Awards / Grants / Funding

Three Yale Students Named Wyss Scholars

Bree Shirvell — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 16:00:59 +0000

Three Yale Students Named Wyss Scholars Bree Shirvell Thu, 03/21/2024 - 12:00

Three Yale students whose work focuses on a range of conservation issues including public land management and policy levers to protect critical habitats have been named 2024 Wyss Scholars.

Nasra Mohamed ’25 MEM, Victoria Ramirez ’25 MEM, and Taylor Wurts ’25 JD were selected by the Wyss Foundation for the program, which supports the graduate-level education of a new generation of leaders in U.S. land conservation.

As scholars they will receive tuition, internships, and postgraduate support and learn the latest in conservation law and policy. They will have the opportunity to apply that knowledge working at non-profit conservation groups such as The Nature Conservancy, and for government agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service and the National Park Service.

"It is a pivotal moment for conservation," said Indy Burke, the Carl W. Knobloch, Jr. Dean of the Yale School of the Environment. "The multitude of challenges confronting our landscapes—including mega-droughts, habitat loss, wildfires, development, and urban expansion—requires innovative solutions from the next generation of leaders. Thanks to the generous backing of the Wyss Foundation, these three exceptional scholars will gain the knowledge and skills to address these complex conservation issues equitably and sustainably."

Originally from Minnesota, Mohamed is interested in issues surrounding grassland conservation and land management in the Midwest. She works as an Urban Forester at YSE’s Urban Resources Initiative, is a member of the Forestry Club, and is organizing this year’s Environmental Film Festival. Before attending graduate school, she worked as a communications and outreach consultant, advising government agencies in Washington state on light-rail expansion and soil removal projects.

Mohamed plans to move to Madison, Wisconsin, after graduation and work for a nonprofit that helps mitigate land use change in the Midwest, preserves prairies, and supports private landowners in implementing land conservation practices.

“The Midwest is an essential region for conservation and climate change mitigation efforts. I want to help mitigate the impacts of conventional agriculture on the environment and preserve its biodiversity,” Mohamed says.

Ramirez became interested in pursuing a career in public land management after serving in AmeriCorps for two years in the Community Volunteer Ambassador Program at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Utah and Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks in California. At Sequoia and Kings Canyon, she also worked as a park ranger coordinating various projects, including giant sequoia monitoring, invasive species removal, trail maintenance, and more.

At YSE, Ramirez is an Education, Communications, and Events Fellow with the Yale Center for Environmental Justice. She said YSE has helped her develop effective science communication skills that she plans on combining with her policy and community engagement background to advocate for environmental justice on public lands.

After graduation, she plans to return to the West to work for the National Park Service.

“I am committed to aiding in the transition from the traditional conservation movement towards a more inclusive and restorative framework, increasing access to public lands, and focusing on opportunities for stewardship,” Ramirez says.

Wurts, a second-year law student at Yale Law School, is interested in developing novel litigation efforts that address conservation and climate change. He is co-president of the Yale Environmental Law Association, Vice President of the Yale Urban Law & Policy Society, and Executive Policy Editor of the Yale Law & Policy Review.

This summer, Wurts will work with the Conservation Law Foundation to explore litigation and policy levers to hasten the green transition and protect land across New England. After graduation, he hopes to work in government or at a nonprofit to advance litigation efforts that simultaneously conserve American landscapes and combat climate change.

“I am eager to use law and policy to further equity in conservation and climate action. I am especially excited to increase access to conservation land in historically overburdened and under-resourced communities through legal tools that can help fund remediation and restoration of environmental injustices,” Wurts says.

The Wyss Foundation, a charitable organization that supports land conservation in the U.S. and internationally, has selected three Yale students as 2024 scholars.

Three Yale Students Named Wyss Scholars

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YSE Students Honored for Leadership in Conservation and Wildlife Science

Bree Shirvell — Tue, 27 Feb 2024 14:49:55 +0000

YSE Students Honored for Leadership in Conservation and Wildlife Science Bree Shirvell Tue, 02/27/2024 - 09:49

Three Yale School of Environment students have been awarded the MK McCarthy-RW Worth Scholarship for Leadership in Conservation Science. By investing in conservation scientists, the Worth Scholarship showcases the importance of conservation to the overall efforts to address the pressing environmental challenges we face today.

Germar González ’24 MESc, Elizabeth Nowlin ’24 MESc, and Mizzy Almaazmi ’24 MESc were recognized for their leadership in the field of conservation biology and wildlife science.

Germar González ’24 MESc

“Asking interdisciplinary questions that address socio-ecological issues is essential for driving progressive shifts in the field of conservation,” González said. “I believe my current research on carnivore conservation and multiple-use landscapes in Mexico accomplishes just that, which is why it holds such significance for me. Winning this award humbly acknowledges my commitment to a conservation vision that promotes inclusive and equitable conservation practices.”

González is working in the Applied Wildlife Ecology (AWE) lab under the direction of Nyeema Harris, Knobloch Family Associate Professor of Wildlife and Land Conservation, studying carnivore diversity in a biosphere in Mexico.

"Well-deserving is an understatement here. Germar's thoughtfulness and dedication have made him an asset to my AWE Lab. He has been actively collaborating on research efforts in green spaces, from urban parks in Detroit to his thesis work in a biosphere reserve in Mexico. His demonstrated commitment to a rigorous, inclusive, and publicly engaging practice of science makes me hopeful for the field of conservation," Harris said.

The awardees are individuals who are among an exciting new generation of conservationists who are developing scientific knowledge for nature conservation.”

Oswald Schmitz Oastler Professor of Population and Community Ecology

Elizabeth Nowlin ’24 MESc

Nowlin is researching the effect of redlining on mammal diversity in New Haven, examining how social factors, such as historical structural inequities, impact the distribution of mammal species diversity.

