Knowledge & leadership for a sustainable future

Through his research, Karam Sheban ’20 MF, ’28 PhD is helping to demonstrate the potential of forest-based agriculture to enhance forest health, support biodiversity, and generate sustainable livelihoods. Sheban co-authored a study, published in Nature Climate Change, that has helped inform policymakers about agroforestry’s role in aligning conservation and development goals.

“Agroforestry is not only a climate solution, it’s a way to restore landscapes and economies together,” he said. Sheban is also the co-founder of the Northeast Forest Farmers Coalition, a network that supports Indigenous, immigrant, and multigenerational farmers through training, funding, and market access.

At YSE, Adela Fei ’27 MEM/MPH is exploring how life cycle assessment and techno-economic analysis can guide cities in balancing environmental impacts with economic feasibility. Her research supports evidence-based approaches to waste and materials management. Working from this systems lens, Fei spent the summer at ClimateHaven helping climate tech startups navigate commercialization challenges. She mapped funding ecosystems and developed a lab-to-market playbook to better connect science with strategy.

These complementary experiences deepened her interest in climate and health-focused venture capital, where she hopes to back technologies that reduce inequities while advancing sustainable, resilient solutions.

As co-executive director of the Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization, Elizabeth Pickett ’07 MES leads efforts with the state to develop actionable plans that address codes, evacuations, vegetation management, utility resilience, and public education. She has helped guide legislation to rebuild the state fire marshal's office and also oversees many of the state’s wildfire education and mitigation programs.

Pickett credits YSE for giving her a foundation in systems thinking, community-based approaches, and cross-sector collaboration. “I left YSE with the confidence to work at the intersections of science and society, policy and practice, and people and place,” she said.

At YSE, Hardik Pokhrel ’21 MEM focused on the intersection of finance and energy.

“One of the most impactful experiences I had was the ‘Renewable Energy Project Finance’ course — it remains incredibly relevant to what I do every day. Courses like ‘Renewable Energy and Energy Systems,’ combined with the school’s network and resources, prepared me to take on the challenges of decarbonizing some of the most emissions-intensive sectors of the economy.”

Pokhrel says he regularly applies the skills he acquired at YSE in his work at Sol Systems, a renewable energy firm delivering sustainable solutions for corporations, utilities, and institutions.

Goal: Mitigate climate change through carbon dioxide removal

In her first semester at the Yale School of the Environment, Olivia Rhodes ’25 MEM took a class in carbon dioxide removal (CDR). The class changed the direction of her studies.

Rhodes arrived at YSE with a desire to focus on energy after a stint at a bioenergy firm, but when she learned of CDR’s potential for helping to abate greenhouse gas emissions, she saw an opportunity in a growing field.

“At the rate we're going without reducing our overall emissions, there's going to be a bigger need for it with every passing year,” Rhodes said. “CDR is an area that's very much still being created.”

More than 90% of coral reefs could disappear by 2050. While at YSE, Sam Teicher ’12, ’15 MEM and Gator Halpern ’15 MEM came up with a new idea for a for-profit startup called Coral Vita that could help reverse the grim trend. With assistance from the Yale Center for Business and the Environment, a £1 million Earthshot Prize and $8 million in Series A funding, the company has launched high-tech coral restoration projects in the Bahamas, Dubai, Saba, and Saudi Arabia.

“A lot of the initial inspiration for Coral Vita was taking what we learned at YSE in forestry and translating that into reef restoration work,” Halpern said.

Goal: Quantifying and communicating the impacts of climate change on public health 

Phoebe Merrick believes that she can have the most impact on climate mitigation efforts by communicating more directly to the public about how climate change affects human health. Using the data visualization skills she learned at Yale, Merrick plans to pursue work in quantitative analysis and climate communication, helping to display data in ways that are accessible to the general public. 

“We talk about the economic reasons to mitigate climate change, but we don’t talk as often about the health benefits,” she said.  “I think that there's a place to move health communications to the forefront.”

As program director for the Smokey House Center in Vermont, Walker Cammack ‘22 MF is helping redefine land stewardship by advancing research in forest farming, climate-adaptive maple syrup production, green building, and regenerative agriculture. His work emphasizes employing regional solutions — developed alongside local farmers, foresters, and researchers — to build ecological and economic resilience. 

“We’re trying to do real work that helps people on a very local and regional scale, which is so nuanced and often chaotic in these volatile times we’re existing in, and it feels like YSE prepared me really well to be able to handle that,” Cammack said.

Goal: Expedite decarbonization by helping to move clean energy projects to implementation on the legal side

Sara Cody entered Yale with the goal of pursuing a career in environmental litigation. However, her studies in the joint degree program at the Yale School of the Environment and Pace University’s Elisabeth Haub School of Law led her in a different direction. Her courses gave her a deeper understanding of environmental economics — and the inseparability of market forces and climate change mitigation, she said. 

“My focus has shifted to more affirmative decarbonization efforts,” Cody said.

After she graduates, Cody would like to work with clean energy companies on legal agreements that allow them to build out key environmental infrastructure projects.

As a PhD student at the Yale School of the Environment, Helen Siegel ’19 MEM, ’24 PhD spent three years collecting groundwater samples across Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia to better understand the sources and risks of contamination in the northern Appalachian Basin. Her research revealed that while fracking wasn’t the primary culprit, pollution from waste spills, road salt, and mine drainage posed serious risks  which are shaped, in part,  by local geology. 

Now a postdoctoral fellow at The University of Texas at Austin, Siegel partners with underserved communities to study PFAS exposure and co-create practical, locally informed solutions rooted in equity.

As intense rainfall has led to historic and persistent flooding in the Mississippi River Valley, Grant Peterson ’26 MEM is working to implement living shorelines, wetland restoration, and other nature-based solutions  that build resilience to flooding, conserve biodiversity, and enhance carbon sequestration.

Through workshops, interviews, and community partnerships, he emphasizes co-producing solutions with local residents, especially in coastal and flood-prone areas.

“Ecological restoration gives me hope because it is an inherently hopeful act,” Peterson said. “There are actionable solutions that can enhance wetland function and improve people’s lives — solutions that I can help implement.”

For Maxwell Webster ’17 MEM, parks have always been more than places to play — they’re spaces for connection, creativity, and self-care. As the new director of New Haven Parks , he is leading efforts to reimagine parks as centers of climate resilience, food production, and community support, while preserving their role as beloved neighborhood gathering spots. Rooted in both personal experience and professional training from the Yale School of the Environment, his vision is focused on equity, adaptability, and meeting the evolving needs of New Haven’s diverse communities.