We were fortunate to recently welcome the incredible Dorceta Taylor ’85 M.F.S., ’91 Ph.D. to campus to lead a research seminar on Food Access and Environmental Grant-making and Environmental Justice. In a jam-packed Burke Auditorium, Dr. Taylor spoke about her experience at F&ES, her research, and shared some sage advice to current students.
Dr. Taylor is the director of diversity, equity, and inclusion at the University of Michigan’s School for Environment and Sustainability, where she teaches courses on environmental justice. She is a distinguished writer, authoring several seminal texts on environmental justice, and the recipient of several prestigious awards, including the 2020 Wilbur Lucius Cross Medal, the highest honor Yale Graduate School bestows on its alumni.
Her current research also focuses on food insecurity, people of color and the outdoors, and wage inequality in environmental non-profits…
Authored by Mads O’Brien (MESc candidate, Class of 2020)
I recently returned from FESinDC, an annual job trek orchestrated by the Career Development Office (CDO), where over 80 current F&ES students descended upon the US capital for two days of visiting potential employers. The site visits change every year based upon student preferences, but this year’s organizations included 18 nonprofits, think tanks, consulting firms, and government agencies.
New technologies carry both the promise of improvement of human welfare and the threat of undesired environmental consequences. Applying life cycle assessment (LCA) early in the development of technologies – when still at lab or pilot scale – provides valuable insights about how to prioritize research activities and to potentially avoid damage to the environment. LCA quantifies environmental and resources impacts of products and technologies from raw material extraction and processing, through a product’s manufacture, distribution and use, to recycling or final disposal. LCA of emerging technologies can help research and development (R&D) groups, planners, and policymakers look ahead and identify environmental and resource implications, potential liabilities, and other unanticipated consequences of products and technologies early in innovation.
Existing LCA methods, standards, and guidelines, however, focus on…
Greetings from the Southwest! I spent the first week of February in sunny Scottsdale, Arizona attending the GreenBiz 20 Conference. This conference brings together 1,500 sustainability leaders — from business, government, academia and NGOs — to explore the latest sustainable business trends and form valuable connections. As a current student, it was the perfect venue to learn more about current practices and network with leaders in the field. In addition, as a Californian it was a nice change of pace to be back in the Southwest during the middle of a New England winter.
Hi there! My name is Lori Lombardo and I am excited to have joined the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies as the Assistant Director of Admissions, Events & Recruitment. I come here after having spent three and a half years working at the Office of Admission at the College of Mount Saint Vincent in Riverdale, NY. While a member of their team, I worked with students from all over the country – recruiting heavily in California and Texas – and working with majority first generation and minority students. Aside from working directly with these students, I also managed all admission events, marketing and communications and was responsible for driving their Premier Scholarships and Programs.
Prior to my time at CMSV, I was a student at Lafayette College…
Hello! My name is Kelly Morrissey and I’m delighted to join the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies as the Assistant Director of Admissions, Communications, and Marketing. I come to F&ES from the University of Bridgeport Office of Admissions with experience in several roles over the last six years including recruitment, admissions communications, and serving as a key administrator of the CRM. I’m eager to connect with prospective students to share what F&ES has to offer and to guide applicants through the enrollment process.
I grew up in Shelton, Connecticut and have visited the Peabody Museum of Natural History on many occasions. The city of New Haven was my home when I completed my undergraduate studies at SCSU and so I’m excited to return and explore this amazing city…
When I arrived at F&ES, I was transitioning from many consecutive years focusing exclusively on China. My interest in China included three years living in Beijing, as well as a commitment to building Mandarin fluency, understanding Chinese culture and society, and greatly familiarizing myself with China’s economic development opportunities and challenges. Having spent so many years building expertise on China—more than a decade, dating back to my first visit to Beijing midway through high school—my decision to enroll at F&ES meant pivoting more fully into the environmental realm, and likely moving China away from the core of the activities and issues I was exploring. It also meant moving myself, literally, to New Haven from Washington, D.C., where I’d lived for three years previously following my three years in…
Graduate school has been an incredible opportunity to deepen my knowledge and professional skills, broaden my scope of career paths, and greatly expand my network of individuals who are not only future influential leaders in their field, but also great friends. Yet, grad school has also been a very busy and sometimes exhausting phase, full of crowded schedules, constant digital communications regarding projects and programming, and high academic standards and pressures.
During nearly three semesters at F&ES, I’ve sought to navigate this range of grad school joys and challenges, creating a balance of school work, passion projects, and hobbies that have both fulfilled and invigorated me throughout this highly dynamic chapter of my life:
Courses Having worked in US-China trade relations for several years prior to arriving at…
For three years I worked at the American Forest & Paper Association in Washington, DC. During my time there, I learned a lot about the US Forest Products Industry and the unique role that companies play in influencing and engaging in federal policies related to forestry. As I transitioned to FES, I wanted to keep my connection to forestry and requested to have Professor Ben Cashore serve as my MEM faculty advisor. During my work, I had seen numerous articles by him on forest certification issues and was excited to maintain my forestry connection. When I got to school, I started working as a research assistant (RA) in his Governance, Environment and Markets lab. Working as an RA I learned about coffee certification practices in Brazil, Indonesian government
The Career Development Office (CDO) at F&ES has been fortunate to have a long-standing collaboration and professional relationship with staff from the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University. In 1996, CDO and Career Services at the Nicholas School collaborated to create the Duke-Yale Environmental Recruiting Fair in Washington, D.C., which brought together hundreds of students from both schools for a day-long event of interviews, information sessions, and a career fair, followed by alumni/student networking receptions.
The venture was started by Karen Kirchof, former assistant dean and director of the Nicholas School’s Career and Professional Development Center, and Peter Otis, former director of CDO at F&ES. Many of our alumni will remember the fair, and may remember Karen, who was very lively and outspoken as a co-leader of…