“With New Haven as my study system, I aim to highlight areas in the city to focus future efforts on promoting an equitable distribution of biodiversity and associated ecosystem services,” she said.

Almaazmi is studying threats to diamondback terrapin populations in Connecticut, which nest in heavily human-populated areas.

“I am deeply invested in the conservation of threatened and endangered species. I aspire to become a wildlife conservation professional and make meaningful contributions to conservation science in both the U.S. and my home country, the United Arab Emirates,” Almaazmi said.

The MK McCarthy-RW Worth Scholarship, which provides $4,000 to each recipient, was established in 2015 by Margaret McCarthy, '82 and her husband, Robert Worth to benefit master's students who have completed a minimum of two semesters at YSE and have demonstrated leadership in the field of conservation biology and wildlife conservation.

“The awardees are individuals who are among an exciting new generation of conservationists who are developing scientific knowledge for nature conservation that, when applied, justly respects human dignity and welfare while ensuring that non-human species can fulfill their biological natures as part of healthy, functioning ecosystems and landscapes,” said Oswald Schmitz, YSE Oastler Professor of Population and Community Ecology, who was a member of the scholarship selection committee.

The MK McCarthy-RW Worth Scholarship, established in 2015, provides $4,000 to each recipient.

YSE Students Honored for Leadership in Conservation and Wildlife Science

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Yale Awarded Energy Earthshot to Study Natural Carbon Capture

Fran Silverman — Wed, 18 Oct 2023 15:55:00 +0000

Yale Awarded Energy Earthshot to Study Natural Carbon Capture Fran Silverman Wed, 10/18/2023 - 11:55

Reducing fossil fuel emissions entering the atmosphere is critical to mitigating global warming, but it is not enough to combat climate change. The atmosphere already contains billions of tons of carbon dioxide that has been accumulating since the industrial age, and we continue to emit tens of billions of tons per year. To reduce global warming and avoid the most devastating and widespread impacts of climate change, gigatons of carbon dioxide must be removed from the atmosphere.

Faculty

Peter A. Raymond Senior Associate Dean of Research & Director of Doctoral Studies; Oastler Professor of Biogeochemistry

Yale scientists are exploring climate solutions that accelerate natural processes that remove and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, including enhanced mineral weathering (EMW) and ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE). This effort is one of the flagship initiatives of the Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture (YCNCC), a university-wide effort within Yale’s Planetary Solutions Project.

Currently, though, there is no comprehensive computational model for assessing the potential of these innovative pathways to carbon dioxide removal. A new study led by Yale School of the Environment Professor of Ecosystem Ecology Peter Raymond will create a modeling framework that connects rainfall, soils, rivers, coastal oceans, and open oceans to fully evaluate the impact of EMW and OAE on atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, ecosystems, and ocean pH.

The study is part of the Department of Energy’s Energy Earthshot Initiative that supports research in carbon dioxide removal and clean energy technologies. This year, the initiative provided $264 million in funding for 29 projects. The Yale team, in partnership with scientists from three universities, is working on an aspect of the “Carbon Negative Shot” from DOE, which issued an all-hands-on-deck call for innovative research in carbon removal technologies.

The new study led by Raymond, which received $5 million in funding, will be conducted by scientists who have been working together through the YCNCC, and are from YSE, Yale’s Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences (EPS), as well as scientists from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Princeton University, and Texas A&M University. The research team from Yale includes James Saiers, Clifton R. Musser Professor of Hydrology in YSE, and three faculty from EPS, Professor Noah Planavsky, Associate Professor Matt Eisaman, and Assistant Professor Juan Lora. Annalis Bracco, Christopher Reinhard and Takamitsu Ito of Georgia Institute of Technology, John Higgins and Laure Resplandy of Princeton University, and Shuang Zhang of Texas A&M University will also be collaborating on the study.

Centers & Programs

Affiliated: Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture

Finding solutions to climate change through advances in natural carbon sequestration.

YSE’s Liza Comita, co-director of the YCNCC along with Professor David Bercovici from EPS, says the Earthshot research is vital to climate change mitigation efforts.

“It is exciting to see our scientists’ success in leveraging the support provided by YCNCC and to gain additional funding for critical research on enhanced weathering and ocean alkalinity enhancement. Both of these are natural climate solutions that have tremendous carbon capture potential, along with likely co-benefits for agriculture and marine life, but they require additional research before they can be implemented at large scales,” says Comita, who is professor of tropical forest ecology at YSE.

YSE News spoke with Raymond about the new research and the promise of natural carbon capture.

Q. Several climate models, including those produced by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), show that reducing the amount of CO₂ entering the atmosphere from the industrial, power, and transportation sectors alone will not be enough to combat climate change. How does enhanced rock weather and ocean alkalinity work to remove carbon dioxide?

Weathering happens when rainwater and snowmelt interact with rocks and soil and dissolve minerals, converting the carbon dioxide to bicarbonate, which sequesters or removes the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. In oceans, adding alkalinity removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through a series of reactions that convert dissolved CO₂ into bicarbonate and carbonate molecules.

Q. Your team has been working on some field projects using enhanced rock weathering. What have you found so far?

James Saiers, Noah Planavsky, and I have been working with a larger collaborative group on field trials worldwide. We are particularly excited about a project in Vermont where, this summer, we spread 440 tons of crushed basalt over a large portion of the pasture and hayfield within an agricultural watershed. Although this watershed-scale experiment is in its very early phases, the initial results are encouraging, and we are optimistic this could become a ‘sentinel site’ that is a cornerstone in our understanding of enhanced weathering. We have already detected basalt weathering products in watershed drainage waters, signaling enhanced rock weathering-induced CO₂ consumption. Hay yields have also increased, suggesting that crushed basalt is exerting a fertilizing effect — a co-benefit to the CO₂ removal. The findings from our EMW field trial will help inform our Earthshot research by providing measurements that are critical to parameterizing our models to predict rates of CO₂removal.

