People, Equity, and the Environment

In a new study, Yale researchers will use remote sensing data to assess changes in urban settlements across the Himalayan region — and how those shifts have affected land use, the frequency and magnitude of natural disasters, and just how sensitive the region’s socio-economic systems are to these stressors.

Gerald Torres, an acclaimed global scholar of environmental law, critical race theory, and federal Indian law, has been named full professor of environmental justice at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (F&ES).  

Wildland firefighters who already face many risks during a typical season are confronted by a new threat this year: COVID-19. In an interview, Yale student James Puerini, who spent five years as a wildland firefighter, discusses why these firefighters are vulnerable to the virus and how government can better protect crews by providing healthcare assurances.

Dorceta Taylor ’85 M.F.S., ’91 Ph.D., one of the nation’s leading environmental justice scholars and activists, was recently named a recipient of the 2020 Wilbur Lucius Cross Medal, the highest honor Yale Graduate School bestows on its alumni.

The Rural West Covid Project, led by Justin Farrell, associate professor of sociology at the Yale School of the Environment, aims to close that data gap and provide policymakers and others with new information on rural Westerners’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The day-long Global Environmental Justice Conference brought emerging scholars from around the world and from across disciplines to discuss how scholarship, social justice, and environmental management can be effectively integrated.

Justin Farrell, an assistant professor of sociology at F&ES, has received a prestigious award from the National Science Foundation that will support his research on how a long-term shift in the U.S. energy sector is changing the nation’s rural communities.

An “urban parklet” designed by an F&ES student in New Haven’s Fair Haven neighborhood has converted a series of parking spaces into a public “ecological classroom,” connecting the neighborhood with urban nature in a whole new way.

Thomas Easley, the assistant dean of community and inclusion at F&ES will receive the Diversity Leadership Award from the Society of American Foresters (SAF) during its annual meeting. 

Dorceta Taylor ’85 M.F.S., ’91 Ph.D., one of the nation’s preeminent scholars in the field of environmental justice, has been named full professor at the Yale School of the Environment.

Dekila Chungyalpa, the 2014 McCluskey Fellow in Conservation, is working with religious leaders to create faith-based environmental stewardship across the world.

Nyeema Harris, whose groundbreaking research explores carnivore behavior and movement, ecology and conservation in urban systems and national parks at a global scale, will join the faculty of Yale School of the Environment as associate professor of wildlife and land conservation on July 1.

Cam Humphrey MEM ’21, who has focused his YSE studies on environmental justice, seeks to elevate the voices on the periphery to ensure that environmental policy addresses critical equity issues.

Michelle Bell, the Mary E. Pinchot Professor of Environmental Health at YSE, was elected today to the National Academy of Medicine, one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine, recognizing individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service.

In the 1970s Yale archaeologist Harvey Weiss began excavating an ancient city in present day Syria that would reveal critical insights into the world’s first cities. Although the site is now sealed off from research due to the country’s civil war, it continues to yield important discoveries — including the agricultural strategies of the earliest civilizations.