly two decades introducing travelers to some of the world’s most beautiful places, Robert Powell came to Yale to study how tourism and other informal educational experiences can inspire people to connect with — and protect — the natural world.
October 17, 2016

CBEY: A Decade of Innovation at the
Nexus of Business and the Environment

To mark the 10th anniversary of the Yale Center for Business and the Environment (CBEY), we asked several of the center’s most esteemed alums to reflect on how CBEY prepared them to address challenges at the nexus of business and the environment and where those lessons have led them.
October 5, 2016

A Systems Thinker Uses Market Forces to
Strengthen Environmental Conservation

Guillermo Castilleja has been described as a “true systems thinker,” something he says he developed while at F&ES. In an interview, Castilleja, a senior fellow at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, shares his vision for the foundation, his advice to students, and where he finds hope as a conservationist.
October 5, 2016

Partnering with Nature
In New York’s Urban Jungle

For nearly two decades, former F&ES classmates Jennifer Greenfeld and Bram Gunther have worked to strengthen nature’s role in an unlikely setting: New York City, where restored salt marshes, healthy forests, and 1 million newly planted trees have given the Big Apple an ecological makeover.
October 5, 2016

Prospect Street Awardee Targets
Conservation through Impact Investing

As the deputy managing director of NatureVest, Charlotte Kaiser, believes that impact investing can change the world of conservation. And she has the track record to prove it.
September 21, 2016

Conservationist Eleanor Sterling Awarded
Yale’s Prestigious Wilbur Cross Medal

One colleague calls Eleanor Sterling ’83 B.A., ’93 Ph.D., recipent of Yale's Wilbur Cross Medal, a “bridge builder.” A conservationist, anthropologist, and educator, Sterling says her interdisciplinary training at Yale has been crucial to her life’s work.
September 21, 2016

First Forester: The Enduring
Conservation Legacy of Gifford Pinchot

Gifford Pinchot, the first U.S. forest chief and founder of the Yale Forest School, doesn’t get enough credit, says historian Char Miller. In the early 20th century, Miller says, Pinchot helped shape our modern understanding of conservation, environmental education, and the very notion of “public lands.”
August 29, 2016

F&ES Alum Receives Global Honor
For Conservation Work in East Africa

Laly Lichtenfeld ’99 M.F.S., ’05 Ph.D., co-founder and executive director of the African People & Wildlife Fund, has been named a 2016 Lowell Thomas Awardee by The Explorers Club.
August 10, 2016

Health Risks from Wildfires in U.S. West
To Increase Under Climate Change

A surge in major wildfire events in the U.S. West as a consequence of climate change will expose tens of millions of Americans to high levels of air pollution in the coming decades, according to a new Yale-led study conducted with collaborators from Harvard.
July 28, 2016

After Yale Myers Fire,
Rebuilding Effort Moving Forward

As new manager at Yale Myers Forest, Shannon Murray ’14 M.E.M. certainly has had her hands full. But despite some challenges, including a devastating fire in May, she says it’s been an enjoyable summer at Yale Myers — and that the camp will be ready for summer MODs.

May 29, 2016

Fire at Yale Myers Forest Camp

A message from Dean Peter Crane about the fire at Yale Myers Forest
April 21, 2016

Yellowstone Issue of National Geographic
Highlights Work of F&ES Researcher

The May issue of National Geographic, about the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, features research, including a special map supplement, by Arthur Middleton ’07 M.E.M., associate research scientist at F&ES.
April 15, 2016

Proposal to Convert Food Waste
Into New Products Wins Sabin Prize

A business plan developed by two F&ESers that aims to turn food waste into new products — and profits — won the 2016 Sabin Sustainable Venture Prize.
April 7, 2016

Yale Alums Help Make Connecticut a
Model for Innovative Green Policymaking

Many of Connecticut's recent achievements in environmental policy were led by faculty, alumni and students from F&ES. During a recent panel, some of these leaders discussed why the state has become a “laboratory” for sustainable development and green policy.
March 8, 2016

Los Funcionarios: Mexico-Based Alums
Drive Ambitious Conservation Initiative

Across Mexico, a young cohort of F&ES alumni are driving one of the most important experiments in forest conservation happening anywhere.
January 27, 2016