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Q. How does this study build on Yale’s current research in this field?

Enhanced mineral weathering and ocean alkalinity enhancement is all pretty new. This study will integrate soil, river, and ocean models at regional to global scales and provide great insight into how to optimize the efficacy of these technologies. The proposed framework would link across spatial scales from soil profiles and river networks to coastal oceans and ultimately large ocean basins. If we are going to scale these two technologies, we need models that can determine the efficacy and impacts at the global scale.

Q. What are the challenges to these natural carbon capture methods?

There are lots of processes that can impact the rate of atmospheric carbon dioxide removal and the stability of its storage. Rates of removal are currently difficult to assess. Furthermore, carbon dioxide that is removed on land or the ocean can be leaked back to the atmosphere through a series of interactions. Thus, we need to be able to model both CO₂ capture and CO₂ leakage as waters move from soils to rivers and ultimately the ocean. Additionally, if we are adding minerals on land to accelerate weathering, and it is going into the ocean, and adding alkaline substances to the ocean, what are the total impacts on the ocean and how do we determine that?

Q. In what ways is this research integral to climate change mitigation efforts?

Natural carbon capture is emerging out of necessity because we have not been able to decrease emissions on the scale that we need to reduce the impacts of global warming. We desperately need to decrease emissions from fossil fuel burning, but we also need to understand how to accelerate carbon dioxide removal with these techniques on a gigaton scale. The combined impact of global alkalinization through EMW and OAE could be to offset a significant percentage of current fossil fuel emissions, while neutralizing past ocean acidification.

Yale School of the Environment Professor Pete Raymond is leading a U.S. Department of Energy study that explores promising methods to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and mitigate climate change.

Yale Awarded Energy Earthshot to Study Natural Carbon Capture

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Accelerating Global Climate Action

Matthew Garrett — Fri, 06 Oct 2023 15:18:13 +0000

Accelerating Global Climate Action Matthew Garrett Fri, 10/06/2023 - 11:18

In sub-Saharan Africa, less than 50% of the population has access to electricity. As efforts to increase electrification rates ramp up, there is an urgent need to accelerate the transition to clean energy, says Danson Mugambi, a Kenyan-based project developer for renewable energy company SOWITEC. Mugambi has been developing a pipeline of projects in Kenya, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, but says that getting the financial backing to move forward can be difficult.

“In Zambia and Zimbabwe, we suffer from low investor confidence due to political instability and high debt levels, making it challenging to secure financing for wind projects in these markets. Kenya also lacks a regulatory framework for licensing green hydrogen projects,” he said.

Over 6,000 miles in away in Brazil, Pedro Schuch Mallmann says he deals with similar issues as a partner and director at Renobrax, a Brazilian company that develops large-scale wind and solar projects. Renewable energy projects all entail intensive use of capital, assessment of natural resources, environmental permits, and regulatory compliance, and countries often face the same challenges in implementing them, he notes.

“The issues we face in renewables is not a topic under discussion in Brazil alone. All countries and regions are on the same path to raise deployment rates and assure that we can mitigate climate change and reach Paris Agreement goals,” Mallmann says.

The issues we face in renewables is not a topic under discussion in Brazil alone. All countries and regions are on the same path to raise deployment rates and assure that we can mitigate climate change and reach Paris Agreement goals.”

Pedro Schuch Mallmann Three Cairns Fellow, FDCE

To gain insights and practical knowledge they could use to advocate for green energy policies and secure financing for renewable energy projects, Mugambi and Mallman both enrolled in the Financing and Deploying Clean Energy (FDCE) certificate program as Three Cairns Fellows. The Fellows program, part of the Three Cairns Climate Program for the Global South at YSE, offers scholarship support to environmental professionals seeking to enroll in one of YSE’s two online certificate programs: FDCE, which is offered through the Yale Center for Business and the Environment, and Tropical Forest Landscapes: Conservation, Restoration, and Sustainable Use (TFL), which is offered through the Environmental Leadership Training Initiative (ELTI). This year TFL admitted 28 participants as Fellows in its 2023-2024 cohort, up from 16 in the inaugural cohort, while FDCE admitted 10 Fellows this year, up from five in its first cohort of Fellows. YSE also welcomed 21 inaugural Three Cairns Scholars this fall. The Scholars program is an enhanced scholarship initiative supporting qualified master’s students from the Global South who are committed to advancing climate solutions in their home countries.

The Three Cairns Fellows program has enabled both FDCE and TFL to expand their reach globally and have brought a new dimension to the online courses.

“The Three Cairns Fellows are phenomenal examples of climate leadership who inspire us all to do more. In the FDCE program, Fellows are sharing critical insights on approaches to sustainability and prompt us to ask how we can do more,” said Coral Bielecki, online programs director at CBEY.

Gillian Bloomfield, program manager at ELTI, says the Fellows have brought fresh perspectives from environmental professionals working on innovative restoration efforts and climate solutions throughout the Global South.

“Three Cairns Fellows has been so influential in making our certificate program accessible to new audiences of climate leaders, especially those working to design and implement nature-based climate solutions in Africa, Asia, and Latin America,” Bloomfield says. “Our 2023-2024 cohort is the most geographically diverse cohort yet, with over 35 countries represented.”

A People-Centered Approach

One of the 35 countries represented is Colombia, where Federico Perez founded Selvitas, a company that co-creates and advances community development projects.

Initially focused on the global value chain, exporting coffee and sustainable wood, Perez and Selvitas have evolved to focus on carbon markets and forest restoration, creating partnerships with the International Trade Centre. Most recently, the company helped more than 8,000 previously displaced families in Antioquia, a department in northwest Colombia, gain land tenure, enabling them to transition to active land management.

"We use carbon market financing as a tool, not just to regenerate biodiversity, but to provide a stable income for local people, thereby addressing the root causes of deforestation," Perez said.

