We are a team of psychologists, geographers, political scientists, statisticians, pollsters, communication scientists, community organizers, communication practitioners, editors and journalists. We investigate how and why citizens in the US and around the world are, or are not responding to climate change, and identify key audiences requiring tailored communications. We then develop and implement strategies to build the capacity of these audiences to engage in climate change solutions.
Anthony Leiserowitz, Ph.D. is the founder and Director of the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and the JoshAni – TomKat Professor of Climate Communication at the Yale School of the Environment. He is an expert on public climate change and environmental beliefs, attitudes, policy preferences, and behavior, and the psychological, cultural, and political factors that shape them. He conducts research at the global, national, and local scales, including many surveys of the American public. He has published more than 200 scientific articles, chapters, and reports and served as a contributing author, panel member, advisor or consultant to diverse organizations including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (AR6 Report), the National Academy of Sciences (America’s Climate Choices Report), the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, the Harvard Kennedy School, the United Nations Development Program, the Gallup World Poll, and the World Economic Forum, among others. He is a recipient of the Friend of the Planet Award from the National Center for Science Education, the Mitofsky Innovator Award from the American Association of Public Opinion Research, and the Stephen H. Schneider Award for Outstanding Climate Science Communication from Climate One. He is also the host of Climate Connections, a radio program broadcast each day on more than 700 stations and frequencies nationwide. Twitter: @ecotone2
For a CV and more info, please visit his faculty page.
Cynthia Norrie is the Deputy Digital Director of the Yale Program for Climate Change Communication at the Yale School for the Environment. She holds a Foundation Diploma in Fine Art and Design from Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design in London, and a Bachelors of Fine Art in Communication Design from Maine College of Art. Cynthia has over 13 years of experience in digital marketing, graphic design, illustration, and creative direction. She has worked as a creative at companies that include BuzzFeed.com, and has worked with clients including L.L. Bean, Toms of Maine, GEICO, and Paramount Media. She now works in climate change communication, overseeing the social media channels for the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and teaching students and program partners best practices for digital communications in the environmental space.
Elisa Tedaldi is a postgraduate associate at the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication at Yale University. Her research focuses on sustainable social change, and specifically on changing people’s attitudes and behaviors in high impact areas, such as sustainable energy and dietary choices. Elisa is about to defend her PhD dissertation in Psychological Sciences at the University of Padova in Italy. Contact: elisa.tedaldi@yale.edu.
Emily Goddard is a data analyst at the YPCCC. Her research interest is at the intersection of environmental sustainability and human health, with particular focus on mental health and the co-benefits of climate change mitigation and adaptation. She wrote her master’s thesis on the relationship between wildfire smoke-specific fine particulate matter and symptoms of anxiety and depression, for which she was awarded the Dean’s Prize for Outstanding MPH Thesis. She received her MPH from the Yale School of Public Health in 2023, where she concentrated on Climate Change and Health, and her BA from Vassar College in 2015.
Emily (she/her) is a Program Manager at YPCCC. She works closely with the Director and team leads across the organization and plays a critical role in supporting the program as it grows increasingly global in its networks and impacts. Prior to joining YPCCC, she managed Dr. Laurie Santos’s Comparative Cognition Center in the Yale Psychology Department. She holds a B.S. in Cognitive Science and a Certificate in Data Science from Yale College.
Eric has worn many hats within our team from expanding our work into Latin America to supporting partner organizations, managing our fellowships, presenting on our research and tools, and running workshops on climate communications. Prior to YPCCC, Eric was an outdoor educator taking people on expeditions throughout the Americas and Europe. Watching glaciers recede in Patagonia over ten years inspired him to pursue a Masters of Environmental Science at Yale’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.
Jennifer is the Director of Survey Strategy at the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Her research interest is at the intersection of climate change adaptation and human behavior, focusing on how people can both protect themselves and advance the common good in the face of increasing climate change impacts. Her past work was in the energy sector as a program evaluation research analyst for energy utility and government clients. At YPCCC, she develops and supports survey research on public attitudes, behaviors, and policy support regarding climate change both in the U.S. and globally. She received her PhD and MS from the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability, and her BA from Haverford College.
Johanna (Jo) Riddle was reared in Central Massachusetts and comes to Yale after completing her masters in Environmental Policy & Planning at Tufts. An artist and photographer, Johanna is an active member in artist communities across New England. Alongside her artistic pursuits, she is enthralled by research related to digital ethics, and human-centered urban design. Her favorite book genre is Sci-fi.
Jon Ozaksut manages digital message tests and digital strategic communications for YPCCC. He has been a part of the team since 2017, after about ten years in the advocacy and marketing spaces, including organizations like Organizing for Action and Reverb.com. Across web, social media, ad platforms, and email, he has developed campaigns, programs, and assets to help connect audiences with the climate information they need most. Jon is inspired by the challenges inherent in communicating climate change, and dedicated to navigating the ever-changing information ecosystems of social media.
Joshua leads the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication’s strategy for engaging and supporting the climate and clean energy advocacy, media, government, and education communities. He leverages a strong curiosity, evidence-based insights, and 20 years of experience leading social change campaigns to help organizations solve strategic challenges, clarify their goals, and develop the capacity for strategic climate communications and transformational organizing. Prior to YPCCC, he managed campaigns and led organizing efforts across the country that advanced bipartisan support for climate action, elected climate champions, and passed legislation that expanded access to clean energy. His passion for nurturing volunteers and empowering community leaders to lead on climate solutions underscores his deep experience scaling supporter recruitment, managing coalitions, and leveraging multichannel communications strategies.
Lisa Fernandez is Managing Director at the YPCCC, overseeing operations, communications, and finance. Previously, she worked in urban environmental conservation and sustainable development in the US and Latin America. She has served as a consultant to the United Nations Development Programme, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the World Bank. She was a Fellow at the World Wildlife Fund-USA and a City Planner implementing solid waste prevention policy for the City of New York. Lisa co-authored Toward a New Consciousness: Values to Sustain Human and Natural Communities and Institutionalizing Sustainability in Higher Education. She holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management, an MEM from the Yale School of the Environment, and a BA in History from Princeton. She serves on the boards of the East Coast Greenway Alliance and the Farmington Canal Rail-to-Trail Association.
Mallika serves as the Deputy Director of Partnerships – US & India for the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. She supports the program’s efforts to build the capacity of partner organizations for strategic and data-driven communications and advocacy. Prior to working at YPCCC, Mallika worked as a Senior Oceans Campaigner for Greenpeace USA, leading an international campaign to end environmental and human rights abuses in global fisheries supply chains. Mallika also has extensive experience advocating for environmental protection in her home country – India. Mallika holds a BS in Life Sciences from St. Xavier’s College – Mumbai and a Master’s in Environmental Management from the Yale School of the Environment.
Marija Verner is a postdoctoral associate at the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication at Yale University. Her research focuses on international climate change attitudes and behaviors with a particular interest in the role of spatial factors. Marija also has an active research agenda in Latin American Indigenous politics, especially in the context of environmental protest. She received her PhD in Political Science from the University of Colorado at Boulder and her BA in Political Science from Vilnius University.
Martial Jefferson is a software engineer at YPCCC. Martial works closely with our data scientists and researchers to forward design and engineering of dynamic, data-driven prototypes, surveys, opinion maps, component libraries, and visualizations.
Martial holds a B.A. in Classical Civilization from Yale University and prior to joining YPCCC developed web and mobile software at IAC, Adaptly, PixieTV, Samsung Electronics, Hatch Inc/Wethos.co, and Ethershaft.
Research Scientist, Director of Experimental Research
Matthew is a Research Scientist and Director of Experimental Research at the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication at Yale University. His research focuses on persuasion, social influence, ideology, and strategic communication. He applies insights from his research to build public understanding and motivation to address climate change and other urgent environmental, social, and political issues. Matthew holds a BA in Psychology from Hofstra University and received his PhD in Psychology from the Basic and Applied Social Psychology program at The Graduate Center, City University of New York. Contact: matthew.goldberg@yale.edu.
Michaela is the Program Administrator of the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. She works closely with the Director and supports the overall program in planning, development and implementation. Prior to joining YPCCC, Michaela worked as a consultant for the National Football League Environmental Program. She received a Bachelor of Science in Wildlife Ecology & Conservation from the University of Delaware and enjoys coaching high school field hockey! Contact: michaela.hobbs@yale.edu.
Pearl Marvell is a multimedia storyteller with over 10 years of experience as a writer, reporter, photographer, and producer. Pearl received her undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Puerto Rico in 2011 and a master’s degree in journalism with a concentration in international reporting from the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism in 2014. Since then, she has reported in the Caribbean, the U.S., and Europe.
Pearl has reported radio stories for several NPR affiliates, including reporting and producing for a podcast on immigration called “Mosaic.” Her written work has been featured in The Providence Journal, 41ºN Magazine, and several other New England news organizations. Her photography has been featured in The Wall Street Journal and other regional publications.
She moved to Rhode Island in 2015 and since then has run a storytelling marketing company and reported and produced stories primarily on the environment and immigration.
Director of Audience Experience, Yale Climate Connections
Samantha Harrington is the Director of Audience Experience at Yale Climate Connections. Sam is a journalist and graphic designer, with a background in digital media, entrepreneurship and online communities. Coming from Wisconsin, she is especially interested in sharing how climate change is affecting people, ecosystems and culture across the U.S. Midwest. Previously, she was the global community manager at ISeeChange. In 2015, after graduating from the University of North Carolina, where she studied Journalism and Arab Cultures, she founded Driven Media, a roving newsroom, and she was a regular contributor to Women@Forbes, where she wrote about women in business. She has also worked on a number of international projects. In 2018 she illustrated and designed an educational workbook for Syrian children living in Jordan and Lebanon for the organization Project Amal ou Salam. In 2014 she traveled to Amman, Jordan, to study why Jordanian women study STEM subjects at twice the rate of American women, and she has reported on maternal health issues in Malawi and on counter terrorism efforts in Morocco.
Sara leads Yale Climate Connections, YPCCC’s independent and nonpartisan climate news service. She joined the editorial team in 2016, where she oversaw rapid growth in listenership to the team’s national radio program, created the “Ask Sara” climate advice column, and led the launch of Yale Climate Connections en español before her promotion to editor-in-chief in 2023.
Previously, her reporting on environmental issues appeared in National Geographic, HuffPost, Scientific American, Environmental Health News, and Grist, among others. She served as a member of the faculty at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill’s journalism school, where she led courses in environmental journalism and media entrepreneurship. Sara holds a master’s degree in journalism and a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies, both from UNC-Chapel Hill.
