Air Company, a carbon utilization startup whose scientific leadership team has done pioneering research at the Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering (CGCGE) at Yale, received the Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Chemistry Challenge Award for Climate Change. The team was recognized for the development a groundbreaking technology that transforms carbon dioxide captured from industrial plants and hydrogen from water into sustainable aviation fuel, ethanol, and methanol.
The company projects that its Airmade technology, if scaled, could avoid 10.8% of global carbon dioxide emissions, which is the equivalent of more than 4.6 billion tons of carbon dioxide annually. Its sustainable aviation fuel life cycle CO2 emissions are over 90% lower than traditional jet fuel.
The Air Company team includes co-founders Gregory Constantine and Stafford Sheehan ’13 MS, PhD ’16; Mahlet Garedew; Chi Chen PhD ’16; Pat Ward, and Paul Anastas, director of CGCGE and Teresa and H. John Heinz III Chair in Chemistry for the Environment, who serves as the company’s science advisor. Sheehan and Garedew were both postdoctoral associates at CGCGE. They were honored during an awards ceremony held on October 23, 2023, at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C.
"Yale must be proud of producing people like Drs. Sheehan, Chi Chen, and Mahlet Garedew, who have shown you can go from invention to impact so quickly with solutions to such major problems," Anastas said. "I’m just happy to be part of this team with people who have dedicated their brilliance to making the world better through green chemistry."
November 07, 2023
From left: Pat Ward, Paul Anastas, Gregory Constantine, Mahlet Garedew, and Stafford Sheehan of Air Company are honored with EPA's Green Chemistry Challenge Award at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C., on October 23, 2023. Credit: Eric Vance/US Environmental Protection Agency
Methane is one of the most powerful levers for slowing near‑term warming, yet the world still lacks the tools to track it with confidence. Sparkle Malone, assistant professor of ecosystem carbon capture, explains why a coordinated global observation system is essential for understanding both human and natural methane emissions.
Read the Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture Q&A with YSE faculty Sparkle Malone.
May 07, 2026
The Yale Hixon Center for Urban Sustainability recently hosted a delegation of Members of the British Parliament as part of a four-day Connecticut visit organized by the British American Parliamentary Group. The six MPs met with Karen Seto, the Frederick C. Hixon Professor of Geography and Urbanization Science, to discuss climate policy, urbanization, and the role of cities in addressing climate change.
The visit included a tour of New Haven’s bioswales. Bioswales are a landscaping feature designed to slow, filter, and redirect stormwater runoff, slowly filtering it through sediment into the groundwater or allowing it to be absorbed by native plants. They help prevent flooding and reduce pollution that would otherwise flow into rivers and streams. The Urban Resources Initiative has partnered with the city to help lead the construction and management of the bioswales. Approximately 200 bioswales have been installed across downtown New Haven through this broader effort, with about 50 adjacent to Yale’s campus.
“Seeing the bioswale presented me with a simple and effective option I want to take back and suggest to my local authority. Not only would it alleviate flooding problems, but it could also be an attractive green feature that could enhance areas, " said Christine Jardine, Member of Parliament for Edinburgh West.
The visit also provided an opportunity to explore collaboration between UK policymakers, the City of New Haven, and YSE on sustainability and climate resilience initiatives.
March 27, 2026
Jonathan Gewirtzman, a doctoral candidate in ecosystem ecology and biogeochemistry, has received the 2026 Katherine S. McCarter Graduate Student Policy Award from the Ecological Society of America. He is one of 20 students from universities across the U.S. to be honored with the award.
Recipients of the award travel to Washington, D.C. for policy, communication and career training and they meet with lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
Gewirtzman, a National Science Foundation Research Fellow, investigates greenhouse gas cycling in forests and wetlands aimed at informing strategies for mitigating natural emissions and enhancing nature-based climate solutions.
“ESA has been an important community for me throughout my graduate career — a place to connect with ecologists across subfields and to build leadership experience as an officer of the Biogeosciences Section. I'm excited for the opportunity to learn firsthand from scientists and policymakers working at that interface,” Gewirtzman said.
February 19, 2026