We use carbon market financing as a tool, not just to regenerate biodiversity, but to provide a stable income for local people, thereby addressing the root causes of deforestation.”

Federico Perez Three Cairns Fellow, TFL

Only a few weeks into the TFL certificate program, he’s already gained knowledge that he’s able to put into practice at Selvitas. “The TFL program is transformative. It is equipping me with the scientific and policy frameworks to refine our projects. I'm learning how to integrate traditional ecological knowledge with modern restoration techniques, while getting a better understanding of the sociopolitical dynamics that influence these ecosystems." he notes.

Funding provided through the Three Cairns Climate Program for the Global South, which was established with a generous gift from the Three Cairns Group, is supporting the development of two new certificate programs with a Global South focus — one in environmental data science and one in urban climate leadership.

“The mid-career certificate program in urban climate leadership is an opportunity to accelerate climate action in cities around the world,” says Karen Seto, Frederick C. Hixon Professor of Geography and Urbanization Science and director of the Hixon Center for Urban Ecology. “The certificate will train leaders, from local to national scales, on the knowledge and tools needed to help cities mitigate and adapt to climate change.”

From developing renewable energy projects in Brazil and sub-Saharan Africa to piloting people-centered restoration efforts in Colombia, the 2023-2024 Three Cairns Fellows are implementing on-the-ground climate solutions across the Global South.

Accelerating Global Climate Action

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Three Cairns Fellows Tackle Climate Change From Multiple Angles

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Meet More Three Cairns Fellows

Advocating for Renewable Energy in Sudan

Elaff Abdallah, a renewable energy specialist, has worked on a wide range of clean energy projects in Sudan. There is no lack of will in the country when it comes to the transition to clean energy, she says. However, finding the way is a challenge. She enrolled in the Financing and Deploying Clean Energy (FDCE) certificate program to round out her technical expertise with a strong foundation in renewable energy financing.

Helping Kenya’s Youth Start Green Businesses

Lynne Beth Awuor’s goal is to develop youth-focused educational and environmental initiatives that drive positive change. She enrolled in the Tropical Forest Landscapes: Conservation, Restoration and Sustainable Use (TFL) certificate program to hone her project design and management skills and gain knowledge she could take back to the youth groups she works with in Kenya.

Harnessing Resources for Sustainable Development in Africa

As a carbon analyst, Mbacham Itagah is responsible for ensuring that proposed development activities in West and Central Africa will allow carbon projects to scale. He enrolled in the Tropical Forest Landscapes Conservation, Restoration and Sustainable Use (TFL) certificate to gain insight into global conservation projects and get new knowledge he could use to incorporate more Indigenous and youth perspectives in his policy work.

An International Approach to Scaling Renewable Energy

As a partner and director at Renobrax, a Brazilian company that develops large-scale wind and solar plants, Pedro Schuch Mallmann works with a range of government officials and stakeholders to implement green energy projects across the largest country in the South America. He enrolled in the Financing and Deploying Clean Energy certificate program to engage with an international group of renewable energy developers with a goal of helping to raise deployment rates globally.

Advancing the clean energy transition in Sub-Saharan Africa

Danson Mugambi, a project developer for SOWITEC, a renewable energy company, is working to establish a pipeline of clean energy projects in sub-Saharan Africa. One of two people in the region has no access to electricity, and the need to diversify energy sources to provide universal electricity access and green the grid is urgent, Mugambi says. The Financing and Deploying Clean Energy (FDCE) certificate program is giving him a better understanding of how to source the financing needed to advance these projects.

Empowering Communities Through Nature-based Solutions

Federico Perez is working on restoration efforts centered on people and livelihoods. After founding Selvitas, a company that co-creates and advances community development projects, he enrolled in the Tropical Forest Landscapes: Conservation, Restoration and Sustainable Use (TFL) program to gain greater scientific knowledge to refine and expand the company’s projects.

Switzer Fellow Wes Gobar Hopes to Shape State Policy by Working at the Community Level

Fran Silverman — Tue, 08 Aug 2023 18:51:20 +0000

Switzer Fellow Wes Gobar Hopes to Shape State Policy by Working at the Community Level Fran Silverman Tue, 08/08/2023 - 14:51

In 2020, Wes Gobar '24 MEM found himself the sole of person of color on a team tasked with building Evergreen Action, a political advocacy group focused on clean energy policy.

"We were forwarding jobs through the same listservs, and it was one of the formative moments where we realized the importance of a Black environmental networking approach, centering the community to build retention and recruitment," Gobar says.

Wes Gobar '24 MEM advocates for President Biden's Build Back Better legislation at a press event with Senators Ed Markey (left) and Ron Wyden (right) on the east lawn of the U.S. Capitol in October 2021.

The experience made Gobar realize the need for professional organizations to help young Black professionals secure green jobs and, ultimately, inform climate policy. That same year, he co-founded BlackOak Collective with clean energy sector colleagues Kiera Givens, Sarah Nesbit, and Miles Braxton, a graduate of YSE’s Financing and Deploying Clean Energy online certificate program.

Recently named a 2023 Switzer Environmental Fellow, Gobar says he hopes to connect the growing BlackOak Collective talent network to the Robert & Patricia Switzer Foundation.

Originally launched as a Washington, D.C.-area networking group for Black professionals, students, and advocates within the sustainability space, BlackOak has become a national organization through partnerships with leading companies and nonprofits looking to diversify their applicant pools.

"We have a diverse set of over 250 members across many environmental fields, whether it's solar and clean energy, policy, finance, public health or agriculture," Gobar says. "There are a lot of resources that I'd love to be able to share from the Switzer network with the BlackOak Collective, and also to be able to leverage the experience and the talent pipelines within BlackOak Collective to the Switzer network."

The environmental fellowship program is a core program of the Robert & Patricia Switzer Foundation, a non-profit organization that invests in individuals and organizations that drive positive environmental change across various disciplines. Recipients receive a $17,000 award for academic study and leadership training and join a network of more than 700 Fellows across the United States and the world.