She enjoys working closely with writers to tell compelling stories about the changing climate, with the ultimate goal of improving public understanding and engagement with climate change causes, impacts, and solutions.
Seth serves as research methodologist at YPCCC, with a particular focus on survey methodology. Before joining YPCCC in August 2013, he was Director of Opinion Research at Merriman River Group, where he specialized in election and issues-based opinion polling. Seth has also been the lead author of the annual National Leadership Index report published by the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School. Seth holds a B.A. in psychology from Wesleyan University, and an A.M. and Ph.D. in experimental psychopathology from the Department of Psychology at Harvard. He was also a post-doctoral research fellow at the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School. Seth has published research on narcissism, self-esteem, positive intergroup attitudes, and leadership.
Abby Ong is a Master of Public Health candidate at the Yale School of Public Health, with special focuses in health justice and climate health. Abby holds a BA in Health & Society, a minor in Health Communication, and a certificate in LGBTQ+ studies from the University of Texas at Austin. Her academic and research interests include climate and health communication, urban health, racial justice, and disaster response.
STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL COMMUNICATION SPEAKER SERIES COORDINATOR
Adam Brewster is an undergrad at Yale College in the Class of 2026 double-majoring in Economics and Global Affairs. He is interested in researching different ways in which macroeconomic policies can be configured to promote both economic growth and environmental sustainability. Outside of the classroom, Adam has worked on Kathy Hochul’s gubernatorial campaign, the Yale Depolarization Initiative, and the 22-23 First-Year College Council.
Anna Oehlerking is an undergrad at Yale College in the Class of 2025 from Duluth, Minnesota, majoring in Environmental Engineering. She is interested in the relationship between public health and climate change, and in the innovative engineering solutions that can improve these intersecting spheres. Growing up near Lake Superior, Anna became particularly interested in how air pollution can affect freshwater quality, and what can be done to mitigate these impacts. In her free time, Anna loves to hike, alpine ski, kayak, read, and drink way too many iced vanilla lattes.
Apoorva Dhingra (she/they) is from Delhi, India, and is pursuing a Masters in Environmental Management at the Yale School of the Environment. She comes to Yale with 6+ years of research experience and a keen interest in water management. By focusing on water security, she wants to support marginalized communities in their quest to become more resilient to climate change.
Berkana McDowell is a Master of Environmental Management candidate at Yale School of the Environment specializing in Industrial Ecology and Green Chemistry. She is interested in the intersections between climate science, art, justice, and communications, informed by her upbringing on O’ahu, Hawai’i. In the future, she’d like to use her interdisciplinary interests to promote a more environmentally equitable future for disadvantaged communities.
Ceily Addison is an undergraduate at Yale College in the Class of 2026 studying statistics and data science. Ceily is interested in the use of data to analyze important trends in societal attitudes and standings. Ceily has worked on social media graphics before, but this is their first time working for a climate change advocacy program. Ceily is excited to be part of the team!
Emily Deng is a first-year master’s student in the Statistics & Data Science department at Yale. Her interest lies in the intersection of machine learning and causal inference. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in applied Math & Statistics and Economics from Johns Hopkins University. At YPCCC, she is currently using causal inference methods to gain deeper insights into the role of psychology in influencing mitigation and adaptation behaviors in response to extreme weather and climate change.
Strategic Environmental Speaker Series Event Coordinator
Emily (she/her) is a 1st year Master of Environmental Management student specializing in People, Equity, and the Environment. Emily is passionate about environmental communication that prioritizes the voices of people belonging to historically marginalized communities. She is interested in how to prioritize environmental and social justice narratives in the framing of climate solutions. Emily’s background is in community event coordination, communications, and social justice organizing. Outside of work, she loves to cook, run, and hang out with her cat Bianca and her friends.
Emma Buretta (she/her) is from Brooklyn, NY, and is an undergrad at Yale College in the Class of 2028 double-majoring in Environmental Studies and Political Science. She is interested in bringing grassroots organizations and international policy spaces together to create an equitable fossil fuel phaseout. She is excited to help the YPCCC’s partner organizations implement their research as a Partnerships Research Assistant.
Eric Scheuch is a Ph.D. student in Political Science with a focus on American Politics and Quantitative Research Methods. His research focuses on climate change, systematic racism, and the urban-rural divide. Prior to Yale, he worked on diversity, equity, and inclusion and solving startup scaling challenges at a startup in NYC. He earned his BA (Cum Laude) in Political Science (Departmental Honors) and Sustainable Development from Columbia University, where he earned the Charles Beard Prize for his thesis on the politics of climate mitigation. He spends his spare time trail running and hiking with his spouse and his dog.
Esther Donald Mwakisambwe is pursuing graduate studies in Environmental Science at Yale University under the esteemed guidance of Prof. Paul Anastas, an eminent expert in Green Chemistry. Esther has a dedicated and enthusiastic interest in environmental sustainability, with an academic background in Oil and Natural Gas Engineering. Through internships at ARA Petroleum Tanzania Limited (APT) and Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC), Esther gained first-hand exposure to the environmental challenges associated with the petroleum industry. Esther Donald Mwakisambwe holds a master’s degree in Petroleum Engineering from China University of Geosciences.
Hailey Seo is an undergrad at Yale College in the Class of 2026 from Tulsa, Oklahoma. She plans on studying Global Affairs and Environmental Studies. She works with the Yale Office of Sustainability, is Editor in Chief for the Yale Review of International Studies, and writes and edits for the Yale Environmentalist and the Yale Globalist. In her free time, she enjoys crocheting, reading, and drinking coffee.
Ingrid Thyr is a Master of Environmental Management candidate at the Yale School of the Environment, where she is specializing in Ecosystem Management and Conservation. She is interested in using environmental data science to provide better tools for just and sustainable land use management. She also holds a B.A. in Environmental Studies and Mathematics from Williams College.
Isobel Laughton (she/her) is an exchange student on the Henry Fellowship, affiliated with the Yale School of the Environment. She is interested in how we perceive, communicate, and consequently address the climate crisis. As part of the social media team, Isobel is excited to help bring YPCCC’s research to a wide audience! Isobel holds both a B.A. in Experimental Psychology and an M.A. in Sustainability, Enterprise, & the Environment.
Jenny Liu (she/her) is an undergrad at Yale College in the Class of 2026 majoring in Environmental Studies with a concentration in Energy & Climate. She works as an Instagram Producer for YPCCC and collaborates with the rest of the social media team to produce detailed content. She’s passionate about understanding how people talk about and communicate climate change knowledge. When she’s not creating content for YPCCC, she’s a Culinary Events Manager at the Yale Farm, and the Project Chair of the Equitable Bikeshare @ Yale. You can probably find her biking around campus and drinking copious amounts of coffee.
Kei Kohmoto is a second-year joint degree Masters student at the Yale School of Public Health and School of the Environment, specializing in climate change and health. She strives to lead a life and career promoting the health of ecological and human communities, understanding that these communities are intertwined, and that climate change affects all. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies with a specialization in Environmental Communication from the University of Michigan Ann Arbor.
Kelli Hata is a Master of Arts in Religion, Concentration in Religion and Ecology, candidate at Yale Divinity School. She is interested in Environmental Theology and Philosophy, including Animal Theology and Christian Food Ethics, and Eco-Justice and the Global South. Kelli holds a B.A. in Philosophy from Fresno Pacific University.
Lara Briggs is a PhD student in the Department of Political Science. Her research is in comparative energy and environmental politics, focusing on how the renewable energy transition is changing politics within and across EU member-states. She earned her Bachelor of Arts from Washington University in St. Louis, with majors in Political Science (comparative politics & quantitative methods concentrations) and Environmental Analysis. During her time at WashU, she worked for several years as a climate associate for the WashU Climate Change Program (now under the Center for the Environment) and interned in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.
Lawrence Tang is an undergrad at Yale College in the Class of 2026 majoring in Environmental Studies. He is excited to explore how media can be used to communicate messages about climate change, especially in relation to environmentalism in the Global South. His other interests include urban ecology, sustainable food and agriculture systems, and his favorite: pottery sculpting.
Masooma Rahmaty is a Master of Environmental Management graduate from Yale School of the Environment, where she focused on climate policy, international climate governance, and emerging solutions for decarbonization. Her interests lie at the intersection of environmental justice, diplomacy, energy systems, and the governance and environmental impacts of artificial intelligence (AI). These interests are shaped by her work with the International Peace Institute, United Nations Foundation, ACTIVATE, and the Permanent Mission of Afghanistan to the United Nations, as well as her time as a Kerry Fellow at Yale’s Jackson School of Global Affairs. In the future, she hopes to help bridge global policy and innovation to support more inclusive and climate-resilient futures for vulnerable communities.
Mingyu (Emily) Zhang is a second-year Master of Environmental Science candidate at Yale’s School of the Environment. She graduated from Xiamen University in China with a major in Marine Science and takes great interest in the marine pollution problem, carbon sequestration and blue carbon ecosystems. Her past experience in popularizing microplastic knowledge has led her to YPCCC, where she will work to coordinate and share posts on Chinese social media platforms to communicate environmental climate issues with the Chinese audience.
Monica Dwight (she/her) is a Master of Environmental Management candidate at the Yale School of the Environment. Her studies are at the intersection of people and sustainability, exploring how communication, education, and behavioral science can be leveraged to drive equitable climate solutions. She is a San Francisco Bay Area native and holds a B.A. from the University of California, Davis in Spanish and Political Science-Public Service with emphases in foreign and environmental policy.
Nadia Petersen is an undergrad at Yale College in the Class of 2027 pursuing a Joint B.A./M.A. in East Asian Studies, with a concentration on Korea. She’s interested in climate advocacy at the intersection of science and culture and is passionate about bringing climate awareness to diverse audiences.
Owen Curtin is an undergrad at Yale College in the Class of 2026 studying Anthropology. He has a passion for creative storytelling and informative journalism. Owen thinks social media is at the forefront of climate change awareness and hopes to take what he learns at YPCCC into his other endeavors.
Sahana Kaur is an undergrad at Yale College in the Class of 2026 from Malaysia. She plans on studying Political Science and Climate Science & Solutions. At Yale, Sahana is a Community Fellow with the Yale Center for Environmental Justice and a member of the Zero Waste Team within the Office of Sustainability’s Peer Education Program. In her free time, Sahana enjoys traveling, running, and watching sitcoms and soccer.
Sereena is a second-year graduate student at the Yale School of the Environment studying environmental management with a focus on industrial ecology and green chemistry, as well as business and the environment. She has worked in both sustainable waste management and environmental engagement. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science and Policy.
