2018 Progress Report
In May 2017, the Yale School of the Environment released its first Strategic Plan in more than 10 years. The Strategic Plan outlines priorities for the next five years for pursuing our vision:
Knowledge and Leadership forThe Strategic Plan is a living document, which we will update regularly as we proceed to implement our plans and adapt to changing opportunities.
a Sustainable Future
Summary of the Strategic Plan
The Yale School of the Environment has an important legacy of leading in scholarship, education, and global impact for a sustainable environment.We Seek to Realize Two Overarching Outcomes
- Broaden and deepen the School’s impact on a sustainable future through scholarship, practice, training, and engagement.
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Strengthen the School’s community of faculty, staff, and students.
Our plan identifies goals and strategies to realize our greatest ambitions. Following is a summary of those goals — and some of our progress so far.
Build and maintain our leadership in areas of historic strength and international recognition through faculty, doctoral, and professional master’s programs.
Those areas include:
• Business and the environment
• Climate and air
• Ecosystem conservation and management
• Energy and the environment
• Environmental economics and conservation finance
• Environmental policy analysis
• Forest ecology and management
• Nature and society
• Sustainability science: IndustrialEcology and Green Chemistry
• Urban systems
• Water resource science and management
Those areas include:
• Business and the environment
• Climate and air
• Ecosystem conservation and management
• Energy and the environment
• Environmental economics and conservation finance
• Environmental policy analysis
• Forest ecology and management
• Nature and society
• Sustainability science: IndustrialEcology and Green Chemistry
• Urban systems
• Water resource science and management
| Revised professional master's curriculum in a way that leverages our existing strengths and world-leading scholarship to more effectively prepare students for the environmental challenges of the 21st century | Complete |
| Invested in major facilities improvements at Yale-Myers Forest, including a rebuilt forest camp to replace the camp devastated by fire in 2016 and a new research facility that features a wet laboratory, herpetarium, soils lab, and common meeting space | Complete |
| Building new umbrella initiatives to coordinate and promote scholarship and teaching in critical areas, including climate change and energy, environmental health and justice, interdisciplinary urban approaches, and environmental data science | In-Progress |
| Conducting ladder-track faculty search in the area of energy systems analysis | In-Progress |
Develop curricula that track our current and evolving strengths
| Introduced new curriculum for Masters of Environmental Management degree program—launching with the fall 2018 incoming class—that provides both interdisciplinary breadth and depth, putting more emphasis on subject specialization while also promoting common professional skills | Complete |
| Unveiled “learning communities” around those specializations that extend education and training beyond the classroom and illustrate potential career paths | Complete |
Develop initiatives to deepen our scholarly expertise and support new curricular and outreach impacts
| Scheduled to host first Yale “Day of Climate” in May, 2018 | Complete |
| Developed new Environmental Data Science Hub, an online platform for resources and inspiration toward building environmental data science skills | Complete |
| Creating new initiatives that address areas of increasing global urgency (climate change and energy, environmental health and justice, interdisciplinary urban approaches, and environmental data science) | In-Progress |
| Adding new courses in climate science and policy, urbanization research methods, environmental health and justice, and environmental communication | In-Progress |
| Developing, with Yale partners, cross-campus urbanization curriculum that promotes engagement, scholarship, and teaching | In-Progress |
| Planning “Urban@Yale” research day | In-Progress |
Diversify our faculty, student body, and staff to best address the complex environmental issues of the future
| Hired the first YSE Assistant Dean of Community and Inclusion | Complete |
| Initiated “target of opportunity” faculty search to identify diverse candidates | Complete |
| Prioritizing strategic recruitment and scholarship support to strengthen diversity at YSE and across the greater environmental community | In-Progress |
| Fostering national network of diverse environmental leaders, including YSE alumni | In-Progress |
Expand the environmental communications capabilities of our students, faculty, and critical stakeholders
| Launched the Yale Environmental Dialogue, a series that convenes leading thinkers and decision-makers with the goal of producing solutions to sustainability related issues | Complete |
| Creating new Center for Environmental Communication that will support new research, develop evidence-based communications strategies, teach students and professionals in theory and practice, engage the public, and convene networks to build public and political will for environmental solutions | In-Progress |
Help Us Continue This Important Work!
We need your support of these exciting initiatives through gifts establishing named professorships, visiting fellowships, scholarships, and internships, development of new courses, and competitive research and innovation funds.
To learn more, please contact:
kristin.floyd@yale.edu | 203-432-5189
Kristin Floyd
Director of Development and Alumni Services at YSEkristin.floyd@yale.edu | 203-432-5189
Strategic Plan » 2018 Progress Report