"I was really excited to hear Wes is going to be part of the Switzer network. They will benefit immensely from that," says Yale School of the Environment Lecturer Robert Klee '99 MEM, '04 JD, '05 PhD, who taught Gobar in Environmental Law and Policy and was himself a Switzer Fellow. "A lot of Wes' interests are in climate policy and climate justice so in thinking about a transition to a clean energy economy and ensuring it is just and equitable, we need more folks like Wes. His analytical mind combined with his advocacy is a wonderful combination."

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After graduating from the University of Virginia with a bachelor's degree in history, Gobar worked as an aide for Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring, where opposition to proposed pipelines from community groups exposed him to environmental justice issues and how climate justice initiatives could offer solutions.

As deputy press secretary, and later, coalition lead at Evergreen Action, Gobar focused on community advocacy for policy initiatives that helped shape the Inflation Reduction Act and the Biden administration’s climate agenda. He hopes after he graduates from YSE, he will have a more comprehensive understanding of how policy is shaped. He says he will use this knowledge, combined with his advocacy skills, to work on state-level climate justice issues back home in Virginia.

"Policy does not come from a vacuum," Gobar says. "It comes from working directly with the community. That's really important to me and drives the work I do."

Switzer Fellow Wes Gobar Hopes to Shape State Policy by Working at the Community Level

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Finding the Roots of Transformative Justice

Fran Silverman — Fri, 09 Jun 2023 16:08:16 +0000

Finding the Roots of Transformative Justice Fran Silverman Fri, 06/09/2023 - 12:08

When she wasn’t in class, or working in Yale Forests, you could find Jess Jones ’23 MEM at Kroon Courtyard — in the garden.

Jones spent countless hours there planting, weeding, and taking care of vegetables and flowers as Kroon Forest Garden Steward. She also organized workshops, guided tours, bird walks, teas, and even a mushroom inoculation event.

Her contributions to the YSE community earned her this year’s Kroon Cup, which is presented annually to individuals and groups who embody stewardship and implement projects that engage and inspire the YSE community. The winner is voted on by students, staff, and faculty.

Jess Jones working in Kroon garden.

“Jess brought such authenticity to the role of Forest Garden Steward. Her willingness to take on challenges, think systematically, and involve the community made her a big success. Jess worked hard to make the garden a place that was welcoming to everyone, and the community responded by utilizing it as a gathering place, especially as we emerged from more restrictive pandemic conditions. We will be benefiting from her planting efforts for years to come and are so grateful for her contributions,” says Sara Smiley Smith, associate dean of academic affairs, research, and sustainability at YSE.

Jones’ interest in the environment has deep roots; she grew up near a protected section of the Chattahoochee River in Georgia. She says her time spent at the river gave her a sense of responsibility to protect nature.

“I really felt at peace and calm in this space. I felt like I could play and explore all the time. Sometimes I’d surprise my family because I’d feel very comfortable and safe in the woods, something that hasn’t always been afforded to Black Americans,” Jones says.

As an undergraduate, Jones studied anthropology and environmental science at Georgia State University and began to focus on farming, ecology, and community conservation. She volunteered at the Truly Living Well Center for Urban Agriculture in Atlanta, Georgia and worked as a farm and horticultural apprentice at the Wylde Center, which provides one of the largest youth environmental and science education programs in metro-Atlanta. She studied in several Latin American countries, including Guatemala, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Peru, and then integrated these experiences into her work as a salesperson and project consultant at Xocolatl Small Batch Chocolate in Atlanta, promoting agroforestry and other sustainable practices. She also was a garden intern at the Escuela De Cerro Plano in Monteverde, Costa Rica.

“I had the chance to meet different farmers and see how they were working with the land. I learned a lot more about the struggle of the Q'eqchí Mayan Indigenous people in Guatemala and saw the eco-social impacts of colonialism and lack of land tenure. I was able to make a connection between things that I saw happening there and experiences that I've seen and been a part of in Atlanta,” Jones says.

At YSE, her focus has been on integrating transformative justice models into community conservation. There is a fundamental connection, she says, between our health and the health of the environment.

“When I think of a community conservation that is informed by transformative justice, what I imagine — and what I've sought to learn about and better understand here — is the ways in which people's collective health and community ties are connected with the functioning of the environment and the general health of an ecosystem, particularly the ways in which people can heal as the environment heals,” Jones says.

Relationship with the landscapes we live on is crucial to developing our land ethics and solving the climate crises. We are lucky that Jess helped so many form relationships with the local landscape of YSE during their time here.”

Marlyse Duguid Thomas J. Siccama Senior Lecturer in Field Ecology

While working at Kroon, Jones planted tomatoes, watermelon, blueberries, wild ginger, Jerusalem artichokes and Nasturtium, an edible flower.

“I just had so much fun in the garden. It’s been a really cool way to bring people together through different events. It’s a very peaceful space,” she added.

One of her favorite events was a workshop she hosted on mushrooms, which included cutting oak trees into logs, drilling holes in them, and then injecting the logs with shiitake mushroom spawn to harvest the grown mushrooms later to eat.

“They are super delicious,” she says.

Since graduating in May, Jones has been working as a community forestry intern at YSE’s Urban Resources Initiative, helping communities in New Haven establish green spaces.

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“Jess is one of the most thoughtful students I have worked with. Her enthusiasm and curiosity are inspiring, and she has so many interests and passions. Her devotion to both building community and land stewardship is evident and she was able to bring together these values in the Kroon Forest Garden,” says Marlyse Duguid, Thomas J. Siccama Senior Lecturer in Field Ecology and director of research at Yale Forests. “Relationship with the landscapes we live on is crucial to developing our land ethics and solving the climate crises. We are lucky that Jess helped so many form relationships with the local landscape of YSE during their time here.”