Abel Gustafson is an Assistant Professor of Public Relations and Environmental Communication in the Department of Communication at the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Gustafson is an expert on strategic communication, public opinion, and social psychology. His research investigates how people think and act regarding environmental issues and sustainable technologies, and uses those findings to design more effective communication strategies. He is also a Research Affiliate of the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and a Faculty Affiliate of UC’s Center for Public Engagement with Science. He earned his Ph.D. in Communication at the University of California, Santa Barbara and was a postdoc at Yale University.
Afrooz Mosallaei is a Ph.D. candidate in Journalism and Media Studies at Rutgers University. Her research is driven by a commitment to understanding and influencing the interplay between digital media content, its effects on public opinion and behavior, and policymaking in the context of the climate crisis. Her doctoral dissertation investigates climate-related news platformization: the news outlets’ selective adaptation and production of news in line with social media platforms’ logic and the contemporary gatekeeping practices of newsroom editors. She holds an M.S. in Communication, Culture, and Media from Drexel University, and a B.A. in Photography from the University of Tehran, Iran.
Binbin Wang is a climate activist and social scientist. A stubborn optimist, she has tracked the UNFCCC process since 2009 as a trusted witness, passionate advocate, creative expert, and multi-talented practitioner. She offers extensive expertise on global climate governance and policy, nature-based solutions, strategic communication, and multi-stakeholder cooperation between actors from different sectors and institutions. Binbin co-founded a local think tank to conduct national surveys investigating the public’s perception of the climate, the key findings of which were picked up by China’s National White Paper and the UNFCCC. Her monograph about China’s green transition was published by Springer Nature and received a nomination at the China New Development Awards in 2022. Because of her outstanding leadership in the field, Binbin was selected as a member of Homeward Bound, a worldwide female leadership training program, and she visited Antarctica in 2019 with 90 female scientists from 28 countries. She has devoted her career to female leadership directed toward achieving a sustainable planet. As a well-respected influencer and super connecter, she is now accelerating bottom-up actions and joint efforts between China and the world toward the global net-zero transition. She holds a BA and MA from Shandong University and is the first to earn PhD in climate communication in China from Renmin University.
Connie Roser-Renouf is an Associate Research Professor at the Center for Climate Change Communication at George Mason University. Her research focuses on understanding how diverse publics interpret and respond to information on the issue of climate change. The objective of this research is the identification of effective communication strategies to inform and engage audiences.
Connie earned her PhD in Communication Research at Stanford University in 1986. Prior to joining the Center at George Mason, she taught and conducted research at the University of California at Santa Barbara; the University of Denver; the University of Pittsburgh; and Humboldt State University.
Edward Maibach is a University Professor at George Mason University, and the Director of Mason’s Center for Climate Change Communication. Ed’s research – funded by NSF, NASA and private foundations – focuses on public engagement in climate change. Ed recently co-chaired the Engagement & Communication Working Group for the 3rd National Climate Assessment, and previously served as Associate Director of the National Cancer Institute, Worldwide Director of Social Marketing at Porter Novelli, and Chairman of the Board for Kidsave International. Ed earned his PhD in communication science at Stanford University and his MPH at San Diego State University.
Hong Tien Vu is the Clyde Betty Reed Professor of Journalism and an Associate Professor at the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Kansas. His research interests are primarily concerned with digital technologies and science communication including climate change communication. Within that area, Hong is interested in understanding how climate change is communicated in the news and social media content. His research also explores the effects of different content aspects on the public. Hong holds a BS in linguistics from Vietnam National University, an MS in journalism from the University of Kansas, and PhD also in journalism from The University of Texas at Austin. Contact: hong.t.vu@yale.edu
JT or JAGADISH THAKER (Ph.D., George Mason University) is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Auckland. He is an affiliate researcher with the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication and the Center for Climate Change Communication at George Mason University. His research examines ways to understand and enhance public, business, and policy engagement with climate change and public health. His research areas are in science and climate change communication, health communication, and strategic communication campaigns.
He has served as an expert reviewer or jury for the National Geographic Society, Canada Research Coordinating Committee (CRCC), European Science Foundation, and Health Research Council New Zealand, among other funding agencies.
His research has been cited by intergovernmental agencies such as The World Bank, UNICEF, UNESCO, government agencies in India and New Zealand, and sustainability business groups and advocacy organizations. Several international newspapers have covered his research, including The Guardian, The New York Times,Reuters, The Atlantic, New Zealand Herald,The Hindu. He has appeared several times on national TV and radio in New Zealand. The Royal Society of New Zealand featured his research.
Executive Director of the Yale Center for Geospatial Solutions
Jenn Marlon is the Executive Director of the Yale Center for Geospatial Solutions and a Senior Research Scientist at the Yale School of the Environment. She has a secondary appointment as Lecturer in the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology at Yale. Previously, Dr. Marlon served as the Director of Data Science at the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, leading research on risk communication about extreme weather and developing interactive maps and visualizations to support science communication and engagement – examples include the Yale Climate Opinion Maps and corresponding Factsheets, the Six Americas Super Short Survey (SASSY), the Heatwave Risk Perceptions Maps, and the Climate Change in the American Mind (CCAM) Explorer. She has authored over 80 peer-reviewed papers in journals such as Science, Nature Climate Change, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and is often cited by major media and news outlets. She obtained her Ph.D. and M.S. in Geography from the University of Oregon, where she studied climate change and wildfires.
John Chung-En Liu is an associate professor of sociology at National Taiwan University, and a faculty affiliate in the International Program on Climate Change and Sustainable Development. Previously, he was an assistant professor at Occidental College in Los Angeles and a Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School. John received his Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and joint master’s degrees from Yale University
Dr. Liu’s research draws from environmental sociology and economic sociology to study topics related to climate change. He has particularly studied climate change opinions and discourses in China, and this work has been featured in media outlets such as Foreign Policy, Guardian, and Public Radio International.
John recently completed his Ph.D. at George Mason University’s Science Communication program, and he currently works as a Post-doctoral Research Fellow in the Center for Climate Change Communication. His research broadly focuses on science, environmental, and risk communication through the use of surveys, experiments, and quantitative content analysis. More specifically, his research investigates the interaction between media and social identity in shaping attitudes toward contentious issues about science and scientists, with a particular emphasis on the issue of climate change. His work has examined ways to correct misperceptions about the scientific consensus on climate change, how the public responds to political advocacy by scientists, and the process through which reflecting on one’s core values (referred to as self-affirmation) can make individuals more receptive to risk information. He has a strong interest in applied communication research that can aid organizations in improving citizen engagement with and reducing political polarization on public debates about science.
Katharine Hayhoe is an accomplished atmospheric scientist who studies climate change and why it matters to us here and now. She is also a remarkable communicator: in 2014, she was recognized by Time Magazine as one of the top 100 Most Influential People in the world and by Foreign Policy as one of the top 100 Global Thinkers; her work was featured on the Emmy award-winning documentary series, The Years of Living Dangerously; and she won the American Geophysical Union’s award for climate communication. In 2016, she was named to the POLITICO 50 list of thinkers, doers and visionaries transforming American politics while in 2017 she was named one of FORTUNE’s world’s greatest leaders. She is a lead author for the U.S. National Climate Assessments and has served on the panels for the National Academy of Science, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and many other professional organizations devoted to understanding and communicating climate change. Katharine is currently a professor and directs the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University. She has a B.Sc. in Physics from the University of Toronto and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science from the University of Illinois.
Leah Stokes is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science and a faculty affiliate at the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). She received her PhD and MA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), an MPA from Columbia University and a BSc from the University of Toronto. Her research examines public policy, public opinion and political behavior, with a focus on energy and environment. Her current book project studies interest groups’ role in changing US states’ energy policy, with a focus renewable portfolio standards and net-metering laws.
At YPCCC, Liz Neyens works on analyzing, graphing, and mapping the group’s survey data. Prior to joining YPCCC, Liz spent six years as an economic consultant, specializing in the use of microeconomic methods to answer questions for clients such as the DOJ, the FTC, and numerous private sector clients. She has also worked on analytical projects for organizations including Solstice Community Solar, the Great Plains Institute, Partners in Health, the Haitian Global Health Alliance, and the University of Cape Town, among others. She has an M.A. from Yale University and a B.A. from Penn State. In her spare time, Liz enjoys photography and studying foreign languages.
Matt Cutler is a sociologist with the Social Sciences Branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC). He provides analytical support to both the New England and Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Management Councils and is involved in the design and implementation of the Socio-economic Survey of Hired Captains and Crew in New England and Mid-Atlantic Commercial Fisheries. Matt is also working as an Agency Fellow with the JPB Environmental Health Fellows Program at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (https://ehfellows.sph.harvard.edu/).
Prior to joining the NEFSC, he completed a postdoctoral appointment at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies where he studied public attitudes and beliefs about climate change as a member of the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. His research more broadly has focused on public perceptions of climate change and other socio-environmental phenomena, such as environmental hazards and urban sprawl and development. Matt holds a BA in Political Science and Justice Studies, an MA in Justice Studies, and a PhD in Sociology from the University of New Hampshire.
Matthew specializes in social and environmental psychology, and research methodology. He is interested in the factors that shape people’s responses to environmental issues, how environments affect people’s health and well-being, and how communicators can use this knowledge to more effectively connect with their audiences. Matthew received his PhD in Psychology from the Applied Social Psychology program at Claremont Graduate University, and his BA in Psychology and Sociology from the University of Michigan. He completed his post-doctoral work at YPCCC and is currently teaching at Pierce College in Puyallup, WA.
Matto Mildenberger is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of California Santa Barbara. A political scientist by training, Matto studies how ideology and emotions shape political bargains over climate policy. His work also focuses on the applications of complex systems theory to political science and environmental policy. Matto previously completed an MA (Global Governance) at the University of Waterloo, and an Hon. B.Sc. (Botany and International Relations) at the University of Toronto. He received his PhD from the Yale¹s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.
Miriam is a 2023 Master of Environmental Science student at the Yale School of the Environment. Originally from the UK and Germany, she graduated from the University of Oxford with a bachelor’s degree in Experimental Psychology in 2021. Her goal is to apply her background in psychology to climate change. To this end, she has been working with the YPCCC Experiments Team and interviewing climate-concerned individuals for her master’s thesis to better understand how people come to see global warming as a serious issue and how this concern impacts their climate actions and perceptions of climate change.
Modala brings 10 years of experience working with geospatial technology and its applications in agriculture, climate change, hydrology, and forest fires to YPCCC. Prior to joining YPCCC, he worked as a Geospatial Database Administrator for 7 years with Texas A&M Forest Service. Modala received his PhD in Geospatial Science from Texas A&M University, College Station in 2014, and his Master’s degree in Geography from Kansas State University in 2010.
