Doctoral Program

That human land use destroys natural ecosystems is an oft-cited assumption in conservation, but ecologists have discovered that instead, traditional ranching techniques in the African savanna enhance the local abundance of wild, native animals. These results offer a new perspective on the roles humans play in natural systems, and inform ongoing discussions about land management and biodiversity conservation.

A new Yale-led study found that the Covid-19 pandemic may have at least temporarily altered some historical anti-government attitudes that tend to be stronger in rural communities, particularly in the West. 

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.

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.

Ashley Keiser ’16 Ph.D., who studies how microbes in the soil respond to changing conditions aboveground, has won the 2017 F. Herbert Bormann Prize.

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.

In an interview Gao Yufang ’14 M.E.Sc., who is now a doctoral student at F&ES, discusses a new paper he co-authored in Science that calls for a more iterative process that recognizes different value systems in order to save the world's disappearing elephants.

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.

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.

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.

 sensitive to heavy metals as concentrations increased over time contrary to expectation.

A new Yale study will examine whether irrigation of green spaces to mitigate the urban heat island effect in some of the world’s driest cities will be worth the cost — namely, drawing down precious and increasingly diminished water resources.

In a recent study, a team of researchers — including YSE professor Peter Raymond and postdoctoral fellow Taylor Maavara — show nitrous oxide emissions are increasing at a “devastating” rate, faster than predictions introduced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Peter Umunay’s research, which explores ways to find a balance between conservation and economic development in the Congo Basin, earned him the 2020 F. Herbert Bormann Prize.

Given rare access to a hydraulic fracturing well site in Pennsylvania, an F&ES doctoral student revealed a surprising finding about the impacts of fracking on groundwater — research that earned her the 2019 F. Herbert Bormann Prize