When her internship ends, she plans to move to Brazil to work on and learn more about community conservation there.

“I see myself in the next three to five years spending an extended period of time in different parts of the world. Eventually, I would love to settle down somewhere and organize around my own community, putting into practice different things I've learned about food production and conservation,” Jones says.

Jones was one of several graduating students who were honored with awards at YSE’s May 22 commencement ceremonies. Neeti Jian ’23 MESc received the Donnelley Award; Daivie Ghosh ’23 MESc and Sophie Morin ’23 MEM received the Learning Community Award; Zachary Herring ’23 MESc received the Geballe Award; Maria Jiang ’23 MEM was awarded New Haven Champion; Jayson Velazquez ’23 MESc was named Equity Champion; Vivian Hawkinson ’23 MESc earned the Above and Beyond Award and Wyatt Klipa ’23 MEM received the Unsung Heroes Award.

From a young age, Kroon Cup winner Jess Jones realized that sustainable land stewardship could help heal what ails the environment and humanity.

Finding the Roots of Transformative Justice

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Research on Place-Based Bias in Environmental Scholarship Wins 2023 Bormann Prize

Fran Silverman — Fri, 28 Apr 2023 20:58:16 +0000

Research on Place-Based Bias in Environmental Scholarship Wins 2023 Bormann Prize Fran Silverman Fri, 04/28/2023 - 16:58

As a wildlife and research technician, Gabriel Gadsden studied conflict, specifically how predators impact the behavior of animals through fear. He also encountered a similar pattern in the human world while working on energy justice issues, noticing how socio-economic disparities and narratives of violence have led to fear of neighborhoods. These observations during his master's studies research prompted him to reflect more deeply about how fear and conflict impacts scientific inquiry as a whole.

“How do we view a space?” he asks. “What are our preconceived ideas and how does that affect our research and our questions?”

When he entered Yale School of the Environment’s doctoral program, Gadsden continued to delve into these issues, publishing a paper in BioScience in January — Place-Based Bias in Environmental Scholarship Derived from Social-Ecological Landscapes of Fear — that examined bias in environmental inquiry. The research earned Gadsden the 2023 F. Herbert Bormann Prize, an award that honors a YSE doctoral student whose work best exemplifies the legacy of the late YSE professor. Bormann, a plant ecologist who taught at YSE from 1966-1993, called the world’s attention to the threat of acid rain in the 1970s.

Gadsden’s research proposes a new concept, “social-ecological landscapes of fear,” which states that certain places hold legacies derived from historical events that create bias and curtail scientific inquiry.

“Gabe’s work really shines a light on how negative human histories have impacted how ecologists perform their research and provided recommendations on how to correct these biases in our research moving forward,” says Peter Raymond, senior associate dean of research and doctoral studies and professor of ecosystem ecology.

Gadsden, who works in the Applied Wildlife Ecology (AWE) lab of Nyeema C. Harris, Knobloch Family Associate Professor of Wildlife and Land Conservation at YSE, says his interest in this issue is rooted in his own experiences growing up and visiting family in Philadelphia, where he is conducting doctoral research on rodents and spread of disease.

“There are specific areas of inefficient housing with low amounts of green space, areas that are forgotten about and looked down upon, whose full histories haven’t been told. There is this idea that the space is degraded and not worth our resources,” he says.

In nominating his work, Harris, a co-author of the study, says Gadsden challenges environmental scholars to reckon with biases in how and where research is conducted across ecosystems.

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“He highlights the role of fear (conscious or unconscious) stemming from the historical legacies of trauma places hold that deter broad participation. He expands on the ecological concept of landscapes of fear applied often to prey avoidance of predators to apply a social lens of how fear governs study area locations, biasing the production of research,” Harris states in her nomination letter.

The study, which was also co-authored by Nigel Golden, a postdoctoral researcher at Woodwell Climate Research Center, recommends recognizing negative histories, including community perspectives, and collaborating with local environmental justice and political ecology scholars to overcome bias.

Gadsden will continue his research on this issue as part of his doctoral dissertation.

“This research is interdisciplinary. It sits at the nexus of many disciplines,” he says. “Landscapes are not just broad brushstrokes of one concept. We have to ask, why are these areas the way they are? We have to self-reflect. It reminds researchers to ‘check yourself.’”

Gadsden was presented with the Bormann Prize at YSE’s annual Research Day on April 14. Other award winners include doctoral student Jacob Peters, who earned the Schmitz Prize; Amaya Sathurusinghe ‘24 MFS and Jessie Wainer ’23 MESc, who were each awarded the Master’s Student Oral Presentation Prize; and doctoral student Joseph Zaillaa, who won the Best Poster Presentation award.

Gabriel Gadsden’s prize-winning doctoral research on “social-ecological landscapes of fear” examines how negative human histories can limit scientific lines of inquiry and challenges environmental scholars to reckon with biases.

Research on Place-Based Bias in Environmental Scholarship Wins 2023 Bormann Prize

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Meet the 2023 Wyss Scholars

Fran Silverman — Wed, 05 Apr 2023 15:32:33 +0000

Meet the 2023 Wyss Scholars Fran Silverman Wed, 04/05/2023 - 11:32

Three Yale students focusing on environmental management and climate change mitigation have been named 2023 Wyss Scholars, a program that supports a new generation of leaders in their pursuit of graduate-level education in land conservation.

Jake Barker ’24 MF, Zane Weinberger ’24 MF, and Sarah Baer ’24 JD were selected by the Wyss Foundation to receive tuition, internships, and post-graduate support.

The Wyss Foundation is a charitable organization that supports land conservation in the U.S. and internationally. Wyss Scholars learn the latest in conservation law and policy and apply that knowledge in careers at land management agencies and non-profit conservation groups such as The Nature Conservancy, U.S. Forest Service, and National Park Service.

