Still image from an interactive 3D model of a single fir needle as captured through high-resolution X-ray micro-computed tomography (microCT) by Craig Brodersen, professor of plant physiological ecology. To explore the models, visit the Brodersen Lab's 3D data portal.
Research & Impact
Learned in the classroom, practiced in the field, impacting our world.
On This Page
Our faculty, students, and alumni are conducting innovative research that is changing how we understand and approach the environment, conservation, and sustainability. We’re turning wood into biodegradable plastics, re-imagining the urban tree lifecycle, and engineering plants to fight climate change — creating critical knowledge and new perspectives to solve environmental challenges across multiple disciplines and scales.
Faculty
Yale School of the Environment faculty are a diverse group of field-defining scholars who continue to break new ground in the areas of biodiversity, climate change, energy, policy, business, industrial ecology and green chemistry, urban systems, and environmental justice, among other disciplines.
Research in the News
Explore Our Research
Impact through Centers, Programs, and Initiatives
Students, faculty, and staff come together within more than 20 YSE-affiliated centers and programs, which provide collaborative research opportunities, relevant professional experience, and engaging conferences and outreach programs.
Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (YPCCC)
YPCCC is a leader in climate change communication, tracking Americans’ perception of climate change at all scales and building public and political will for climate action.
Urban Resources Initiative (URI)
Making New Haven more resilient, URI works with local partners to plant trees, restore community green spaces, and build bioswales to filter stormwater runoff.
Environmental Leadership Training Initiative (ELTI)
In critical natural landscapes rich in biodiversity, ELTI empowers local leaders to design and implement land use practices and initiatives that protect tropical forests and the livelihoods of local landowners and their communities.
Yale Forests
Our homes away from home, Yale Forests manage 10,777 acres of forestland that provide educational, research, and professional opportunities to the Yale community and beyond.
The Forests Dialogue (TFD)
The Forests Dialogue provides a platform for ongoing, multi-stakeholder conversations focused on collaborative solutions to challenges in achieving sustainable forest management and forest conservation.
Tropical Resources Institute (TRI)
The Tropical Resources Institute supports student research and on-campus programming aimed at solutions to complex challenges within the conservation and management of tropical environments.
Affiliated: Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture
Finding solutions to climate change through advances in natural carbon sequestration.
Center for Industrial Ecology (CIE)
Leading the way in an emerging field, the Center for Industrial Ecology focuses research, teaching, and outreach on how resources are converted to products, the pollution that comes from these processes, and opportunities to reduce resource use and pollution.
Stay Informed on YSE Research
We highlight three news and research stories about the work we’re doing at the Yale School of the Environment to achieve sustainability — for ourselves and future generations.