‘Hip hop and forestry: That’ll save the world’

Note: Yale School of the Environment (YSE) was formerly known as the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (F&ES). News articles and events posted prior to July 1, 2020 refer to the School's name at that time.

Hip hop and forestry. For Thomas Easley, there’s power and comfort in both.
 
In a new video, Easley, assistant dean of community and inclusion at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, describes how both music and the natural world gave him strength during difficult times as a young man. And how they continue to speak to him today, reminding him of the power of diversity.

Bringing these worlds together, he says, has allowed him to connect people, who have been unnaturally kept apart, to create a better world.
 
“To me, diversity is beautiful because all it means is difference,” he says. “We need to learn to value the difference.”
 
The video is the first in the series “Stories Happen in Forests,” created by the Dogwood Alliance, an environmental nonprofit organization that works to protect forests in U.S. South.