Nic Badullovich is a Post-doctoral Research Fellow at George Mason University’s Center for Climate Change Communication. His research centers on climate change communication which involves understanding prevailing public opinion, support for policy measures, and investigating pathways to enable productive engagement on the issue of climate change. He utilizes both qualitative and quantitative methods – through cross-sectional surveys and experiments – and has a particular interest in how different frames can promote productive engagement on climate change.
Nicholas Smith is a social-environmental psychologist with research interests in the perception and communication of risk issues. He was a postdoctoral research associate for the YPCCC working on a variety of projects exploring American public awareness and understanding of climate change. He is currently a lecturer in social psychology at the University of Westminster. He obtained his MSc in research methods and PhD in social psychology from University College London and his BA in environmental management from the University of Leeds.
Parrish Bergquist is an Assistant Professor at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy. She studies environmental policy and politics in the United States, with a focus on public opinion and political behavior. Parrish’s research examines the development and implications of public attitudes about environmental protection, energy, and climate change; the implications of partisan polarization and nationalization for environmental policy outcomes; and how political actors and members of the public perceive, portray, and evaluate political issues, problems, and proposals. At the McCourt School of Public Policy, she teaches courses in environmental policy and statistics. In her teaching she aims to help students apply theories and insights from political science, sociology, and economics to a wide range of public policy topics. Read more about Parrish’s work at her personal website.
Patrick Owusu Ansah is a Ph.D. Student and Graduate Teaching Assistant in the Department of Communication at George Mason University. Patrick’s research focuses on how to increase public support and engagement in nonviolent civil disobedience, improving public support for climate aid to developing countries, media coverage of climate change, and greenwashing by the fossil fuel industry.
Peter Howe has been an Assistant Professor of Human-Environment Geography at Utah State University since 2013. His research focuses on the intersection of human perception and cognition with vulnerability and adaptation to climate change and natural hazards. This research aims to improve the ability of individuals and communities to detect and effectively respond to environmental change. Dr. Howe’s research also explores how spatial relationships influence risk perceptions and decision making, using methods including survey research, spatial analysis, geovisualization, and multilevel modeling.
Prior to joining USU, Dr. Howe worked as a postdoctoral associate with the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies in the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication. He received his PhD in Geography from Penn State University in 2012. He also holds an MS in Geography from Penn State, and a BA in Political Science and BS in Geography from Arizona State University.
Sander van der Linden, Ph.D., is a University Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Social Psychology at the University of Cambridge, where he directs the Cambridge Social Decision-Making Lab. At Cambridge, he is also a Fellow and Director of Studies in Psychological and Behavioral Sciences at Churchill College. His research explores the psychology of social influence, risk, judgment, communication, and decision-making, with a particular focus on the psychology of climate change. His research has received numerous awards from institutions such as the American Psychological Association (APA), the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI) and the International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP).
Prior to Cambridge, Sander was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Psychology and the Woodrow Wilson School of Public Affairs at Princeton University and a visiting scholar (2012-2014) with the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication at Yale University. He received his Ph.D. from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
Sanguk is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Texas Christian University. His research focuses on the investigation of psychological, social, and ecological impacts on behaviors in the context of climate change and public health. He is also interested in using computational methods and large language models to develop effective science communication strategies. Sanguk received his PhD in Communication from the Department of Communication at Michigan State University. Contact: lswook555@gmail.com
Saahi Uppalapati is a doctoral student in the Department of Communication at George Mason University and a research assistant at the Center for Climate Change Communication. Her research interests sit at the intersection of climate change and health, policy, and communication. She is particularly interested in applying insights from social science research to leverage support for pro-climate actions and equitable climate and health policies. Saahi received her M.S. in Environmental Studies from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, her MPA from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School, and her BA from Whitman College in Environmental Studies and Politics.
Teresa Myers is a Research Assistant Professor at the Center for Climate Change Communication at George Mason University. She is currently Co-Principal Investigator on a NASA grant investigating public trust in NASA’s climate change research, and public understanding of NASA’s web-based educational materials on climate change. She is also actively analyzing and publishing research using the Climate Change in the American Mind data and working with a team to evaluate the Climate Matters broadcast meteorologist engagement project. Teresa specializes in research methodology and advanced data analysis techniques in the context of communication and public opinion research, and has published on climate change, data analysis, and foreign policy.
The Yale Center for Business and the Environment provides a focal point for research, education, and outreach to advance business solutions to global environmental problems. The Center joins the strengths of two world-renowned graduate schools – the Yale School of Management and the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies – together with a network of internal and external thought leaders at the business-environment interface. Their work connects students, executives, academics, and policymakers, and spans issues from environmental finance to corporate social responsibility.
The Climate Advocacy Lab is a growing network of advocates, data experts, social scientists, and funders developing and sharing best practices for mobilizing Americans to take action on climate and clean energy issues, and for organizing to build the power of our movement.
Climate Central is an independent group of scientists and communicators who research and report the facts about our changing climate and how it affects people’s lives. We are a policy-neutral 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Climate Central uses science, big data, and technology to generate thousands of local storylines and compelling visuals that make climate change personal and show what can be done about it. We address climate science, sea level rise, extreme weather, energy, and related topics. We collaborate widely with TV meteorologists, journalists, and other respected voices to reach audiences across diverse geographies and beliefs.
Meta Data for Good uses data to address some of the world’s greatest humanitarian issues. In partnership with YPCCC, Meta (previously Facebook) launched a climate change opinion survey that explores public climate change knowledge, attitudes, policy preferences, and behaviors across more than 30 countries and territories.
George Mason University – Center for Climate Change Communication
The mission of the Center for Climate Change Communication is to conduct unbiased public engagement research, and to help government agencies, non-profit organizations, and companies apply the results of this research, so that collectively, these groups can stabilize the planet’s climate. They use social science research methods – experiments, surveys, in-depth interviews and other methods – to find ways of effectively engaging the public and policy makers in the problem, and in considering and enacting solutions.
The Hispanic Communications Network (HCN) works with nonprofits, universities, and government agencies to deliver cost-effective, culturally-resonant Spanish language media solutions for national and regional impact. Working closely with partners, HCN creates, produces and syndicates Spanish-language public interest media and educational campaigns that reach 90% of U.S. Hispanics via daily programming on the HCN national network of affiliated radio stations and through the “La Red Hispana” community outreach and engagement digital assets. These include a mobile app, website, live streaming/social media, video channels, and podcasts.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) works to keep citizens informed of the changing environment around them.From daily weather forecasts, severe storm warnings and climate monitoring to fisheries management, coastal restoration and supporting marine commerce, NOAA’s products and services support economic vitality and affect more than one-third of America’s gross domestic product. NOAA’s dedicated scientists use cutting-edge research and high-tech instrumentation to provide citizens, planners, emergency managers and other decision makers with reliable information they need when they need it.
Potential Energy is a global, nonprofit marketing firm creating public demand for action on climate change. Leveraging deep analytics and creative storytelling drawn from private sector marketing, Potential Energy connects with people on a human level to tip the balance on the policies that will dramatically accelerate the energy transition. Potential Energy’s campaigns are backed by extensive audience research across more than 20 countries, with over 3 billion ads served and measured, yielding data-driven insights that shift the climate narrative to win the fights that matter. Founded in 2018 by longtime marketing executive John Marshall, Potential Energy has a proven track record of successful campaigns, including Science Moms, building support for climate action. Learn more and get involved at: potentialenergycoalition.org
The China Center for Climate Change Communication (China 4C)
The China Center for Climate Change Communication (China 4C) was jointly established by the Research Center for Journalism and Social Development of Renmin University and Oxfam Hong Kong. It is the Chinese counterpart to the YPCCC and George Mason 4C.
The OpEd Project’s mission is to change who writes history. Working with universities, think tanks, foundations, nonprofits, corporations and community organizations across the nation, we scout and train under-represented experts (especially women) to take thought leadership positions in their fields (through op-eds and much more); we connect them with our international network of high-level media mentors; and we vet and channel the best new ideas and experts directly to media gatekeepers across all platforms.
The Pulitzer Center promotes in-depth engagement with global affairs through its support for quality international journalism across all media platforms and an innovative program of outreach and education.
World Weather Attribution is a collective of climate scientists who use weather observations and climate models to understand how climate change influences the intensity and likelihood of extreme weather events. The studies also assess the role of vulnerability and exposure in the extent of the impacts. Most studies are performed rapidly, in the aftermath of extreme weather events – or even while they’re still happening – to answer the increasingly common question: ‘what was the role of climate change in this event?’
Formed in 2015, WWA has performed more than 50 attribution studies on heatwaves, extreme rainfall, drought, floods, wildfires and cold spells around the world.
The Yale Center for Environmental Communication (YCEC) conducts research on the psychological, cultural, and political factors that influence environmental attitudes and behavior; teaches students and trains working professionals; informs and engages the public through environmental journalism; and supports a global network of organizations seeking to build public and political will for environmental solutions.
The Yale Center for Environmental Justice is a joint undertaking between the Yale School of the Environment and Yale Law School, in partnership with the Yale Center for the Study of Race, Indigeneity, and Transnational Migration. YCEJ is committed to strengthening institutional capacity to empower frontline communities to lead change by catalyzing partnerships and expanding interdisciplinary research, teaching, and practice in environmental justice. In addition, YCEJ promotes an expanded definition of environmental justice, recognizing the lived experiences and interconnected systemic inequities that shape environmental inequality.
The Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy seeks to advance cutting edge environmental thinking and policy analysis so that decision-making in the public, business, community, and personal realms promotes sustainability. The Center seeks to identify pressing environmental problems and advance effective policies, strategies, and decision-making tools in response. They seek to move the environmental debate beyond political and sectoral boundaries to enable integrated approaches to problem-solving.
Founded in 1952 by Christian A. Johnson, the Endeavor Foundation is dedicated to efforts that foster independent thought, ethical understanding, deep appreciation of the arts and reverence for the natural world. The Endeavor Foundation pursues this objective primarily by supporting and catalyzing excellence in liberal arts education and related fields, and has supported the curricular and pedagogical development of a significant number of liberal arts colleges in the United States. The Foundation has also made major contributions to the arts, to projects that assist independent states in the formerly Soviet-dominated region of Central and Eastern Europe, including Bulgaria, Estonia, Poland, Rumania, Slovakia and Ukraine, to Native American projects and to efforts that promote environmental awareness. Endeavor was instrumental in the creation of the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC, and ECLA European College of Liberal Arts in Berlin, Germany.
The CO2 Foundation is helping to pioneer climate change solutions by providing early support to projects that tackle the most pressing climate consequences of our time.
The Heising-Simons Foundation works with its many partners to advance sustainable solutions in climate and clean energy, enable groundbreaking research in science, enhance the education of our youngest learners, and support human rights for all people.
