Canopy 2025 Issue Home

aerial view of a township in South Africa

Satellite view of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Creating Climate-Smart Cities

Cities are on the front lines of climate change, but they also hold the key to reducing emissions. As urban areas rapidly expand worldwide, Yale School of the Environment scientists are shaping the transition to climate-ready cities with pioneering research and practical solutions.

portraits of Mendelsohn, Benoit, and Gregoire

Three Dedicated Faculty Members Retire

After decades of mentoring students and enriching the academic community, Robert O. Mendelsohn, the Edwin Weyerhaeuser Davis Professor of Forest Policy; Gaboury Benoit, the Grinstein Class of 1954 Professor of Environmental Chemistry; and Timothy Gregoire, the J.P. Weyerhaeuser Jr. Professor of Forest Management, are retiring.

Also in this issue: An innovative new platform that highlights the role thriving wildlife populations play in boosting ecosystem carbon capture and storage and the sustainable energy startup bringing to market solar projects that integrate with existing farmland.

A large group of monkeys crowded on the roof of a building in India

Emerging Disease Threats in Wildland-Urban Interface

YSE researchers found that rapid urbanization could create new opportunities for the spillover of zoonotic diseases, especially in the Global South.

Also in this issue: Greening the domestic graphite supply chain, mapping attitudes about sea-level rise, and reducing uncertainty in soil carbon markets.

This year, we are celebrating our 125th anniversary with the theme of “Leadership, Innovation, and Impact.” Recognizing the far-reaching impact our alumni, faculty, staff, and students have had, and continue to have, on every dimension of environmental science at this milestone in our school’s history is important, but it also comes at a very challenging time for our environment and for many environmental professionals, our friends and colleagues, who are committed to protecting and preserving our natural resources and addressing the climate crisis.

Stories

YSE students tour a wastewater treatment facility

Safeguarding Our Drinking Water Supply

What’s in your drinking water? Research Scientist Shimon Anisfeld discusses how dangerous chemicals are an increasing threat and what can be done to protect the water coming from your tap.

McGlinchey on rocky coast of Ireland trying the local seaweed

Championing Resilient Regional Food Systems Kelly McGlinchey ’23 MEM

Testing the Waters Helen Siegel ’19 MEM, ’24 PhD

Webster in a field of tall grass with woods in the background

Reimagining New Haven’s Parks Maxwell Webster ’17 MEM

Celebrating 125 Years of Leadership, Innovation, and Impact

As YSE marks its 125th anniversary, it is commemorating the far-reaching impact its alumni, faculty, staff, and students have had — and continue to have — on every dimension of environmental science.

TFL online certificate program participants tour the Programa Arboretum

Lessons From Bahia: Conservation and Community

With the goal of learning best practices in action, Tropical Forest Landscapes certificate program participants traveled to Brazil’s Atlantic Forest last fall to explore sustainable agriculture and forest restoration.

Bookshelf

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Hearsay is Not Excluded: A History of Natural History Michael Dove

Book cover: Healing Plants of South Asia

Healing Plants of South Asia: A Handbook of the Medicinal Flora of the Indian Subcontinent John A. Parrotta

Book cover: Field Guide to the Patchy Anthropocene

Field Guide to the Patchy Anthropocene: The New Nature Alder Keleman Saxena

Book cover: Indigenous Critical Reflections on Traditional Ecological Knowledge

Indigenous Critical Reflections on Traditional Ecological Knowledge Pat Gonzales-Rogers

Alumni News

YSE Alumni Association Award Winners

Meet the accomplished alumni who were recognized at YSE Reunion 2024 for their outstanding environmental work — including using AI to help remove river plastics, protecting Indigenous land in Virginia, and building coalitions in Colombia.

James Leslie and his dogs kayaking on the Caribbean coast of Panama.

Catching Up with Classmates

Personal and professional news and updates from YSE's more than 5,900 alumni around the world.

In Memoriam

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William R. Burch

(1933-2024) Renowned for his pioneering work in social and community forestry, Professor Burch brought innovative approaches in ecological enhancement and community development to both rural and urban settings. He taught for more than four decades and founded the Tropical Resources Institute (TRI) and the Urban Resources Initiative (URI) at YSE.

Adriana Casas ’01 MEM

(1971–2024) A dedicated advocate for biodiversity and environmental policy, Adriana devoted her life to protecting nature and mentoring future conservationists. She wrote one of the first books on access to genetic resources and benefit sharing, a key objective of the 1992 United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.

Jane Sokolow ’80 MFS

(1950-2025) From the Rockies to the Catskills to the Bronx, Jane organized efforts to protect parks and wild places in the communities where she lived. She served on YSE’s Alumni Association Board and on numerous boards of nonprofits including Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy and the Natural Areas Conservancy.