“The challenges facing landscapes across the U.S. will require the talent and ingenuity of the next generation of leaders who can draw on the interdisciplinary training they receive at places like YSE. With the generous support of the Wyss Foundation, these three students will be well-positioned to make their individual mark on the land conservation community and advance the ambitious global goals set by the 30 x 30 initiative. I am truly grateful for the Foundation’s continued investment in our talented students,” says Dean Indy Burke.

With the generous support of the Wyss Foundation, these three students will be well-positioned to make their individual mark on the land conservation community and advance the ambitious global goals set by the 30 x 30 initiative.”

Indy BurkeCarl W. Knobloch, Jr. Dean

From firefighter on federal lands to forestry technician at the U.S. Department of Agriculture to law clerk at Greenpeace International and Our Children’s Trust, the students bring a range of experience and interest to their research and future career goals.

Born and raised in Steamboat, Colorado, Barker is focused on the intersection of forest restoration, climate resilience and cultural values in Western communities. His long-term goal is to work on forest conservation across the Pacific Northwest, the Northern Rockies, and the Intermountain West. He is a research assistant with YSE’s Ucross High Plains Stewardship Initiative, and collaborates with The Nature Conservancy in Wyoming to address forest restoration and health. He also is an intern at the Yale Carbon Containment Lab.

“To be a leader in environmental conservation is to serve working lands and forests, continuing the multigenerational project of taking care of our home,” Barker says. “I have participated in the important task of integrating ecological, social, and economic factors in long-term forest management.”

His interest in public and private forests across the U.S. has been influenced by his work as a forestry technician for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service Enterprise Program and for Springboard Forestry.

“As forest carbon markets continue to become more viable as a way for forest owners and managers to keep forests as forests, I believe we need to be asking many questions about ensuring quality and permanence of these programs, as well as how they intersect with other forest management approaches,” Barker says. “We also need to focus on integrating the multiple values that communities, ecosystems, and economies have for public and private forestland, including recreation, water, timber, non-timber forest products, wildlife habitat, and carbon.”

How can small-scale land conservation organizations network to leverage greater power in conserving wildland-urban interface areas?

For Zane Weinberger, that is one of the most interesting questions in forestry today — and one the Wyss scholarship program will help him continue to explore.

“In New England, where a majority of forested land is private, the web of conserved land is complex,” he says. “I hope that the support from the Wyss Scholars Program will help me to collaborate with landowners to conserve forest land for a variety of uses.”

Weinberger has worked as a firefighter for several federal agencies including the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and the U.S. Forest Service. A native of Nevada City, California, he is an apprentice urban forester with YSE’s Urban Resources Initiative.

He plans to work as an apprentice forester this summer to gain experience and become better acquainted with forest issues in New England.

Baer developed a passion for the natural world while growing up in Connecticut.

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“I think that more people should ask about the intersection between conservation and humanity,” she says. “I believe that at its core, conservation is about understanding the inherent value of and interconnectedness between humans, animals, and land. This understanding must underpin a durable shift toward environmental and climate justice for all people, as well as a world where animals and ecosystems can thrive. Ultimately, the physical and moral fate of humanity depends upon our sustainable stewardship of the natural world around us.”

Baer studied environmental issues within the context of preservation and social justice as an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania and then joined Ubuntu Pathways, a nonprofit that implemented holistic, grassroots solutions to foster community-led development. She decided that to tackle the systemic challenges facing both humanity and the planet, law school would provide the best path forward for her. Baer has served on the board of the Yale Environmental Law Association and worked as a law clerk at Greenpeace International and Our Children’s Trust.

She wants to spend her career expanding the number of stakeholders invested in long-term environmental preservation.

“Truly sustainable conservation practice must derive from a shared belief in the inherent — rather than economic — value of people, animals and the land itself,” Baer says.

Meet the 2023 Wyss Scholars

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Arcadia Grant Will Help Environmental Leadership & Training Initiative Expand its Reach

Fran Silverman — Tue, 14 Mar 2023 14:30:46 +0000

Arcadia Grant Will Help Environmental Leadership & Training Initiative Expand its Reach Fran Silverman Tue, 03/14/2023 - 10:30

The Environmental Leadership & Training Initiative (ELTI) of The Forest School at the Yale School of the Environment will be expanding its reach in capacity development, accelerating on-the-ground results for sustainable land use, continuing efforts to promote open access to resources, and sharing evidence about its experiences to date with the help of a $3 million grant from Arcadia, a charitable foundation established by Peter Baldwin ’78 BA and Lisbet Rausing.

Above: Participants during an ELTI field course in the Panama training landscape.
Top Image: ELTI alum Odielca Solis sharing her experiences implementing on-farm restoration strategies with participants of an ELTI field course in Panama’s Azuero Peninsula.

With field-based training programs implemented through partnerships in Panama, Colombia, Brazil, the Philippines, and Indonesia, and a globally focused online program, ELTI, an international capacity development initiative, provides the latest tools, research, and applied case studies to stakeholders focused on implementing tree-based strategies in the tropics that support livelihoods and biodiversity and address the adverse impacts of climate change.

The grant is the fourth in a series of awards from Arcadia totaling more than $18 million since 2006. The funding has enabled ELTI to train more than 5,000 landholders, farmers, practitioners, and decision makers to conserve and restore the world’s declining tree and forest cover through intensive field and online courses. ELTI’s webinars, conferences, workshops, and symposia have reached an additional 15,000.

“We are so grateful for Arcadia’s long-term support of ELTI’s work. Their appreciation for the important role of the capacity development process in conserving and restoring tropical forest landscapes is truly unique in the world of philanthropy. Their flexible support has enabled the team to address emerging needs and opportunities, experiment with the co-creation of innovative solutions, and adapt interventions as needed. Perhaps most importantly, Arcadia’s approach has enabled the ELTI team to build relationships and trust with partners and landholders in the landscapes where we focus, which is fundamental for achieving positive and sustainable change,” says Eva Garen ’95 MES, ’05 PhD, director of ELTI.

