Research

Managing Uncertainty: How Soil Carbon Feedbacks Could Affect Climate Change

A new Yale-led paper makes the case that developing meaningful climate projections will rely on understanding the role of “soil carbon turnover” — and how it might trigger climate feedbacks in a warming world.

Major Storm Events Play Key Role In Biogeochemistry of Watersheds

A new Yale-led study finds that heavy weather events cause an inordinate amount of organic material to bypass headwater systems, pushing them downstream into larger rivers, coastal waters and inland basins — with profound implications for water quality through the watershed.

Losses of Soil Carbon Under Global Warming Might Equal U.S. Emissions

A new global assessment led by Yale researchers finds that warming will drive the loss of at least 55 trillion kilograms of carbon from the soil by mid-century, or about 17 percent more than the projected emissions due to human-related activities during that period. Carbon losses will be greatest in places that had largely been missing from previous research.

Looking Upstream: Research Evaluates Impacts of Lake Powell’s Troubling Decline

“Looking Upstream,” a new report produced by four F&ES students, evaluates the factors contributing to acute vulnerability to water shortages in Lake Powell and how it will impact the river’s entire Upper Basin.

Landmark Report Finds Urban Natural Forests Require Greater Management

Researchers at F&ES have partnered with the Natural Areas Conservancy and the Trust for Public Land on a first-of-its-kind report on how U.S. cities manage urban natural forests — critical greenspaces that they found are frequently lacking the proper resources.

High-Wire Science: Blogging from the Forest Canopy

In the forest canopy of the Panamanian rainforest, F&ES doctoral student Kevin McLean is documenting the “canopy highways” that tree-dwelling animals use to get around. His findings may help conservationists protect species that are rarely seen and can be nearly impossible to study.

Keeping It in the Family

Karen Seto Succeeds David Skelly as Associate Dean & Doctoral Studies Director

F&ES Professor Karen Seto has been named the School’s next Associate Dean for Research and Director of Doctoral Studies, succeeding Professor David Skelly, who was recently appointed new director of the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History.

Karen Seto Spotlighted for Earth Observation Research

Karen Seto, Yale School of the Environment (YSE) Frederick C. Hixon Professor of Geography Urbanization, has been named one of 15 leading women in machine learning for Earth observation by Radiant Earth Foundation for her research of global importance.

Using Technology to Help Wild Cats and People Coexist

In Central India, F&ES doctoral student Jennie Miller is helping develop strategies to limit the increasnigly freequent interactions between humans and wild cats that have triggered massive declines in populations of tigers and leopards.

In the Field: F&ES Takes a Working Break

Spring "Break" means field work for F&ES students and faculty! This time away from the classroom offers students important opportunities for research across a spectrum of environmental concerns and geographical locations. Students confront global issues in real time & space, engaging with the people who must find and implement solutions.

In India, a Model for Reducing ‘Retaliation Killings’ of Wild Cats

A new Yale-led study finds that communities in central India have an uncanny understanding of the wild cats in their backyard and where they are most likely to hunt livestock — a key factor in preventing the human-carnivore conflicts that threaten these animals.

Improving Innovation: Assessing the Environmental Impacts of Emerging Technology

Although many new technologies offer the promise to improve human welfare, they can also produce unintended environmental consequences. And while applying the principles of life cycle assessment (LCA) early in technology development can provide important insights about how to avoid damage to the environment, existing methods focus on products or processes that are already commercially established.

emerging technologies industrial ecology

Meanwhile, the procedures and

If People Grasped the Full Cost of Cars, They Might Make Greener Choices

A new paper co-authored by Yale economist Kenneth Gillingham finds that consumers significantly underestimate the total cost of car ownership. If they fully grasped the full costs, the paper reports, they would be likely to switch to cleaner transportation alternatives.

How Much Energy Do We Really Need?

Two fundamental goals of humanity are to eradicate poverty and reduce climate change, but achieving these goals will involve trade-offs. New research by Narasimha Rao of F&ES provides insights into these tradeoffs — including the tools needed to relate basic needs directly to resource use.

Research

Research

Connect with us