The High Tide Foundation, based in San Francisco, California, provides support to organizations that are dedicated to educating and informing the public about global warming and to those taking concrete actions to reduce the emission of CO2 into the atmosphere.
The Schmidt Family Foundation works to restore a balanced relationship between people and planet through two methods: grantmaking and impact investing. Our ecosystem of entities supports organizations on the frontlines of environmental justice, in communities working to advance clean energy, strengthen regenerative food systems and restore ocean health. We combine an interdisciplinary approach with a healthy appetite for discovery and exploration to make purposeful, measurable progress toward a sustainable future.
The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations currently fund in five areas—Private Higher Education, Public Educational Media, Interfaith Leadership and Religious Literacy, Palliative Care, and Environmental Solutions—with the goal of supporting our collective flourishing.
The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment
The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment seeks to raise awareness around urgent environmental issues, and supports individuals and organizations working to find solutions. The foundation’s grantmaking supports communication and collaboration in environmental protection, with an emphasis on climate change.
Since 1913, the Rockefeller Foundation has promoted solutions to reverse the climate crisis through philanthropic efforts to advance public health, food, energy, and finance.
The Three Cairns Group is a mission-driven investment and philanthropic firm. It works to build and support innovative organizations, platforms, and initiatives to accelerate climate action.
The Yale School of the Environment (formerly the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies), founded in 1900, is the oldest institution of higher learning devoted to conservation and natural resource management in the United States. Now in its second century, the school’s research and teaching aim to provide unequalled education and training in the multiple dimensions of contemporary environmental issues toward developing solutions for a more sustainable future.
YSE’s mission is to provide the next generation of national and international leaders with the knowledge, skills and experience needed to advance environmental decision making, formulate effective solutions to enhance environmental goals, and meet the challenges and opportunities of environmental management, in ways that provide broad, sustainable, resilient and equitable advances for human well-being in a complex and interdependent world.
Abby Thomas (she/her) is a second-year Master of Environmental Management candidate at the Yale School of Environment specializing in People, Equity, & the Environment. She is interested in exploring the intersection of climate justice and Afro-feminism to highlight the importance of centering gender equity in climate solutions. She hopes to use this as a catalyst to address climate justice issues across the African Diaspora that are deeply rooted in capitalism, colonialism, and heteropatriarchy. She holds a B.A. in Environmental Studies and Business Studies from New York University.
Abby is a 2017 Environmental Studies graduate of Yale College. Her main work as a Research Associate entails supporting strategic communications and civil society capacity building through the use of Yale Climate Opinion Maps. Abby focused her undergraduate studies on climate change communication and sustainable food systems, and the knowledge that she brings to YPCCC stems from her coursework and prior work experience. As an undergraduate, Abby was a Research Assistant and Social Media Manager at YPCCC. She has also worked with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Head of Communications and Media Relations, the National Park Service, and George Mason University’s Center for Climate Change Communication. In her free time, she enjoys riding her bike and knitting.
Adam Welz is an enthusiastic naturalist and widely traveled environmental writer, photographer, and filmmaker. His work has appeared in Yale Environment 360, The Guardian, The Atlantic, Ensia, and many other outlets worldwide. He’s a recipient of a Middlebury Fellowship in Environmental Journalism and currently lives in Cape Town with his wife and triplet daughters. Find him on Instagram @adamwelz @adamwelz.wild.
Addison is a senior Environmental Studies major at Yale College. He spent last June interning for the Boulder Rights of Nature’s and the Earth Law Center and spent the rest of the summer in Ecuador conducting research on the rights of nature movement for his EVST senior essay. Addison played varsity soccer for his freshman and sophomore years before studying abroad at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand during his junior year. He’s worked for the Urban Resources Initiative and the Yale Office of Sustainability. As a part of the Yale Carbon Challenge, Addison started a communal compost in Pierson. He plans to pursue a career related to environmental law and the rights of nature movement.
Aidan is a Master of Environmental Management student at Yale School of the Environment. His research focuses on water augmentation and policy in the Colorado River Basin, and he seeks to further explore his interest in translating research into practice by communicating environmental science, problems, and solutions to the public during his time at Yale. Originally from Colorado, Aidan holds a B.A. in Political Science and International Studies from Colorado State University.
Aija Zamurs is a Master of Public Health candidate at the Yale School of Public Health, where she is studying in the Social and Behavioral Sciences department and concentrating in Climate Change and Health. Aija is particularly interested in the intersection of climate policy, social determinants of health, and international politics. She holds a B.A. in Political Science and Public Health from Williams College.
Alanis is a recent graduate of Yale College, where she majored in Economics and Environmental Studies. She is interested in climate change and environmental justice, and in particular how climate change will disproportionately affect minorities and people in poverty. Over the summer, she worked as an administrative assistant for the New Haven Land Trust, an organization that seeks to involve the local community in stewardship of the local environment.
Alejandra graduated with a Masters in Environmental Management from Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies in 2020. She is pursuing a specialization in Ecosystems and Land Conservation and Management, and is interested in climate mitigation strategies to benefit vulnerable urban communities. Prior to Yale, she was working as the Environmental Projects Coordinator of the Lead Outreach Program at the Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Biology from the University of Dallas.
Alice Hill is the David M. Rubenstein Senior Fellow for Energy and the Environment at the Council on Foreign Relations. She recently published her book The Fight for Climate After Covid-19.
Alisa graduated from Yale College in 2020, where she majored in math. She spent time on the board of the Asian American Students Alliance, as a member of the dance group Yale Jashan Bhangra, and as a Harvest pre-orientation leader. She is particularly interested in sustainable food and agriculture and how math can be used to solve problems in our food systems.
Alisa is a Master of Environmental Management candidate at the Yale School of the Environment where she is pursuing a dual specialization in Energy & the Environment and Business & the Environment. Alisa is passionate about climate journalism, environmental communications, energy geopolitics, and clean investment. Alisa holds a B.A. in International Relations with minors in History and Sustainability & Environmental Management from the University of Pennsylvania.
Alison Thompson is a second-year Master of Environmental Management Candidate (2024) at the Yale School of the Environment. Alison’s work and interests focus on developing relationships and researching innovative mechanisms to bridge the gap between community action, policy, and private sectors for climate action. She is particularly interested in supporting community partnerships for clean energy and climate action. Alison holds a B.A. in Environmental Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Allegra is a Masters candidate at Yale Divinity School and Yale School of the Environment, where she is jointly pursuing an MDiv and an MF. Allegra’s environmental work has taken her far from her urban upbringing in Brooklyn, NY, working on farms in MA and NJ and serving as an environmental consultant to projects in the US and India. She currently works at the intersection of religion and ecology, assisting religious organizations in expressing their earth-honoring faith and teaching spiritual ecology and the contemplative arts.
Amber joined YPCCC in 2015 and is pursuing her Masters at the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies with a focus on public health, greenspaces and community engagement. Prior to attending Yale, Amber was a communications consultant with Fourth Sector Consulting where she supported social networks and strategy for clients such as the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition, the Center for Prevention at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, and more. She previously worked as the communications associate at Transit for Livable Communities/Bike Walk Twin Cities, where she managed innovative communications campaigns focused on strengthening the networks necessary to advocate for better bicycling, walking, and transit opportunities in Minnesota. Amber has also worked as an organizer with Green Corps and Minnesota PIRG on issues ranging from climate change, women’s initiatives, affordable higher education, water access rights, and transportation. In 2011, Amber was elected to the Hennepin County Soil and Water Board where she spent two years rebuilding the organization and strengthening the Board’s public visibility. Amber holds a BA in Environmental Studies and Russian Studies from St. Olaf College, and In her free time enjoys training for races of all kinds, bicycling, hiking/backpacking, camping, kayaking, canoeing, running, gardening and perfecting baking recipes. She is also an avid photographer, occasional woodworker, cyclocross newbie and coffee fanatic. Connect with Amber: @AmberCollett
Amelia Fortgang is a high school senior from San Francisco, California. She chairs the Bay Area Youth Climate Summit, an education and advocacy group, and serves on EarthEcho’s Youth Leadership Council. Amelia is interested in climate policy and is excited to be interning with YPCCC to grow her understanding of how we can utilize public opinion research to create change.
Amelia Lee (she/her) is an undergrad at Yale College in the Class of 2026 double majoring in Environmental Studies and Urban Studies. She’s interested in how to make cities sustainable and equitable, and thinks effective communication is crucial to propel climate action. On campus, she’s involved with the Yale Student Environmental Coalition and does research under the Yale Urban Media Project. She also helps run the club tennis team and intramural sports. Some of her infinite hobbies include hand embroidery, guitar, and napping in public spaces. She’s super stoked about being part of the YPCCC team!
Dr. Amy Vedder worked as a practitioner of international wildlife and wild lands conservation for 35 years before coming to Yale’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies (now named Yale School of the Environment) in 2013. She undertook a variety of roles, having conducted ecological research, conceived and directed comprehensive projects and continent-wide programs, and advised governments and non-governmental organizations on conservation strategies and policies. This range of experience provides Dr. Vedder with a strong appreciation for interdisciplinary science, yet also the essential importance of reconciling local, national and international interests in conservation initiatives.
Andry Rajaoberison is a Geospatial consultant working for the Investment Centre division of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. He formerly worked as a Geospatial Data Scientist with the YPCCC.
Angus McLean earned a Masters in Environmental Management from the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies in 2020. He is pursuing a specialization in Environmental Policy Analysis, using data to help drive more effective biodiversity and climate change policies. Over the summer, he interned at the Environmental Policy Innovation Center in Washington, D.C., analyzing changes to the Endangered Species Act. He is also a Teaching Fellow for Introductory Statistics. Prior to Yale, Angus conducted research on human-wildlife conflict in Australia and taught at an environmental education center in California. He holds a degree from Wesleyan University, where he double-majored in Environmental Sciences and Environmental Studies.
Anh Nguyen is a first-year in Yale College majoring in Urban Studies. She’s interested in exploring urban ecology and environmental design and is also passionate about environmental justice. Besides creating social media content for YPCCC, she is a first year liaison for the Asian American Students Alliance (AASA) and the Vietnamese American Students Association (ViSA).
Ann is a second year MEM student who recently joined YPCCC and assists Jennifer Marlon in her work studying historical wildfire patterns. Ann earned her BA in earth science from Vassar College in 2011, graduating with departmental honors, a minor in history, and recognition for distinctive senior research. Her undergraduate thesis used microscopic plankton shells in lake sediments to investigate paleoclimate trends in New Mexico. After college, Ann moved back to her hometown of Juneau, Alaska, and began working at NOAA’s Ted Stevens Marine Research Institute, where she participated in fisheries ecology research and bioenergetic analysis. In 2013, she earned the opportunity to join a marine research project in the Arctic. She spent two consecutive summers collecting fish, plankton, and oceanographic data along the Arctic Ocean coast in northern Alaska, and used this information to examine climate-driven shifts in the types of prey available to Arctic seabirds. Arctic issues are now her primary focus at F&ES, especially coastal management and marine policy. After graduating, Ann hopes to begin a career developing policy initiatives that will conserve Arctic ecosystems and promote sustainable development in polar regions.
