Bekenstein Climate Leaders Program

Goal: Quantifying and communicating the impacts of climate change on public health 

Phoebe Merrick believes that she can have the most impact on climate mitigation efforts by communicating more directly to the public about how climate change affects human health. Using the data visualization skills she learned at Yale, Merrick plans to pursue work in quantitative analysis and climate communication, helping to display data in ways that are accessible to the general public. 

“We talk about the economic reasons to mitigate climate change, but we don’t talk as often about the health benefits,” she said.  “I think that there's a place to move health communications to the forefront.”

Goal: Expedite decarbonization by helping to move clean energy projects to implementation on the legal side

Sara Cody entered Yale with the goal of pursuing a career in environmental litigation. However, her studies in the joint degree program at the Yale School of the Environment and Pace University’s Elisabeth Haub School of Law led her in a different direction. Her courses gave her a deeper understanding of environmental economics — and the inseparability of market forces and climate change mitigation, she said. 

“My focus has shifted to more affirmative decarbonization efforts,” Cody said.

After she graduates, Cody would like to work with clean energy companies on legal agreements that allow them to build out key environmental infrastructure projects.

Goal: Reducing corporate supply chain emissions

Vermont is the third-most forested state of the U.S. mainland, with approximately 4.5 million acres of forestland covering nearly 80% of its territory. After witnessing the destructive effects of mining activity on the state’s forests, Colby Richardson’ 25 MEM, who grew up in the rural town of Thetford, was inspired to study environmental policy in college.

Richardson spent several years working in environmental consulting and at an online renewable energy marketplace. He came to YSE with the goal of deepening his quantitative skills to build a business case for sustainability, and last summer he interned at The Coca-Cola Company, where he focused on the company’s sustainability strategy. After graduating, Richardson would like to continue working to reduce supply chain emissions.

Goal: Mitigate climate change through carbon dioxide removal

In her first semester at the Yale School of the Environment, Olivia Rhodes ’25 MEM took a class in carbon dioxide removal (CDR). The class changed the direction of her studies.

Rhodes arrived at YSE with a desire to focus on energy after a stint at a bioenergy firm, but when she learned of CDR’s potential for helping to abate greenhouse gas emissions, she saw an opportunity in a growing field.

“At the rate we're going without reducing our overall emissions, there's going to be a bigger need for it with every passing year,” Rhodes said. “CDR is an area that's very much still being created.”

Goal: Lead thoughtful siting processes for a rapid, equitable build-out of green energy infrastructure

As an urban studies student at Yale-NUS College, Angela Ferguson ’25 MEM/MBA focused on how to make places more livable — and climate change has to be factored into that equation.

Referencing research by the Stockholm Resilience Centre, Ferguson said, “The climate crisis worsens many other issues, whether it's socioeconomic inequality, racial disparities, or disease burden. The question is, how we can meet human needs while remaining within our planetary boundaries.”

Goal: Work on renewable energy solutions to transform industry and government, thereby, helping his home state achieve the goal of 100% carbon-free electricity by 2040

Ethan Cypull ’24 MEM first glimpsed the effects of climate change at age 12, when he listened to his parents talking on the phone to family members in the Philippines whose homes and livelihoods were devastated by a typhoon. 

“That introduced me to the idea that these types of natural disasters are only going to get worse,” he said.

Goal: Decarbonize the energy sector globally in sustainable, scalable ways

Shubh Jain ’25 MEM first became interested in climate change through a class in documentary filmmaking. As an undergraduate initially majoring in physics at the University at Buffalo, Jain took a class with filmmaker John Fiege, who is known for his film and photography work on global ecology and environmental justice issues. Jain worked with Fiege on the production of “Raising Aniya,” a documentary about a young dancer’s life after Hurricane Harvey. 

Goal: Integrating environmental justice with ecological stewardship 

As a child, Landry Guillen ’25 MF lived near acres of farmland in California's arid Imperial County. The region is one of the country's leading agricultural producers but has been grappling with the effects of climate change, including persistent water shortages along the Colorado River. 

While attending the University of California, Santa Barbara, Guillen worked at the university’s urban farm and food bank and that led her to realize that circular food systems can play a major role in climate solutions.

Goal: Utilizing nature-based solutions to increase climate adaptation and resilience

Öznur Öztürk's ’25 MPP has experienced the effects of climate change on multiple continents. As a child growing up near the Black Sea, her family never hung white laundry to dry outside, lest the smoke from coal plants turned their garments gray. This summer, while she was interning at a nonprofit in Washington, D.C., she experienced a history-making heat wave when temperatures climbed to more than 100 degrees for four straight days.  

Goal: Developing scalable climate solutions 

As an Eagle Scout, David Kilroy ’25 MBA once canoed for 75 miles through the Canadian wilderness, basking in the pristine surroundings. It seemed a world away from his childhood home in Cleveland, where he grew up hearing about the polluted Cuyahoga River that caught fire in 1969 and inspired the U.S. Clean Water Act.

“I remember being absolutely shocked at how clear the (Canadian) water was because you just don't see that very often,” Kilroy recalled.