Former F&ES ‘Shepherd’ Finds Business
Success Raising Healthy, Humane Meat

Charlie Munford ’11 M.F.S., who kept a flock of sheep while he completed his master’s degree at Yale, now runs a business, Two Run Farm, that sells meat wholesale to some of the finest restaurants in New Orleans and Baton Rouge.
November 19, 2015

F&ES Ecologist and Photographer Team
Named Nat Geo Adventurers of the Year

The award recognizes Arthur Middleton and Joe Riis’s Greater Yellowstone Migrations project.
October 7, 2015

Opening Up a ‘World of Possibilities’:
McHenry Empowers Generations of F&ESers

While he was a student at F&ES 35 years ago, Thomas McHenry came to understand the range of possible opportunities in the environmental realm. He's spent the past 3 1/2 decades working to make sure future students had the same experience.
October 7, 2015

For Inaugural ‘Prospect Street’ Awardee,
Climate Change is a Human Rights Issue

Heather Coleman '04 M.E.M., who will receive the inaugural “Prospect Street Award” during Reunion Weekend for contributions from a recent F&ES graduate, joined Oxfam America a decade ago to engage climate change from a human perspective. “Climate change is not an environmental issue,” she says. “It’s a social issue.”
October 7, 2015

A Pioneer in Forest Genetics
Reflects on Five Decades in Forestry

Since completing his Ph.D. at F&ES in 1965, Jeffery Burley has helped to improve forestry practices in vulnerable forest regions across the world.
October 7, 2015

A Voice for Equity and Justice
In the Environmental Movement

Dorceta Taylor '85 M.F.S., '91 Ph.D., is one of the country's preeminent environmental justice scholars. But above and beyond her publications, Taylor says her work is about opening doors for other people.
September 3, 2015

After Decades in the Trenches, Beinecke Says Environmental Fight is Never Over

Frances Beinecke ’71 B.A. ’74 M.F.S., who returns to F&ES this semester as the 2015 McCluskey Fellow, has been at the forefront of many environmental fights. And if she has learned anything it's that the battle is never easy – and it’s never really over.
September 1, 2015

Diversity and Environmental Leadership:
Beinecke Leads Seminar Series at Yale

At F&ES this semester, former NRDC President Frances Beneicke will co-teach a course that explores how the environmental movement can better reflect all segments of American society.
July 27, 2015

Scholarship Initiative Raises
$10.1 Million for F&ES Students

A three-year scholarship initiative led by F&ES Dean Peter Crane and the School’s Leadership Council has generated more than $10 million in new scholarship support for F&ES students.
May 7, 2015

Yale Responds to Nepal Earthquake:
‘Our Commitment Will Continue’

In an interview, the Yale Himalaya Initiative’s Alark Saxena describes how Yale has coordinated its resources to assist Nepal after a deadly earthquake — and how the Initiative’s longer-term mission will help make communities across the Himalayan region more prepared for future threats.
April 13, 2015

Sabin Prize Seeds Business Plans
That Do Good for the Environment

On April 17, the Sabin Prize will award $25,000 to a for-profit business idea that helps achieve a more sustainable way of life. The competition is part of the first ever Entrepreneurship Across Yale event.
February 13, 2015

Online Courses Available to F&ES Alumni

This semester F&ES will, for the first time, make online courses available to alumni of the School. Beginning this week, alumni can register for either of two six-week courses — F&ES 783 Tropical Forest Restoration in Human-Dominated Landscapes or F&ES 738 Himalayan Diversities: Environment, Livelihoods, and Culture — which will begin on March 9.
January 30, 2015

Restoring Salmon Fisheries — and
A Tribal Birthright — in Pacific Northwest

After centuries of overfishing and development, salmon populations in the Pacific Northwest were on the brink of collapse by the late 20th century, presenting a grim challenge for Native American tribes that have long relied on the fish. Aja DeCoteau ’07 M.E.M. is part of a response plan that has helped spur a remarkable recovery.
January 28, 2015

F&ES Alumni Association
Honored for Service Work

The F&ES Alumni Association recently won the Association of Yale Alumni Excellence Award for Outstanding Graduate & Professional Day of Service. 

