Doctor of Philosophy — PhD
The doctoral program cultivates scholars who are equipped to understand and develop solutions to complex environmental challenges.
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Program Overview
Doctoral students work with the school’s world-renowned faculty to collaboratively design cutting-edge research projects that engage them in scientific discovery, policy, public discourse, and action. The five-year program is fully funded and independent of any faculty research grants, allowing doctoral students the intellectual freedom to explore the environmental issues that most inspire them. Students also have access to a broad array of resources across Yale University and its professional and graduate schools, including its faculty and library system. Graduates complete the doctoral program having gained disciplinary depth and strong leadership skills that enable success in any career path — academic, government research, policy, nonprofits, and the private sector.
Doctoral students at YSE receive five years of guaranteed funding, independent of any faculty research grants, allowing doctoral students the intellectual freedom to explore the environmental issues that most inspire them.
Combined Doctoral Degree Programs
Combined PhD — Yale Anthropology Combined PhD — New York Botanical Garden
Why YSE Doctoral Programs?
Research Independence and Funding
Doctoral students at YSE receive five years of guaranteed funding, independent of any faculty research grants, allowing doctoral students the intellectual freedom to explore the environmental issues that most inspire them.
Acclaimed Faculty
Working closely with some of the top experts in their fields is one of the advantages of a YSE doctoral degree. Our faculty are committed to mentoring the next generation of environmental leaders to tackle the world’s most urgent problems.
Student and Alumni Spotlights
Tracking Environmental and Infrastructure Damage in Ukraine
As co-leader of Black Marble, NASA’s light dataset, Eleanor Stokes '18 PhD is currently tracking the effects of Russian military strikes on Ukraine’s infrastructure and climate-induced natural disasters across the world. NASA’s Black Marble science team, which uses data from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite aboard NASA’s Suomi NPP satellite spacecraft to map disaster impacts in vulnerable communities, was awarded the 2020 NASA Group Achievement Award for helping realize the vision of the NASA-ESA-JAXA COVID dashboard and enabling international partnership in a time of need. “Humanity is facing major global risks from extreme weather and rising sea levels,” Stokes says. “It’s very important to have a satellite record that can speak to the human piece of the puzzle.
Redefining Human-Wildlife Conflict
In the Tibetan Plateau, Yufang Gao ’14 MESc, ’23 PhD interviews, observes, and travels with Tibetan herders and Buddhist monks. He sets up camera traps and collects scat to analyze the diet of snow leopards. And he has hiked a mountainside 15,000 feet above sea level — all in pursuit of data for his dissertation focused on the quest for harmonious coexistence between people and large carnivores. What is needed for human-wildlife coexistence is a different perspective about conflict, Gao says. “Conflict,” he has found, “is part of coexistence.”
Tracking Forest Inventory
Richard Guldin ’76 MFS, ’79 PhD has helped reinvent the U.S. Forest Service’s Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program by integrating new sampling designs, field procedures, and innovative software to create an annual inventory that has become a global model. His work earned him the Society of American Foresters’ Sir William Schlich Award.
Contact the Doctoral Program
Elisabeth Barsa is the contact for students interested in the YSE doctoral program.
Admissions and Funding Information
Our doctoral program offers scholars from diverse backgrounds the opportunity to pursue a highly individualized area of inquiry under the mentorship of a YSE faculty member. The research conducted by YSE PhD candidates spans global and disciplinary boundaries — and what’s more, it is fully funded.
Doctoral students at YSE receive 5 years of guaranteed funding. Funding packages consist of a stipend, full tuition coverage, and health insurance. For more information on funding and benefits for doctoral students at Yale, visit the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences' stipend payments and financial support pages.