Authored by Elizabeth Himschoot (MEM candidate, Class of 2021)
While some students might think spring break is for late mornings and relaxation, some opportunities are too good to pass up when they present themselves, even with an early morning start. Prescribed burns are weather-dependent and can be difficult for students to attend during the normal academic calendar. So, after a short, early morning drive to the Yale Myers Forest, our team of student volunteers strapped water tanks to our backs and completed a thorough safety briefing. Under the direction of trained professionals, we then slowly ignited a meadow, contributing to its nutrient cycling and habitat diversity while selectively managing for Oak and Hickory regeneration.
Howdy everyone,
My name is David J. Solomon, a second-year Master of Environmental Management (MEM) candidate specializing in Business and the Environment at F&ES and a new Admissions Ambassador for the F&ES Admissions Office. My interests exist at the intersection of entrepreneurship and environmental sustainability, with a longstanding and deep passion for China and the role Chinese investments can improve environmentally development strategies for projects in China, as well as overseas through the country’s Belt & Road Initiative (BRI).
Written by Kylee Chang (MEM’19)
I am Kylee Chang, a second-year MEM candidate expecting to graduate in May. At F&ES, I am studying industrial ecology and business and the environment. This year, I have learned immensely from my collaboration with both F&ES and SOM students on participating in the Kellogg-Morgan Stanley Sustainable Investing Challenge.
Since 2010, Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management and Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing have been inviting graduate students from around the world to create innovative financial instruments that address critical social and environmental issues. This year’s competition received the most applicants yet: from 109 teams across 80 graduate schools in 50 countries. My team was chosen as one of the top 12 teams to fly to Hong
During the Alumni TGIF (“Thank Goodness I’m a Forester” event at F&ES) last October, I shared with Gao, a Ph.D. candidate from China, my interest in learning about the environmental footprint of Chinese investments overseas. Despite my passion, I had little experience in the topic at the time and had no idea where to start looking for resources. Gao immediately introduced me to Dr. Helen Gichohi, the McCluskey Fellow at F&ES, at the Alumni Event. Helen is a renowned scholar from Kenya and wildlife conservation field practitioner – also former President of African Wildlife Foundation (AWF). I expressed my interest to Helen and made quick connections with her along with two other classmates, American and Ugandan students who shared a similar passion for the subject. As our interest overlapped with…
In November of 2017, I had the incredible experience of participating in a week-long renowned forest management course in the northeastern Brazilian Amazon. The intensive field course is offered by the Tropical Forest Institute (IFT – Instituto Floresta Tropical), whose reduced-impact forest management system is widely held to be Brazil’s gold standard. IFT trains participants in all stages of its system, with an emphasis on practical, on-site experience. Over the course of the week I developed a comprehensive understanding of tropical forest management, and was challenged to face a conflict that arose within me regarding the use of pristine forests for timber production in the name of conservation.
On November 18, I arrived in Belém, the capital of the state of Pará, where I met the 25 forestry…
Over the winter break, Jessica Leung (MEM ’17) and Ross Donihue (MEM ’18) travelled to Chile for 2 weeks as part of the Environmental Protection Clinic, a course cross-listed at F&ES and the Law School. The course is an interdisciplinary clinic that addresses environmental law and policy problems on behalf of client organizations such as environmental groups, government agencies, and international bodies.
Their client was Futaleufú Riverkeeper, a non-governmental organization in Chile dedicated to protecting the natural and cultural heritage of the Futaleufú watershed, located in northern Patagonia.
The team spent the fall semester working with the organization’s International Director, Patrick Lynch, to do a research project on hydroelectric power and clean energy policy in Chile. Chile currently relies on hydropower for nearly a third of its energy…
When Monte Kawahara, an FES alum and forester for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) visited New Haven last fall to speak to the Fire Science and Policy class, his perspective on mitigating fire risk and battling wildfire on BLM lands in California sparked the interest of Leana Weissberg, a 2nd year Master of Environmental Science candidate. When Leana spoke with Monte after class, seeking advice on paving a career path in western forest ecology, Monte pitched an idea that would provide hands-on experience in western forest management issues: a month-long student-led trip to work on BLM lands in California.
FES students jumped at the chance to gain insight into western forest ecology issues and field experience within a federal land management agency. Four students, Emily Dolhansky (MFS ’18) Leonora…
During the October fall break, a group of roughly 30 students from three Yale graduate schools (FES, School of Management, and Public Health) traveled to Quito, Ecuador. The majority of these students were FES-ers, who 1) attended the UN Habitat III conference as accredited stakeholders and 2) either presented research related to urban resilience or participated in a consultancy project.
The UN Habitat III conference was a unique occurrence. It is an event that only happens every 20 years, where national and subnational governments gather to discuss urban development. In this past Habitat, the New Urban Agenda was adopted. This is a guidance document that will dictate how urbanization will occur worldwide, and encompasses many areas including but not limited to social inclusion, ending poverty, environmentally sustainable…
This October break, 16 MF and MFS students traveled down to the Southern Appalachians for a fall forestry tour that culminated in a two-day MF Alumni Convocation at Warren Wilson College in Asheville, NC. It was a whirlwind of a tour spanning four days, planned by two MF teaching fellows in collaboration with Mike Ferrucci, our forest operations professor. Before the trip, the group met to discuss what to expect on the tour, and the trip leaders shared reading material to provide context for the operations we would see throughout the four days.
We flew into Atlanta and hit the ground running with a visit to a TIMO-managed pine plantation in northern Georgia. We drove further north that day to Hot Springs, NC where the whole group stayed in a rental…
