Celebrating 125 Years of Leadership, Innovation, and Impact
The Yale School of the Environment has been educating the next generation of environmental leaders and helping to meet society’s greatest challenges since 1900.
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. Since its founding in 1900, more than 5,800 YSE graduates have assumed leadership roles in a wide array of sectors and disciplines, from sustainable forestry to industrial ecology to ecosystem management and conservation.
“From our founding in 1900 as The Yale Forest School to our present as the Yale School of the Environment, our strength is rooted in our interdisciplinary approach to developing solutions to meet some of society’s greatest global challenges and educating the next generation of environmental leaders,” says Indy Burke, the Carl W. Knobloch, Jr. Dean. “We are looking forward to celebrating 125 years of ‘leadership, innovation, and impact’ throughout the year, as well as continuing to prepare for the many opportunities and challenges ahead.”
The Yale Forest School (now the Yale School of the Environment) was founded in 1900 with a founding gift from the family of Gifford Pinchot B.A. 1889, LL.D. 1925. Pinchot, pictured here at his desk, was a pioneer in the conservation movement who would later become the first head of the U.S. Forest Service.Young foresters relax outside their tents at the Yale Forest School training camp in Milford, Pennsylvania, circa 1910.Gail Kalison and Elizabeth Lyons ’81 take a moment to relax and enjoy the view on the Colorado field trip in May, 1980.Residents of Dolakha, Nepal, talk with YSE Professor Karen Seto about land use changes in the area in January 2020.Professor Craig Brodersen prepares a sample before using a laser to trigger a water bubble in a leaf, measuring its collapse with a high-speed camera (over 100,000 frames per second) to calculate the changes in pressure.Left: A Yale flag flies atop a triangulation tower at what is now Yale Meyers camp in Union, Connecticut. These towers were vital for surveying and mapping, especially in areas with dense forests. Right: Students from The Forest School's Forest Crew trek through the redwoods during a 2024 field trip to Peters Creek, California.Kroon Hall shown under construction in 2008. Kroon officially became YSE's new home in January 2009.Students toured Greenskies Clean Energy Waterford Solar Farm in 2024 as part of the Planetary Solutions in Clean Energy internship program led by YSE Senior Lecturer Robert Klee.Andrew Champlin, PhD student, and Zaneta Otoo, Yale College senior, conduct research at the Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering in Greeley Memorial Laboratory: Mara LavittThe YSE flag bearer and fellow graduates process to historic Old Campus to take part in Yale's 323rd commencement celebration on May 20, 2024.
