When Sara Cody ’26 MEM applied to the joint degree program at the Yale School of the Environment and Pace University’s Elisabeth Haub School of Law, she imagined a future as an environmental litigator. However, her time at YSE led her in a new direction — the advancement of clean energy projects that will mitigate climate change. 

“My focus has shifted to more affirmative decarbonization efforts,” Cody said.

After attending the University of Georgia where she was an English major, Cody worked as a litigation paralegal in New York. At Pace, she served as editor-in-chief of its Environmental Law Review.  The courses she took in chemistry and economics at YSE gave her a deeper understanding of environmental economics — and the inseparability of market forces and climate change mitigation, which motivated her to shift her focus from litigation to transactional law.  

This summer, Cody will be interning for the Connecticut Green Bank, helping to stimulate the state’s clean energy economy through projects that aim to de-risk critical environmental infrastructure. 

After she graduates, Cody would like to help move clean energy projects to implementation on the legal side by drafting contracts and navigating administrative requirements in the regulatory space. 

“YSE breaks your environmental niche bubble in a way that I think is absolutely essential, and it makes us better advocates and climate leaders,” she said.