Knowledge & Leadership for
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a sustainable future
We are a community that is all-in on creating a more sustainable world — for ourselves and for future generations
News
Fanning Across the Globe in Search of Big Cats
YSE students are researching myriad ways these animals are impacting the landscape to fully understand their conservation value and the importance of their survival.
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Students
From Doris Duke Conservation Scholars to YSE Class of 2023: Meet Six Future Environmental Leaders
This fall, the Yale School of the Environment welcomed six Doris Duke Conservation Scholars into the class of 2023.
business & the environment
From commercial giants to innovative startups, we help businesses develop sustainable solutions to meet human needs within planetary boundaries.
Innovative, Implementable Solutions
Research
YSE Partners with World Bank on Identifying Industrial Symbiosis Opportunities
A new global platform, based on YSE’s research through the Center for Industrial Ecology, will help promote opportunities for reuse of waste material and other resources.
Faculty Q & A
Meeting the Challenges of Sustainable Financing
Major Initiative
Yale to Launch Center for Natural Carbon Capture
climate science & solutions
We provide cross disciplinary training that allows professionals to tackle the urgent challenge of climate change.
Innovative, Implementable Solutions
YSE at COP26: Students, Faculty Make An Impact at UN Climate Summit
From speaking on panels to taking part in critical decision-making, students and faculty from the Yale School of the Environment played a major role at this year's COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland.
Major Initiative
Yale to Launch Center for Natural Carbon Capture
ecosystem management & conservation
We give students the skills to steward and conserve ecosystems, ensuring that human and nonhuman species can coexist across landscapes.
Innovative, Implementable Solutions
Research
Repopulating Endangered Animals Can Play a Vital Role in Cutting Carbon Emissions
Rewilding, restoring, and conserving the role of endangered and threatened species could magnify carbon uptake by 1.5 to 12.5 times or more across the world.
Major Initiative
Yale to Launch Center for Natural Carbon Capture
Student Research
YSE Class of ’21 Andie Creel: Putting a Value on Natural Resources
energy & the environment
We examine ways to effectively meet society’s energy demand, from the pursuit of more sustainable sources to ways of influencing individual choices.
Innovative, Implementable Solutions
Research
Efficient Buildings Could Save Thousands of Lives in U.S. Every Year
Buildings in the U.S. are responsible for 40% of the country’s total energy consumption. By improving the energy efficiency of new and existing buildings, the emissions generated from heating and cooling them could be reduced – preventing thousands of premature deaths every year.
environmental policy analysis
We focus on understanding the strengths and weaknesses of policies designed to address today’s most pressing environmental challenges.
Innovative, Implementable Solutions
Research
Efficient Buildings Could Save Thousands of Lives in U.S. Every Year
Buildings in the U.S. are responsible for 40% of the country’s total energy consumption. By improving the energy efficiency of new and existing buildings, the emissions generated from heating and cooling them could be reduced – preventing thousands of premature deaths every year.
Conferences and Events
Why Denmark Wants to Be a ‘Frontrunner’ in the Fight Against Climate Change
forestry
Building on over a century of leadership in forestry and land conservation, we train professionals to work with people on managing forests.
Innovative, Implementable Solutions
Research
Study Develops Technique for Creating Strong, ‘Moldable’ Wood Materials
A research team that included Yuan Yao of the Yale Center for Industrial Ecology has developed a “moldable” wood product, dismantling wood’s lignin and shaping it via a “water-shock” process.
industrial ecology & green chemistry
We apply systems thinking to improve the sustainability of industry and production/consumption systems, from creating greener products to improving recycling processes
Innovative, Implementable Solutions
Research
YSE Partners with World Bank on Identifying Industrial Symbiosis Opportunities
A new global platform, based on YSE’s research through the Center for Industrial Ecology, will help promote opportunities for reuse of waste material and other resources.
Research
Turning Wood Into Plastic
people, equity, & the environment
We teach students to critique and improve the relationship between people and the planet with a focus on deep-seated, systemic challenges.
Innovative, Implementable Solutions
Research
Near Total Loss of Historical Lands Leaves Indigenous Nations in the U.S. More Vulnerable to Climate Change
YSE-led study finds that Indigenous nations across the United States have lost 98.9% of their historical land base; historical land dispossession is associated with current and future climate risk.
Conferences and Events
Environmental Justice Conference Explores a Just Recovery
urban
We examine the impacts of an ‘urbanized’ world, from effects on resources and biodiversity to public health and climate change.
Innovative, Implementable Solutions
Research
Compound Hazards Pose Increased Risk to Highly Populated Regions in the Himalaya
Urbanization trends in the Himalaya are exposing more people to risk from compound hazards such as flooding, landslides and wildfires, a new study published in the journal Science of the Total Environment has found.
water science & management
We impart knowledge needed to safeguard and restore the world’s water resources, while promoting their sustainable use and equitable access.
Innovative, Implementable Solutions
Research
Rivers Are Largest Global Source of Mercury in Coastal Oceans
Ten rivers are responsible for half of the riverine mercury entering the world's oceans — with the Amazon River, the Ganges, and the Yangtze topping the list.
Centers and Programs
Community Stormwater Partnership Receives National Environmental Award
Why Yale School of the Environment?
Experiential Learning
At YSE, education and training extend well beyond the classroom. Participate in our unique summer orientation program, MODs; travel widely for field research and internships; attend global conferences and climate talks such as the U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP 26).
Acclaimed Faculty
Working closely with some of the top experts in their fields is one of the advantages of a YSE graduate degree. Our faculty are committed to mentoring the next generation of environmental leaders to tackle the world’s most urgent problems.
Programs & Degrees
The Yale School of the Environment offers a variety of degree programs, many of which can be customized to meet each student’s professional goals, and prepare them for careers in environmental science, management, and policy.
RESEARCH DEGREES
PROFESSIONAL DEGREES
OTHER DEGREES & PROGRAMS
CENTERS, PROGRAMS, AND INITIATIVES
From Local to Global
Yale School of the Environment’s more than 20 centers and programs are having immediate impact across many sectors and disciplines. They also provide students with numerous opportunities to gain hands-on clinical and research experience.
Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Sustainability Initiative (JEDSI)
Examining the relationship between social inequalities, lived experiences, and environmental outcomes
JEDSI focuses research, teaching, and practice on our environmental history, diverse voices in the environmental movement, and better pathways forward.
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Center for Industrial Ecology (CIE)
An organizational focus for an emerging field
The Center for Industrial Ecology develops and promotes research, teaching, and outreach about how resources are converted to products, the pollution that comes from these processes, and opportunities to reduce resource use and pollution.
The Forests Dialogue (TFD)
Bringing together stakeholders on complex forest issues
For more than two decades, TFD has coordinated ongoing, multi-stakeholder conversation and trust building to resolve forest-related conflicts across the world.
Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (YPCCC)
Mapping U.S. opinion on climate — down to the local level
The Yale Program on Climate Change Communication tracks Americans’ perceptions of climate change at the state, congressional district, and county levels.