January 14, 2015

Shaping a New Kind of Conservation

During the past three decades, Peter Seligmann ’74 M.F.S. has transformed Conservation International into one of the world’s most important environmental organizations by building partnerships that cross sectors — and by convincing companies that doing the right thing can be good for business.

January 8, 2015

F&ES Research Spawns New Insights
Into Aquatic Release of ‘Ancient’ Carbon

A group of scientists with origins at F&ES; has reported the first global estimate of how much “ancient” carbon is released from the terrestrial landscape through aquatic systems.
December 17, 2014

Special Publication Highlights
Thirty Years of TRI Student Research

The F&ES-based Tropical Resources Institute (TRI) this month published a Special Issue that highlights three decades of student work in commemoration of the organization’s 30th anniversary. 
November 14, 2014

The Tropical Resources Institute:
Three Decades of Global Impact

In celebration of the 30th anniversary of the F&ES-based Tropical Resource Institute, we asked several distinguished alumni to recollect the work they did while they were here, share what they’re doing today, and reflect on how their experiences with TRI changed their lives.
November 4, 2014

An Ancient Industry is Re-Imagined
In a Land Vulnerable to Climate Change

About 15 percent of all coal burned in India each year is used to produce the bricks that supply the country’s ongoing building boom. F&ES alum Kunal Sharma is leading a project to make this ancient industry cleaner and more energy efficient.
October 10, 2014

Eco Rover:
It’s Hard to Pin Down Spencer Beebe

In another man’s biography, Spencer Beebe’s backcountry exploits might warrant some celebrity. For Beebe ’74 M.F.S., they warrant footnotes.
October 10, 2014

Louisa Willcox: ‘Wilderness Wanderer’
Bridges Science and Advocacy in U.S. West

Louisa Willcox ’84 M.F.S. never imagined that she would make a career out of conservation advocacy. But she's spent more than three decades protecting the wild lands of the western U.S.
October 10, 2014

Gary Machlis: A Career
Defined by Crossing Boundaries

While most researchers spend their lives honing in on their academic niche, Gary Machlis ’79 Ph.D. has spent his working in an array of disparate fields.
July 1, 2014

Conservation Through Cocktails

Are you ready for a jujube and hawthorn martini? A new company created by a group of ethnobotanists, including Ashley DuVal ’10 M.E.Sc., thinks so.
May 13, 2014

On Yale Day of Service, Dean Crane
Lends a Hand to F&ES Alum in Kentucky

On the annual Yale Day of Service, Dean Peter Crane joined more than two-dozen other Yalies working the soil at the Parklands of Floyds Fork, a network of urban parks created by Daniel Jones ’84 B.A. ’06 M.F.
April 22, 2014

In DEEP: Building a Bridge
Between Science and Policy

By many measures, the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP) has enjoyed a remarkable transformation during the three-plus years since Robert Klee ’99 M.E.S. ’04 J.D. ’05 Ph.D. joined its top ranks.
April 8, 2014

Forester Hones Leadership
Skills You Can’t Learn From a Book

By the time he arrived at F&ES, Terry Baker ’07 M.F. had already learned first-hand how the U.S. Forest Service works — and about the people who make it run. But he says his time at Yale helped make him a leader.
March 31, 2014

Healing Western Landscapes
From Conservation’s ‘Radical Center’

When she was an intern with the Quivira Coalition, Avery Anderson Sponholtz ’07 M.E.M.  could tell the organization was practically obsessed multi-stakeholder collaboration. Now Quivira’s executive director, she understands the stakes as well as anyone.

February 25, 2014

Two F&ESers Receive Fellowships for
Global Justice and Women's Rights

Hilary Faxon B.A. ’11 M.E.M. ’13, and Lia Nicholson M.E.M. ‘14, have each received Gruber Fellowships in Global Justice and Women’s Rights for projects to implement environmental programs in vulnerable parts of the world.
February 24, 2014

Corn: A Love Story,
From Seed to Market

An encounter with Indian corn during a chestnut festival years ago forever shattered Anthony Boutard's notion of corn as “an industrial grain.” Boutard M.F. '89 now grows this nutritious and flavorful corn variety at his organic farm in northwestern Oregon.