Dr. Anna Spenceley is a tourism expert with over 20 years international experience and an extensive publication record, rich diversity of project experience, an international network of associates with whom she collaborates.
Annabel is currently a senior in Davenport college who is double-majoring in History and Ethics, Politics, and Economics. In her studies, she is interested in the intersection between Corporate Social Responsibility, the environment, and law. When she is not at work, she serves as the Chapter President of her sorority and enjoys traveling.
Aqsa Mengal is a Master of Environmental Management candidate at Yale School of the Environment specializing in People & Equity, and Climate Change Science & Solutions. Her focus areas include grassroots climate adaptation and resilience practices in South Asia, and international policy on climate reparations. She holds a BSc in Anthropology and Sociology from Lahore University of Management Sciences.
Arunima Sircar is a first-year Master of Environmental Science candidate, originally from Singapore. Her research interests focus on combining scientific research with policymaking through effective climate change communication to further strategies for climate resilience. She is a recent graduate from the University of Oxford, holding a degree in BA Geography. There, she spent her time either analyzing deep convection in high-resolution climate models across the pan-African climate, advocating for climate justice and gender equality in her community, or expanding her rock collection.
Ava is a sophomore in Yale College majoring in Environmental Studies and Music. Outside of her work at YPCCC, Ava plays violin in the Yale Symphony Orchestra, teaches violin lessons, and enjoys vegan cooking.
Baobao is a PhD student in political science at Yale University. Her main interests include causal inference, survey methodology, and data visualization. She worked as a data consultant at Yale StatLab and a software engineer at Plotly. She graduated from Yale with a MA in statistics and a BA (cum laude) in political science. As an undergraduate, she worked in outreach and communications at the Connecticut Fund for the Environment.
Ben is a senior majoring in Environmental Studies on the Energy & Climate BS track also pursuing certificates in Chinese and Statistics & Data Science with specific interests in climate science and communication. He has worked as an assistant editor, reviewer, and co-author for YSE Professor Florencia Montagnini on her conservation book, research assistant for YCELP on their 2022 EPI report, sustainability liaison for Berkeley College, conference planner for the IUCN, wilderness trips leader for Overland, interned at NOAA’s Climate Program Office, and helped plan and run India’s first youth climate and conservation fellowship program. Outside of academics and environmental work, he is a member of the Berkeley College Council, the Yale Society of Orpheus and Bacchus and a frequent hammocker.
Ben is a second-year Master of Environmental Management candidate at Yale’s School of the Environment, specializing in strategic climate communications, media, and advocacy. In his free time, Ben enjoys timelapse nature photography, word games, and Pittsburgh sports. Ben holds a B.A. in Global Environmental Change and Sustainability as well as in Earth and Planetary Sciences from Johns Hopkins University.
Bessie helps the community interested in addressing global warming understand how to use YPCCC’s tools and integrate YPCCC insights into their strategies and tactics, while gathering feedback to inform further research. She comes to YPCCC with extensive experience designing, running and winning national and local grassroots campaigns, as the Field Director for Environment Colorado and as the Federal Field Coordinator with Environment America. In these capacities, she has overseen the generation of dozens of press conferences and hundreds of press stories and has helped designed the national and state field strategies for both of these organizations. Since 2009, she has also directed several record-breaking citizen outreach offices across the country, raising grassroots funds and building public support for clean water, clean energy and preservation. Bessie received her BA from Carleton College where she studied Philosophy and Environmental Studies. After graduating, she joined Green Corps, the field school for environmental organizing, and was awarded the Sarah Forslund Scholarship. Bessie developed her love of the environment while visiting the Rocky Mountains growing up.
Bianca Taylor founded Tourmaline following a 20-year, top performing career in investment management where she was a sovereign credit analyst primarily focused on Latin America. Her work as a sovereign analyst has always been holistic, or ESG-driven, long before ESG had a name. Bianca holds an MPP from UC Berkeley where she focused on energy and environmental policy, and a BA in business economics from UC Santa Barbara. She is Brazilian-American, and speaks English, Portuguese and Spanish fluently. She also speaks French at an advanced level. She is a member of the Bretton Woods Committee and a Public Voices Fellow at the OpEd Project and the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.
Residing in Maine, Bonnie is the Coordinator for Businesses for Climate Action and a Consultant for the Natural Resources Council of Maine. She sharpens the communications of nonprofit advocacy groups working for solutions to climate change, especially for profitable and practical business propositions. Prior to Yale, Bonnie worked for three years in Seattle at the nonprofit Climate Solutions; there she helped grow its Business Leaders for Climate Solutions network from 125 to more than 1000 clean-economy executives and entrepreneurs advocating for stronger climate policies. Bonnie is a native of Cary, NC, holds a BA from Middlebury College in Vermont, and enthusiastically pursues adventures and shenanigans whenever possible – from sledding the Presidential Range to canoeing across the Canadian Arctic, rafting the Grand Canyon, tossing Frisbees, quilting, and jumping into cold bodies of water.
Brandi is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Management at Aarhus University in Denmark where she is working to understand how we might improve science communication through the use of stories. Her experimental research focuses on understanding the neurological and psychological mechanisms of influence, decision-making and risk perception in the context of climate change. Together with Dr. Anthony Leiserowitz and colleagues at the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, she is investigating how messengers, values and identification influence risk perception among diverse audiences.
Prior to embarking upon her PhD, Brandi worked in private sector agencies as a marketing communication strategist. Her integrated campaign work included print, digital and short-film campaigns to raise awareness and funds for well-known charitable brands.
Breanne is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Statistics at Yale University. Her main research interests include network driven sampling and Bayesian inference. She is a consultant in the Yale StatLab and previously worked as a Data Scientist for Audible. Before coming to Yale, she graduated with a Bachelors degree in mathematics (cum laude) from the University of Utah. She has an interest in science education and outreach, especially as it pertains to environmental issues.
Bryn Redal is a second-year Master of Public Health candidate at the Yale School of Public Health, specializing in Environmental Health Science with a concentration in climate change and health. She holds a B.S. in Health Science and Environmental Science from Whitworth University. She serves on the leadership team for ‘Students for Sustainability and Waste Reduction’, and her interests lie at the intersection of climate justice, extreme heat and fire, and health equity. In the past, Bryn has also worked in community health, water toxicology, sustainability, outdoor leadership, and public advocacy. In her free time, you’ll find Bryn on her skis or bike, in the kitchen cooking, or playing piano.
Calla is a Master of Environmental Management candidate at the Yale School of the Environment, where she focuses on international policy and climate change solutions. She conducts research on the Experiments team and is particularly interested in risk perception and the communication of extreme weather events. Calla holds a B.A. in Environmental Policy from Middlebury College.
Cami is a climate change communicator and resilience professional currently pursuing a Master of Environmental Management at the Yale School of the Environment, graduating in 2022. Her current work is devoted to helping communities thrive in the face of chronic and acute climate impacts such as sea level rise, extreme weather events and rising heat, with a focus on intersectional problem solving and environmental justice. She is interested in all facets of climate change communication and is currently building a portfolio in environmental journalism.
Catharina Damrell is a dual-degree graduate student at Yale’s School of the Environment, and School of Public Health. She is interested in the intersection of climate change, human health, and coastal communities. Prior to enrolling at Yale, she co-launched the U.S.’ first ever sustainability platform for food retailers, quantifying a
collective $20 million savings potential through sustainability initiatives and engaging 15 major grocery chains to act on these opportunities. She is a U.S. Fulbright Scholar alum, having taught English in Indonesia, and volunteered with local grassroots environmental organizations. She holds a B.A. in Environmental Studies from
Connecticut College. Outside of school, she serves as a board member of a Boston-based, regional community support nonprofit, and enjoys outdoor adventures, trying new foods, and talking with her cat, Tako.
Catherine is a Masters of Environmental Management candidate, focusing on international climate policy at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. She is currently a photographer for Yale F&ES and Science Communication Strategist for ParisAgreement.org, an NGO she helped launch at COP21 in Paris which contextualizes and visualizes core issues around the international climate negotiations and technical greenhouse gas inventory processes. Prior to attending Yale, Catherine received her B.A. in Political Science & Environmental Studies from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) where she graduated Magna Cum Laude. As a Digital Strategist at YPCCC, Catherine tracks analytics, and helps the team of research assistants succeed in executing social media campaigns through linking relevant YPCCC research to current events with innovative graphic design. In her free time, Catherine loves ballroom dance, photography, travel and is a member of Yale’s Forestry Club.
Charly Frisk is a Masters of Environmental Management candidate at Yale School of the Environment. She is interested in the intersection of climate change resilience and agriculture — centering storytelling using documentary film-making. Before attending YSE, Charly was a student at the College of Saint Benedict studying Environmental and Peace Studies with a focus on biodiversity and human needs.
Chris Mooney is a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter on energy and the environment at The Washington Post. He is also a lecturer at the Yale School of the Environment for this academic year. He has authored four books about science, politics and climate change.
Chris Perkins is the Senior Director at the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable and graduate of the Yale School of Management and Yale School of the Environment. In our February 25, 2022, event on outdoor recreation, Chris provided an analysis of how the $689 billion outdoor recreation industry has captured the attention of policymakers on both sides of the aisle, and how the dynamics of 2022 and beyond make now a critical moment for more outdoor recreation investments.
Chris is an undergraduate at Yale studying Physics. He is from Massachusetts and is a proud member of Saybrook College. Chris is excited to be working with YPCCC on their places of worship data collection project. He has an interest in renewable energy and plans to pursue a career in that field after graduation.
Christina is a joint MEM/MBA student at Yale’s School of the Environment and School of Management, focusing on business solutions to climate change. She is especially interested in sustainable tourism as a conduit for wildlife conservation in marine ecosystems. Prior to Yale, she spent five years in DC working for Deloitte’s public sector consulting practice helping federal agencies tackle their greatest innovation challenges; most recently, she managed a $10M internal investment budget to launch the firm’s integrated portfolio of climate services that accelerate government climate action. She holds a BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and enjoys cooking, scuba diving, and trying to learn French.
The Circle of Service Foundation is a private foundation supporting organizations in Community Services, Education, Jewish Communities and Medical Research.
