Meet Ethan Addicott, YASSP’s New Director of Research

Ethan Addicott ’17 MESc, ’22 PhD has joined the Yale Applied Science Synthesis Program (YASSP) as Director of Research. YASSP is a joint initiative of The Forest School and the Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture. Addicott, who earned his master's at the Yale School of the Environment and his doctorate in environmental and natural resource economics, returns to Yale after four years at the University of Exeter's LEEP Institute. He spoke with YSE News about his path back to Yale, his research focus, and his goals for the program.

Faculty

Ethan Addicott Director of Research, Applied Science Synthesis Program

Q. Can you tell us a bit about your role as Director of Research for the Applied Science Synthesis Program and what your research focus looks like day to day?

The Yale Applied Science Synthesis Program (YASSP) is a partnership of natural and social scientists aiming to help synthesize and generate new evidence to scale nature-based solutions, inform policy, and pursue a healthier planet.

As part of my role, I get to work with a team of research program managers and associates who amaze me with the way they engage with project partners, their ability to serve as ambassadors for our program, and their research productivity. Together, we’re building new partnerships around the world to understand how best to deploy natural climate solutions and restore degraded ecosystems.

Q. What drew you to YSE, and how does this role connect to the work you were doing before?

I came to YSE in 2015 to pursue an MESc and develop skills to transition from an undergraduate degree in environmental science and public policy to pursuing a PhD in environmental and natural resource economics (ENRE). From MODs through graduation, I had an amazing experience in the program.

The ENRE community at YSE was such a supportive group, and the faculty helped us access the right program of study across the economics, mathematics, ecology, and evolutionary biology departments to be competitive applicants for careers in economics and for top interdisciplinary PhD programs.

After completing my PhD in 2022, also at YSE, I moved to a faculty job at the Land, Environment, Economics, and Policy (LEEP) Institute, at the University of Exeter Business School in the United Kingdom. For the past four years, the LEEP Institute has helped me pursue my research program uniting disciplines to address resource management and sustainability questions. In particular, I focused on studying the limited substitutability of nature and the benefits we derive from it.

Newsletter

Subscribe to “YSE 3”

Biweekly, we highlight three news and research stories about the work we’re doing at Yale School of the Environment.

The opportunity to return to YSE and join The Forest School and the Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture through YASSP presented a new and exciting challenge for me. Whereas LEEP is an interdisciplinary group anchored in environmental economics, YASSP staff are predominantly trained in applied ecology. Both groups are working toward improving land-use decision-making, so moving my research to Yale was a smooth transition, like transferring between two moving trains on parallel tracks.

I feel extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to return to Yale in this new capacity and to see so many familiar faces from my time as a student across the staff, administration, and faculty.

Q. What are you most excited to accomplish in this role over the next year or two?

YASSP will reach its five-year milestone next year. Looking to the Center for Business and the Environment at Yale (CBEY), celebrating 20 years, and the longevity of other successful YSE programs, I am most excited to work alongside Mark Bradford, the E.H. Harriman Professor of Soils and Ecosystem Ecology, and Sara Kuebbing, assistant professor of temperate forest resilience and the former YASSP Director of Research, to help create a lasting program that supports land-use decision-making and nature-based solutions. We want to bring (and synthesize) the science to decision-makers and partners so that we can better sequester carbon, improve biodiversity outcomes, and create a healthier and more sustainable planet. YASSP has done amazing, timely work over the past four years with a broad range of partners from land managers to corporations to policymakers. I am excited to continue on this virtuous path and expand our team and capacity to meet the strong demand for this important work.