February 11, 2014

Let the Games Be Green:
Fusing Sustainability and Sport

By the time she arrived at F&ES, Jill Savery M.E.M. '06 had already won an Olympic gold medal. Today she is working at the nexus of sustainability and sports, helping sports organizations embed sustainable practices into their event planning.
January 23, 2014

Klee, F&ES Alum, to Succeed Esty
As Connecticut's DEEP Commissioner

Robert K. Klee M.E.S. ’99, J.D. ’04, Ph.D. ’05 has been nominated to succeed Daniel C. Esty as commissioner of Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
December 16, 2013

Back at Home in Philly,
A Model for Green Success

When he was a student at F&ES, Gerald Bright decided that he wanted to do work that made a difference on the ground level. Five years later, he's doing just that in his native Philadelphia.
December 4, 2013

Shell Game: Accidental Entrepreneur Cultivates Passion for Oyster Farming

Jules Opton-Himmel M.E.M. '07 became an oyster entrepreneur through a fortunate accident. But his oyster farm in Rhode Island has shown that you can provide food, clean local waters and make a decent living.
November 22, 2013

Class of 1980 Fund Honored
For Three Decades of Giving

The F&ES Class of 1980 has received the Association of Yale Alumni's School Volunteer Engagement and Leadership award for two funds that have supported student activities and research for more than three decades.
November 7, 2013

In Remote Alaskan Villages, a Link Between Salmon and Human Health

Wild salmon populations are crucial to ecosystems throughout the Northwest — and in the Alaskan bush, they may be vital to human health, too.
November 7, 2013

A New Line of Defense
For Wild Salmon Populations

Since the late-1990s, Guido Rahr M.E.S. '94, head of the Wild Salmon Center, has helped craft new strategies to restore populations of the Pacific salmon, a species whose numbers plummeted during the 20th century.

October 16, 2013

Former F&ES ‘Star’ Joins
UN Science Advisory Panel

Maria Ivanova M.E.Sc '99, M.A '99, Ph.D. '06 has been appointed to an international panel that will advise top United Nations leaders, including UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, on issues related to sustainable development.
October 4, 2013

Setting the Standard in
The Cleanup of Toxic Lead

For more than four decades, Ian von Lindern M.F.S. ’73, Ph.D. ’80 has been at the center of a massive cleanup of lead pollution in Idaho. The strategies he has helped develop are now being used to tackle health threats globally.
October 1, 2013

Three Decades in the Arctic:
Defending an Ecosystem at the Crossroads

Margaret Williams’ M.E.Sc '93 eclectic work as director of the World Wildlife Fund's Arctic program reflects the diversity of challenges facing this vulnerable eco-region.
September 27, 2013

Rethinking the Boundaries of Urban Design

“Developers typically look at their site as having boundaries,” Rogers says, “but we believe it is important to rethink what the boundaries of a property mean to the people who use the neighborhood every day.”
September 19, 2013

Middleton Receives Camp Monaco Prize

Arthur Middleton M.E.M. ’07, who has spent six years exploring how ecological changes in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem are affecting the region’s migratory elk herds, has received a $100,000 research prize for his ongoing efforts to monitor and conserve the iconic species.
September 10, 2013

Choosing Mighty Themes to Explore Human Ties to the Natural World

During the 1980s, Mansfield Street in New Haven was an unlikely cradle for a writing career: the block was notorious for its crime rate, not its literary scene. But for Eric Jay Dolin M.E.M. ’88, championing Mansfield, where he lived as a student at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, in New Haven Register op-eds provided an opportunity to both hone his craft and defend his turf.
August 22, 2013

Society for Conservation Biology Awards Highest Honor to Yale F&ES Alum

Citing her “extraordinary contributions to the conservation of biological diversity,” including her work in public education and field research conducted around the world, the Society for Conservation Biology has awarded their 2013 Distinguished Service Award to Eleanor J. Sterling B.A. ’83, Ph.D. ’93.
November 11, 2011

Amy Coplen's Garden Voices on NPR

A series of vignettes that feature community gardeners in New Haven air this week on the programs Morning Edition and All Things Considered on WSHU 91.1 FM.
January 1, 2000

Transforming Themselves in Order to Change the Planet

 

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