As deputy director of partnerships, Clara Fang is responsible for facilitating the exchange of insights and resources between YPCCC and external organizations. Prior to YPCCC, Clara was senior fellow at Citizens’ Climate International and student engagement director at Citizens’ Climate Lobby where she helped mobilize young people on climate action. She is completing a PhD at Antioch University New England on diversity and equity in the climate movement and helps environmental organizations advance diversity, equity, and inclusion. Clara serves on the Board of Directors of the Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences. She holds a BA in English from Smith College and a Master of Environmental Management from Yale University. Her work can be found on the web at climatediversity.org.
Founded in 2011, Climate Nexus works to change the conversation on climate change and clean energy from an argument to a constructive search for solutions. Climate Nexus leverages all forms of communication to tell the stories of the people impacted by climate change and those driving the energy transition. Climate Nexus helps its partners achieve their communications goals: improving media relations, reaching new audiences, launching online campaigns, organizing events, coordinating activities across the larger community, and anything else they might need.
Cloe is a first-year student in the Master of Environmental Science program at the Yale School of the Environment and is the Social Media Manager for the Yale Climate Connections podcast. She earned her BA from University of Colorado Boulder in 2019 with a double major in Environmental Studies and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Her research focuses on the history, culture, and politics of community organizing around water in Colorado’s San Luis Valley and the broader phenomena of rural-to-urban water transport in the North American Southwest. Prior to graduate school, she served in AmeriCorps as a Youth Development Coordinator at Alpine Achievers Initiative, where she supported students in rural southern Colorado schools. At YPCCC, she is interested in creative storytelling and social media as a mode of engaging diverse audiences in environmental science and climate action. In her free time, you can find her somewhere outside, hopefully bagging another 4,000-foot peak in New England, where she grew up.
Dr. Colleen Reid is a professor of geography at the University of Colorado Boulder. Her recent research is on the effects that breathing in wildfire smoke has on people’s health
Courtney Megerian is a Master of Environmental Management candidate at Yale School of the Environment where she focuses on climate change solutions and business and the environment. Prior to attending YSE, she was part of a research team studying glacial geomorphology and glacial movement. Courtney holds a B.A. in Earth and Environmental Science and Sociology from Vanderbilt University.
Dana Johnson serves as Senior Director of Strategy and Federal Policy at WE ACT for Environmental Justice and leads an advocacy, regulatory and policy-setting team. She has successfully helped shape the environmental industry narrative in the areas of clean air, healthy homes, water quality, energy democracy, and transportation standards. Dana has moderated conversations about equitable policy-making on behalf of the New York Bar Association and Massachusetts Institute of Technology Water Club.
Dana is a passionate environmental leader currently studying her Master of Environmental Management with a focus on science communication and wildlife conservation at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. She is currently an Assistant Editor for Yale Environment 360, Social Media Ambassador for Yale F&ES and served as the Marketing and Communications Director for the 2016 Environmental Film Festival at Yale. Prior to attending Yale, she devoted the last decade to making positive environmental shifts in New Jersey communities. In her 5-year nonprofit role, she empowered dozens of individuals in environmental justice communities; taught thousands of students about wetlands, wildlife, and watersheds; and served a leadership role on a half dozen Community Advisory Groups providing technical guidance and community outreach on toxic site remediation. She holds a B.S. in Chemistry from Fairleigh Dickinson University and is a Board Member of FDU’s Institute for Sustainable Enterprise. As the Digital Strategist at YPCCC, she curates our social media platforms, designs digital graphics for media releases, tracks analytics, and assists the research team as needed. She is also a member of Yale’s Forestry Club and in her free time, she enjoys nature photography and bird watching.
DaniSchulman is a junior majoring in Environmental Studies and Human Rights at Yale University. Her academic works centers on themes of food justice, climate communications, Chinese environmental policy, and environmental economics. Outside of class, Dani serves as Co-President of the Yale Student Environmental Coalition, and spends her free time traveling, scuba diving, and singing jazz.
Darcy Dugan now lives in Alaska with her husband and son and works as the Program Manager for the Alaska Ocean Observing System. AOOS is one of 11 regional ocean observing systems in the US funded by NOAA with the mission of improving access to marine data. Darcy works with scientists and institutions who are monitoring Alaska’s coastal and marine environment, and helps shape the information into user-friendly data tools for recreationists, mariners, coastal managers, fisherman, industry, conservation groups, and other marine users.
David E. Wade is a Lecturer at Yale University where he also directs The Kerry Initiative, and a Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace where he works on global climate change, global oceans, and foreign policy issues. He spent over two decades at the highest levels of the State Department, on Capitol Hill, and on two national presidential campaigns, and is a Life Member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Dennis Martey is a Master of Environmental Management candidate at the Yale School of the Environment, specializing in environmental policy analysis. His interests include designing effective Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience policies and programs, promoting environmental justice, and exploring the role of the private sector in achieving these objectives in the Global South.
Devi is a first-year Ph.D. candidate in the combined degree program of Architecture and Anthropology at Yale University. Prior to this, she received her Master’s degree in the Master of Environmental Design program from the Yale School of Architecture. Her research interests include transnational architecture and the anthropology of dwelling in the Indian Ocean network, and the intersection of space, gender, and religion in the Middle-Eastern and South Asian context.
Prior to coming to Yale, she ran her own architectural practice and furniture design studio. She holds an undergraduate degree in Architecture from Visvesvaraya Technological University, India, and a Master of Science in Architecture from Tampere University of Technology, Finland. She is currently the Deputy Instagram Lead at YPCCC.
The mission of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation is to improve the quality of people’s lives through grants supporting the performing arts, environmental conservation, medical research and child well-being, and through preservation of the cultural and environmental legacy of Doris Duke’s properties.
Dylan Morse is a 1st year Master of Environmental Science candidate at the Yale School of the Environment. His research focuses on socio-ecological systems and human-wildlife interactions. Prior to Yale, Dylan worked in fisheries and was a Thomas J. Watson Fellow studying climate change impacts on global salmon fishing communities. He earned his BA in Biology and Hispanic Studies from Hamilton College and likes to walk in the woods, canoe, and play rugby.
Dylan is a freelance writer based in New Haven, CT. He contributed regularly to The New York Times Green blog until it closed in March, 2013. He now contributes to Elements at The New Yorker, as well as The Guardian environment blog. He has written for Yale Environment 360, The Huffington Post, and environment Yale, among other publications. Dylan writes about science and the environment. He is particularly interested in technology and people within the environment. Until January of 2014, Dylan was an editor at The Solutions Journal. You can find irregular updates on his work at dylancwalsh.com.
Elena DeBre is a junior at Yale College majoring in cognitive science, where she focuses on studying psychology and philosophy. She is particularly interested in journalism and her work has been featured in the Texas Monthly, Slate, and the New Journal. She hopes to use her love of storytelling to create climate change awareness and report on environmental issues.
Elham Shabahat is a graduate student in the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, studying conservation, environmental justice, and climate change adaptation. Previously, Elham worked in communications for various UN agencies such as UNDP, UNICEF and the World Bank. She is currently exploring the impact of climate change on mountain gorillas and local people living near gorilla habitat, as part of the partnership on climate change journalism between YPCCC and the Pulitzer Center.
Elisabeth is a first-year Master of Environmental Management student. She is interested in sustainable development and nature-based solutions for climate mitigation and environmental health. She holds a B.S. in civil engineering with a minor in sustainability studies.
Elizabeth is a senior at Yale College majoring in Environmental Studies. She is currently writing an undergraduate thesis at the intersection of critical geography and end-of-life care and hopes to attend medical school in the future. Her favorite spots on campus include the JE courtyard, the second floor of the YUAG, and the popular reading section in the law library.
Elizabeth is the Associate Director for Global Initiatives at Yale School of Management. She works with the Global Initiatives team at Yale and administrators at the 31 other Global Network schools on programs and initiatives that require collaboration across the network.
Emily is pursuing a Masters of Environmental Management (2017) and is committed to exploring impacts of climate change and how management strategies can help societies improve resilience and better adapt to a changing future landscape. She is interested in studying water scarcity and relevant management solutions, with a particular focus in the Middle East. Prior to joining the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication, Emily worked as a contractor with the United States Agency for International Development on climate change communication and outreach. During her time there, she supported the White House-led partnership, Climate Services for Resilient Development, created with the goal of empowering developing nations to improve their climate resilience. Emily has also worked with National Geographic in Washington, D.C. on social media outreach and website development. She holds a BS in Geography and a BA in International Politics with a minor in Arabic from The Pennsylvania State University. In her free time, her interests include hiking and improving her nascent skiing ability.
Emily Tucker is a recent graduate of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, where she studied environmental policy with a focus on climate change and energy. At FES she serves as a graduate teaching fellow for the Climate Change Policy and Perspectives course and as a co-leader for the climate change student interest group. She also is a Kerry Fellow at the Yale Jackson Institute for Global Affairs’s Kerry Initiative. She spent the summer of 2019 in the office of U.S. Congresswoman Chellie Pingree working on legislation and conducting policy research on a number of topics related to climate change, natural resources, agriculture, and energy. Before arriving at Yale, she worked as a policy analyst for the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association, where she participated in federal, regional, and state policymaking processes. She holds a bachelor’s degree in earth and oceanographic science and environmental studies from Bowdoin College.
Emma is an environmental writer, researcher, and storyteller. Using a combination of written word and data and visual storytelling, I help bring cutting-edge and overlooked stories about climate change and the environment to life. I have a background in the natural sciences and job experience in writing and communications, allowing me to bring depth and clarity to environmental journalism today.
Emma Zehner is a first-year Master of Environmental Management candidate at the Yale School of the Environment with interests in climate change communication and planning, policies, and practices that support climate change adaptation in cities. Prior to Yale, she worked on the communications and publications team at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy in Cambridge, MA. She has also held positions at Vera Solutions, DataHaven, and Slate.
Erick Lachapelle is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Montreal (officially known as l’Université de Montréal). He holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Toronto, and is the principal investigator for the Canadian Surveys on Energy and Environment (CSEE) and Research Partner with EcoAnalytics. Broadly focused on the social and political responses to complex policy problems like climate change, his work examines the role of values, ideology, and contextual factors in shaping risk perceptions and public opinion, as well as the interactions among media, public opinion, and public policy.
Erik Thulin is the applied behavioral science lead at Rare’s Center for Behavior and the Environment, directing the Center’s research agenda. He focuses on bridging the academic-practice gap through collaborations with research partners and environmental practitioners within and outside of Rare.