Along with field-based training, ELTI programs include a year-long Tropical Forest Landscapes online certificate program, which is open to global enrollment and requires an applied capstone project, a leadership program for ELTI alumni through which they develop their own conservation and restoration projects and actions, and online short courses taught in multiple languages.

Leaders trained by ELTI are already making positive changes in the landscapes they manage and sharing that experience with others. An analysis conducted by ELTI and YSE students in 2021 found that a subset of farmers in Panama, who had been trained by ELTI, significantly increased forest and tree cover on their land. Many of these same landholders have hosted hundreds of people on their farms to learn about and replicate their experiences in other areas.

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Michael Dove, Margaret K. Musser Professor of Social Ecology and ELTI faculty director, says ELTI established a new approach to tropical forest reforestation programs that has aided its success — sustained attention to local socio-ecological histories.

“ELTI has pioneered a solution to one of the most intractable challenges of conservation and development in the tropics, an effort that was only made possible by sustained support over many years from Arcadia,” Dove says.

With the latest grant, ELTI will further develop its online course offerings, including additional self-paced open access courses via Yale’s Coursera platform, increase scholarship opportunities to offset tuition fees, and expand access to information through its open access Tropical Restoration Library (TRL). The team also will be analyzing organizational models and fundraising scenarios to ensure that ELTI’s programs continue to flourish for years to come.

"It is amazing to me to see how far ELTI has developed since Arcadia first believed in its ideas back in 2006. Those original ideas were focused on demonstrating ways to restore and sustainably manage native forests and trees within human modified (and dominated) landscapes. ELTI developed an educational curriculum and training curriculum for capacity development of different stakeholders who wish for future recovery of transformed and degraded lands,” says Mark Ashton, Morris K. Jesup Professor of Silviculture and Forest Ecology and senior associate dean of The Forest School at YSE. “Thanks to Arcadia's fourth cycle of funding ELTI is now at the forefront of something that organizations around the world recognize as one of the most important nature-based solutions aimed at achieving sustainable human livelihoods.”

Funding support from Arcadia has enabled ELTI to train leaders to address emerging needs and create solutions in tropical forest restoration and conservation programs with a global reach.

Arcadia Grant Will Help Environmental Leadership & Training Initiative Expand its Reach

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World-renowned Urbanization Expert Karen Seto Elected to the Council on Foreign Relations

Matthew Garrett — Tue, 07 Mar 2023 16:20:27 +0000

World-renowned Urbanization Expert Karen Seto Elected to the Council on Foreign Relations Matthew Garrett Tue, 03/07/2023 - 11:20

Karen Seto, Frederick C. Hixon Professor of Geography and Urbanization Science at the Yale School of the Environment, has been named a lifetime member of the United States Council on Foreign Relations. With her election, Seto becomes the third YSE faculty member selected to join the illustrious foreign policy organization, along with Daniel Esty, Hillhouse Professor of Environmental Law and Policy, and Professor of Environmental Justice Gerald Torres.

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Karen C. Seto Frederick C. Hixon Professor of Geography and Urbanization Science, Director of the Hixon Center for Urban Sustainability

“I am honored to join the Council on Foreign Relations, an organization that has done so much to broaden our understanding of international relations and global diplomacy,” Seto says. “I hope that through my membership I will be able to help policymakers and others understand how cities can be catalysts for advancing climate solutions and addressing global sustainability challenges — how they can promote more just, livable, and vibrant communities and play an important role in our efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity losses.”

One of the world's leading experts on urbanization and its aggregate global impacts, Seto pioneered the use of satellite remote sensing analysis and other novel methods to study urban land change, forecast urban growth, and examine the environmental consequences of urban expansion. She has done extensive field work in Asia, especially China and India, and was the executive producer of “10,000 Shovels: Rapid Urban Growth in China,” a documentary film that integrates satellite imagery, historical photographs, and contemporary film footage to highlight the urban changes occurring in China. Her book, "City Unseen," co-authored with Meredith Reba ’14 MEM, uses satellite imagery to show how cities shape landscapes and how landscapes shape cities.

“With 70% of the world’s population expected to live in urban areas by 2050, cities offer one of our best opportunities to implement climate solutions at scale,” Dean Indy Burke says. “Dr. Seto is a pioneer and a leader in urbanization science. The Council on Foreign Relations will benefit greatly from her unique insights and commitment to increasing the public’s understanding of the environmental consequences of global urbanization and how cities can be an impetus to address climate change.”

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In addition to the Council on Foreign Relations, Seto is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering. She chairs the Policy and Global Affairs Division of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, co-chairs the U.S. National Academies Climate Security Roundtable, established by the direction of Congress to help better understand and anticipate the ways climate change affects U.S. national security interests, as well as the U.S. National Academies Subcommittee on U.S.-China Scientific Engagement. She was the coordinating lead author and co-led the chapters on how cities can mitigate climate change for two U.N. climate reports, the IPCC 5th (2014) and 6th (2022) Assessment Reports. Seto has served on many U.S. National Research Council (NRC) Committees, including the NRC Committee to the Advise the U.S. Global Change Research Program and the NRC Committee on Pathways to Urban Sustainability, and has received numerous awards for her scientific contributions, including the Outstanding Contributions to Remote Sensing Research Award from the American Association of Geographers.

Established in 1921, the Council on Foreign Relations is an independent, nonpartisan membership organization, think tank, publisher, and educational institution dedicated to being a resource for its members and informing the public about the foreign policy choices facing the United States and other countries around the world. The council publishes the widely circulated and highly regarded international affairs magazine Foreign Affairs and runs the David Rockefeller Studies Program, which influences foreign policy by making recommendations to the presidential administration and diplomatic community and testifying before Congress.

World-renowned Urbanization Expert Karen Seto Elected to the Council on Foreign Relations

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