This year’s graduates are entering careers across energy, corporate sustainability, public policy, and academia — joining a global network of more than 6,000 alumni.
Before coming to the Yale School of the Environment, Maya Caine ’26 MEM spent more than five years working in strategy and marketing positions at major corporations. As she waited for Yale’s commencement ceremonies to begin Monday, she recalled how her studies these past two years had sharpened her focus on industrial ecology and a circular economy.
“I feel like everything before coming to YSE was what I felt like I had to do. These two years have been a really huge transition point for me because everything after will be what I intentionally decide to do that aligns with my values, aligns with my beliefs, and my ethos for environmental stewardship,” Caine said.
Last month, for example, Caine launched Helix, a resale clothing platform that embeds stories about garments.
“Rather than relying on a big, globalized fashion system that’s very extractive, we can re-localize fashion and make it more circular,” she said.
Caine and her fellow graduates celebrated their achievements Monday at ceremonies at Old Campus and YSE. The students included 15 PhDs, 100 Masters of Environmental Management, 23 Masters of Environmental Science, 12 Masters of Forestry, and five Masters of Forest Science students. Seven students received joint master’s degrees with other Yale schools, including the Divinity School, Public Health, Architecture, Management, and Engineering and Applied Science. Five received MEMs and JDs from the Elizabeth Haub Law School at Pace University, and one student received a joint degree from Tsinghua University. While at YSE, the students traveled to 13 countries and more than 10 states for their research.
You have learned because you opened your minds to new ways of thinking, new ways of solving problems, and to the ideas brought by others from very different backgrounds, countries, and perspectives.”
The day began with a procession from Kroon Hall to Old Campus, where YSE students — wearing their environmentally themed mortarboards, a school tradition, — joined fellow undergraduates and graduate students from across the university at Yale’s 325th commencement ceremony. After Yale University President Maurie McInnis conferred degrees, the graduates returned to Science Hill for YSE’s diploma ceremony in Kline Courtyard. There, Dean Indy Burke applauded the graduates’ hard work, resilience, and persistence.
“You have learned because you opened your minds to new ways of thinking, new ways of solving problems, and to the ideas brought by others from very different backgrounds, countries, and perspectives. I hope you carry forward an openness to complexity, humility about what you do not yet know, and a willingness to keep listening, even when doing so is difficult,” Burke said. “I hope you continue to encounter ideas that challenge you, and that those moments lead you toward deeper insight into the very complicated relationship between humans and the environment. …Real leadership rarely begins with winning an argument; it begins with building trust.”
YSE's doctoral graduates have accepted positions at universities and leading institutions around the world, including the Tom Lovejoy Conservation Fellowship, Ramboll, and Aurora Energy Research. Master’s graduates will take positions in NGOs, corporations, government and academic institutions, including as a land and water policy analyst at Lincoln Institute of Land Policy; conservation program manager at Green Diamond Resource Company; Oceans Legal Fellow at the Natural Resources Defense Council; sustainability special assistant at the City of Baltimore Office of Sustainability; and renewable energy data scientist at Streem Energy.
Student speakers Caroline Solomon ’26 MEM and Alexandra Jade Talosig Garcia ’26 MESc shared similar messages of empowerment in the face of challenging times.
“Although this uncertain time can make it seem like the world is just crumbling around us, I’m no longer scared,” Solomon said. “Now, I have a reason to hope — and that reason is us. …We are real. We are here. We are powerful. We are the ones who get to build a better world, and we have the power to turn this frightening moment into one of possibility and hope.”
Biweekly, we highlight three news and research stories about the work we’re doing at Yale School of the Environment.
Garcia told fellow students that they have the tools to wield power in transformative ways.
“The dominant narrative of climate change leads many to believe we are powerless, and that systems are too big to change,” Garcia said. “… In these final moments together, I urge us to visualize such a transformation. Imagine a policy led by the people it was meant to protect; a solution that doesn’t extract; a research agenda that challenges the beliefs and structures holding us in place. Let this vision give you hope, shatter your assumptions, and guide your work moving forward.”
Terry Baker ’07 MF, chief operating officer at the Society of American Foresters and president of the YSE Alumni Board, welcomed the graduates into the school’s alumni community with a pinning ceremony.
“You attended YSE during a difficult time in the world, but this means you have more in common, not less, with alumni in the generations before you. Our school produces exceptional people to meet exceptional times,” Baker said.
The day closed with a reception and luncheon for the Class of 2026 and their families, who come from 29 countries and across the U.S.
Hassan Alzain ’26 MEM, who will be heading to the Middle East to work in clean energy following commencement, said his years at YSE have left him with tremendous hope for the future.
“My objective is to drive clean energy and decarbonization on a global scale. One of the primary reasons I came to YSE was my ambition that no one gets left behind in the energy transition,” Alzain said. “What’s giving me hope is working with like-minded people for the collective good.”
