Incoming students kayak on Mill River in New Haven as part of a two-week orientation in August 2026, where they practice observational skills to identify vegetation and the health of the river.
The 2026 cohort of students comes from 23 countries and 35 states and territories, bringing on average four years of professional experience to their studies.
Adolfo Castro Dominguez has worked in Columbia in conservation management with both private and public sector stakeholders as an international cooperation specialist. With an interest in strengthening large scale land protection and ecological restoration efforts across the Global South, Dominguez said he was drawn to the Yale School of the Environment because of its interdisciplinary approach and strong focus on tropical environments.
“Although all my roles were very different in nature, they were all exploring the same fundamental question from different perspectives: How can we build a future where people and nature thrive together?” said Dominguez '27 MEM.
Dominguez, who earned an undergraduate degree in environmental studies at Yale-NUS College in Singapore in 2020, is one of 185 incoming students who are beginning their master’s and doctoral studies at Yale School of the Environment this fall.
I want to be both in the field and on the teams building capital structures to keep resources flowing to local practitioners on the ground.”
This year’s incoming class is comprised of 16 doctoral candidates and 169 master’s students from 23 countries and 35 states and territories. Three-quarters of the master’s students, or 130, are in the Master of Environmental Management program; 19 students are pursuing degrees in the research-oriented Master of Environmental Science; 17 students are enrolled in the Master of Forestry program, and three incoming students are pursuing Master of Forest Science degrees.
Domestic students of color make up 21% of the incoming master’s class and 33% are international students, including 18 who are Three Cairns Scholars who come from 11 countries across the Global South. The students have an average of four years of professional experience.
"It's the most exciting time of the year for me, watching students from all over the world join our community," Dean Indy Burke said. "They bring new ideas and new perspectives, all in service of a common purpose: advancing knowledge and leadership for a sustainable future."
Incoming students are participating in MODs, a two-week program that introduces them to the New Haven community as well as field work in collecting, analyzing, and synthesizing real-world data and applying the information in a broader context of decision-making. MODs runs in two rotations from August 17-20 and August 24-27 in New Haven and at Yale-Myers Forest.
“Our MODs is about understanding the health of ecosystems and the health of human communities and how they are dependent on each other,” said Mark Ashton, senior associate dean of The Forest School at YSE and the Morris K. Jesup Professor of Silviculture and Forest Ecology. “Students learn the practice of observing and gathering physical, ecological and social information through the scientific method to develop solutions.”
Colleen Murphy-Dunning, program director of the Hixon Center for Urban Sustainability, and the Urban Resources Initiative, said MODs provides students with a grounding in community-based conservation efforts.
“The New Haven Science-to-Solutions MOD connects students to each other, to their new home, and to the city’s environmental challenges— while introducing them to the analytical and practical skills needed to make a difference,” she said. “We hope it not only inspires them but also motivates them to get involved in local efforts.”
Doctoral student Charlotte Rhoads, who earned her master’s degree in science, earth, and atmospheric science at City College of New York, is looking forward to working in the Seto Lab of Urbanization and Global Change under the direction of Karen Seto, the Frederick C. Hixon Professor of Geography and Urbanization Science.
“Urban spaces are a vantage point to triangulate my three core interests: physical, natural, and human systems. I plan to investigate the socio-environmental impacts of urbanization and how climate change and anthropogenic infrastructure converge to threaten lives and ecosystems,” Rhoads said. “I chose YSE because of the intellectual flexibility and trust it gives doctoral students to develop expertise in the environmental questions that are most important to them.”
While working at the conservation fund Terraset, Christina Janulis '28 MEM/MBA became keenly aware of innovative climate solutions that lacked the funding to get off the ground. With a background in ecological restoration and an undergraduate degree in integrative biology, that frustration led her to explore a path to merge the possible with the practical — sustaining conservation work over the long term.
“I want to be both in the field and on the teams building capital structures to keep resources flowing to local practitioners on the ground,” she said.
Janulis says she is looking forward to taking classes in ecosystem management and strategies for land conservation and financing at YSE.
“I'm excited to step into a multi-generational network of people who are thinking and acting creatively for the planet,” Janulis said. “That kind of community is rare, and it's a big part of why I chose this path.”
