Alumni

The Yale School of the Environment has been educating the next generation of environmental leaders and helping to meet some of society’s greatest challenges since 1900. Today, the community is working on climate solutions while looking at the challenges and opportunities ahead.

Yale scientists find that a “measure and remeasure” approach is a feasible method of verifying soil carbon storage in croplands for climate mitigation.

Yale School of the Environment Profs. Dorceta Taylor ’85 MFS, ’91 PhD, and Gerald Torres were honored with the first endowed chairs in environmental justice. Taylor was named the Wangari Maathai Professor of Environmental Justice, while Torres was named the Dolores Huerta and Wilma Mankiller Professor of Environmental Justice. Taylor and Torres, internationally renowned scholars, have been central to YSE’s ongoing

Claudia Martínez Zuleta is bringing together leaders in finance, agriculture, and climate change to fuel economic growth while also meeting the challenge of sustainable development. Her work has earned her the Yale School of the Environment’s Distinguished Alumni Award, which honors the achievements of YSE graduates who have made significant contributions to the field of conservation, environmental science, and management.

From establishing The Nature Conservancy’s presence in Panama to serving as the country’s first minister of the environment, Yale School of the Environment Distinguished Alumni Award winner Mirei Endara de Heras has dedicated her career to addressing environmental challenges

Luke Swampdog Tyree ’14 MESc founded NDPonics, which has helped reclaim and restore about 1,000 acres of Indigenous land of the Monacan Indian Nation in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. In recognition of his efforts, Tyree received the Prospect Street Award, which recognizes a recent Yale School of the Environment graduate who has made significant contributions in the environmental

For the past 18 months, Simon Bunyan '22 MEM has crisscrossed the country, talking with community groups about what they need to implement clean energy solutions. These conversations are part of his work with the Department of Energy’s Justice40 Initiative, which directs 40% of overall federal investments in clean energy, energy efficiency, sustainable housing, and clean water infrastructure into disadvantaged

The divisive nature of U.S. politics often stymies efforts to address the climate crisis. George Gemelas ’18, '21 MEM, however, is working to make climate change a bipartisan issue and foster consensus around market-based policy solutions.

“In my experience, there's a lot of interest by the average citizen, who may happen to be conservative, for pragmatic solutions. That's why I

Lav Kanoi grew up in Kolkata, India, where the Hugli River, a tributary of the Ganges, empties into the Bay of Bengal. The Ganges is widely revered in Indian society, but development and the impacts of climate change are putting pressure on the health of the river at a time when supply and demand for water is at a critical

Championing the Chesapeake Bay

For four decades, Ann Pesiri Swanson ’83 MES has used her science and communication skills to restore and protect the largest estuary in the U.S. — the Chesapeake Bay.

Swanson, who received the Distinguished Alumni Award, began her work at a time when the Chesapeake Bay watershed — which spans six states, holds more than 15

From greening global trade to reducing the “embodied” carbon emissions generated by building materials to de-fossilizing our economy through innovation in green chemistry and green engineering, Yale faculty and thought leaders participating in COP28 emphasized a multidisciplinary approach to addressing the climate crisis. 

Forests play a key role in mitigating climate change by removing and storing carbon dioxide, but they are facing increasing challenges. In the new Department of Energy report “Roads to Removal,” a team of YSE scientists map out a plan to reach critical climate goals by increasing the total forested area in the U.S., increasing the rate at which forests

Kirsten Williams '23 MEM/JD will serve as an international and interagency ocean policy liaison for the Office of the Oceanographer of the Navy as a 2024 John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellow. 

Forester and federal wildland firefighter Monte Kawahara is working to mitigate the effects of extreme wildfires by focusing on the root causes and partnering with tribal communities. Kawahara’s efforts earned him the Yale School of Environment's 2023 Prospect Street Award.

From populating an early conservation database using IBM key punch cards to protecting many thousands of acres of ecologically significant lands in South Carolina, 2023 Distinguished Alumni Award winner Tom Kohlsaat ’73 MFS has always been guided by the relevant conservation needs of the day.