Previous to joining the Center, Erik worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Pennsylvania Social Norms Group, developing measurement and behavioral intervention strategies in the development sector and teaching behavioral economics. Erik completed a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and received his PhD and MA from the Psychology department at the University of Pennsylvania, under the advising of Professor Cristina Bicchieri in the Behavioral Ethics Lab. He received his BA in the Cognition and Brain stream of the Cognitive Systems program at the University of British Columbia.
Eryn Campbell is a doctoral candidate and a Presidential Scholar in the Department of Communication at George Mason University. Her research interests broadly include engaging key stakeholders in advocacy for climate action, media and social influences on public perceptions of climate change, and communicating climate mitigation and adaptation measures. Currently, she is working as a research assistant at Mason’s Center for Climate Change Communication. Prior to attending Mason, Eryn received her master’s degree from the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science in Climate Science and Society and her undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia in Environmental Science.
Fany is a first-year Master of Architecture student at YSOA. In her studies she is interested in urban design, sustainable practices for renovation and the intersection between build environment education and the climate crisis. She graduated her bachelor studies at University of Cambridge, UK and then worked in London at a small architecture practice.
Farzana Mubassira is a Master of Environmental Management candidate at the Yale School of the Environment, pursuing a dual specialization in Energy & the Environment and Business & the Environment. Through her own renewable startup based in Bangladesh, Farzana helps low-income communities implement clean, affordable energy solutions. Farzana is passionate about clean energy transition, entrepreneurship, and clean investment. With a B.Sc. in Petroleum and Mining Engineering, coupled with her entrepreneurial experience, Farzana has acquired a comprehensive knowledge base in energy-related fields. Armed with this expertise, she aspires to emerge as a future leader in the clean energy sector.
Fran is currently based in Palo Alto, CA pursuing a PhD in Stanford University’sEmmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources. She combines methods from economics, climate science and psychology to understand how quickly and effectively farmers will adapt to climate change. This is a critical piece of understanding the actual climate change impacts people will face but has received very little research attention. Fran hopes the approach can help make climate change impacts more concrete and salient in communicating climate science.
Francis is a 2023 Master of Environmental Science Candidate at Yale School of the Environment. His
research addresses the sociology of cross cultural and trans boundary environmental collaboration, with
a focus on migratory shorebird conservation in East Asia. Before Yale, Francis conducted research on
social norms around illegal hunting and behavioral contagion of wild meat consumption in rural
southwest China. He has previous experience assisting with sustainable rubber agroforestry research
and small-scale community-based ecotourism development. Originally from Highlands Ranch, CO,
Francis holds bachelor’s degrees in Biological Science and Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology from
Colorado State University, where he co-founded the University’s still-thriving ornithology club. Francis
spends his free time birding.
Fred Pearce is a freelance author and journalist based in the U.K. He is a contributing writer for Yale Environment 360 and is the author of numerous books, including The Land Grabbers, Earth Then and Now: Amazing Images of Our Changing World, and The Climate Files: The Battle for the Truth About Global Warming.
Gabby Trejo is the Executive Director of Sacramento ACT (Area Congregations Together), a faith-based organization that develops people through the power of storytelling and relationships to identify community issues and solutions.
Gabriela Garcia is a sophomore at Yale College majoring in Political Science with a certificate in Spanish. Besides her work for the YPCCC, Gabriela works for the Yale MacMillan Center’s Council of Latin American & Iberian Studies, and is an active member of Sube: Yale Latinx Business and Leadership Student Association.
Gemma is a senior Environmental Studies major at Yale College. She spent this past summer in the Costa Rican rainforest as a part of a field research class on biodiversity and sustainability with the School for Field Studies. She also spent six months studying in New Zealand during her junior year. Gemma’s favorite courses at Yale have been EVST. For her senior essay, she is exploring chitosan as a biodegradable biopolymer for food packaging. She is the Sustainability Captain for the Track & Field and Cross Country Teams.
Professor Gerald Torres holds a joint appointment at Yale Law School and the Yale School of the Environment and is the founding director of the Yale Center for Environmental Justice. He is a pioneer in the field of environmental law and has spent his career examining the intrinsic connections between the environment, agricultural and food systems, and social justice. His research into how race and ethnicity impact environmental policy has been influential in the emergence and evolution of the field of environmental justice.
Gianna Campillo is an undergrad at Yale College in the Class of 2025, double majoring in History and Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies. She is passionate about using online resources to spread awareness about important issues such as climate change. When she’s not creating eye-catching graphics for YPCCC’s Instagram, Gianna spends her free time working at the Women’s Center.
Grace is super senior at Yale College studying Environmental Studies and English. She’s interested in environmental writing and marine conservation. Grace advocates for bottom-up conservation and food sovereignty. She believes that storytelling is a critical component to climate advocacy, and she’s thrilled to be able to bring that philosophy to YPCCC as the digital content editor.
Grace Dietz is a junior at Yale College studying Environmental Studies on the B.S Conservation and Biodiversity track. She’s interested specifically in how we define “success” after conservation efforts, and who is allowed to contribute their knowledge to restoration. She has research experience following a fellowship project on urban heat islands, as well as experience working within the Municipality of Anchorage waste diversion committee in Alaska. In her spare time, she’s on the field as captain of the Yale Womens’ Club Rugby team, or working as a barista in Franklin’s Bean-jamin cafe.
Grace is a Master of Environmental Management candidate at the Yale School of the Environment. She plans to pursue a specialization in Policy Analysis with a focus on energy and communication. Grace is particularly interested in behavioral science and how cognitive biases inform individual and group decision-making. Prior to Yale, Grace worked at an energy efficiency consulting firm in Washington, DC, where she helped implement LED lighting programs and develop utility strategies in the electric vehicle space. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Psychology from Middlebury College.
Hamzah Jhaveri is a Junior at Yale College majoring in Anthropology and is in the Energy Studies program. Hamzah is particularly interested in environmental anthropology, namely, the relationships communities have to their material environments, energy infrastructures, fossil fuels, sustainable economies, and more. He is also inspired by the concept of a just transition, which has led him to pursue organizing work with the Sunrise Movement, the Yale Endowment Justice Coalition, Step Up Yale, and the New Haven Green New Deal Coalition. He previously worked at the Yale Sustainable Food Program as a Communications Manager and held a summer internship position at the New-York-City-based hydroponics farm Farm.One in 2019. Hamzah is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the Yale Herald. He enjoys writing and performing sketch comedy with the 5th Humour at Yale, leading backpacking trips with Yale’s First-Year Outdoor Orientation Trips (FOOT), and dancing with friends and family!
Hannah Beath is a second-year Master of Public Health candidate in the Health Policy department, where she has also taken a concentration in Climate Change and Health. She is particularly interested in the intersection of health and climate policy and how to leverage communication strategies to increase support for policy intervention, particularly in the South, where she is from. At YPCCC, she works alongside Joshua Low in the Partnerships Program. This semester, her work will focus on completing a case study on narrative strategy in climate work.
Heather is the Associate Director at Yale Center for Business and the Environment (CBEY). Her role focuses on leading CBEY’s marketing and communications efforts, supporting and expanding student engagement, growing alumni engagement, and managing many of the center’s key programs.
Hodiah Nemes graduated from Yale College in 2013 with a major in Environmental Studies, concentrating in environmental rhetoric. His senior thesis analyzed presidential rhetoric on climate change, with a special focus on the speeches of Bill Clinton. As a senior, Hody was elected “Mr. Yale” by his peers for his outrageous impersonation of another president: George W. Bush. During college, he worked as a journalist for the St. Louis Beacon and a communications intern for Israel’s Green party. He now lives in New York City and writes for the Jewish Daily Forward newspaper.
Isabel is a senior at Yale, completing her B.S. degree in Environmental Studies with a focus on biodiversity and conservation. Her research focuses on understanding how climate change will impact ecosystems and landscapes, and in turn, how humans relate to them. She’s passionate about scientific communication and finding ways to further the dialogue between the public, policy and science. In her spare time she enjoys drawing, spending time in nature, and hanging out with her dog, Copine.
Isabel is a second-year Master of Environmental Management candidate at the Yale School of the Environment, specializing in business and the environment and energy and the environment. She is interested in opportunities to mobilize business for large-scale action on climate change and a clean and equitable energy transition. Prior to beginning her graduate studies, Isabel led communications for a strategic advisory firm focused on accelerating climate and clean energy solutions and policy. She is a fellow of the Clean Energy Leadership Institute and holds a BA in environmental studies from Dickinson College.
As part of the Data for Good at Meta team, J.W. partnered with YPCCC on the survey of climate attitudes in 191 countries and territories the spring of 2022.
Jack is a first year Master’s of Environmental Management student at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Working in the built environment, he looks for synergies between his academic training in ecology and his professional experience in design. Currently, he works as a research assistant for Karen Seto, creating a hazard susceptibility model for the Himalaya region. Previously, Jack ran his own design firm in California.
Jacqueline Patterson is the Founder and Executive Director of the Chisholm Legacy Project: A Resource Hub for Black Frontline Climate Justice Leadership. The mission of the Chisholm Legacy Project is rooted in a Just Transition Framework, serving as a vehicle to connect Black communities on the frontlines of climate justice with the resources to actualize visions. Prior to the launch of the Chisholm Legacy Project, Patterson served as the Senior Director of the NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program for over a decade.
Jae-Hee Bae is an undergrad at Yale College in the Class of 2026, majoring in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry with a certificate in Climate Science and Solutions. She is interested in the synergies between science, art, and public/political goods that support sustainable land stewardship. She also likes science fiction, volunteering for tax assistance, and making music with the Orange Street Trio.
James Larson is a senior at Yale College majoring in Psychology with an emphasis in Neuroscience. Besides his work for YPCCC, James tutors local students as part of the Flyte Scholastics organization, and is the intramural sport secretary and social activities co-chair for Branford college.
James is majoring in Global Affairs and Statistics & Data Science at Yale University. Outside of the Office of Sustainability, James has done extensive environmental data analysis with the World Wildlife Fund-Australia and Data Driven EnviroLab. He has also been involved in political affairs while writing for the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation, interning at the City of Detroit Mayor’s Office, and managing finances for the Yale Taiwanese-American Society. James is interested in data analysis, environmental mapping, food systems, Smart Cities, environmental sustainability, national and international politics, and environmental justice and loves food very, very dearly.
Javier A. Román-Nieves serves as a visual communications and brand identity consultant for YPCCC. He joined the team as a graduate student of the Master of Environmental Management program at Yale F&ES, bringing nearly 10 years of experience in environmental communications with a focus on print applications, and having taught fundamentals and history of design at college-level in Mexico City and San Juan, Puerto Rico, his former hometown. Javier strives to combine his architectural design background with newly found skills in ecosystem conservation, GIS and social ecology, bringing these into a seamless place-based storytelling practice to enrich natural resource conservation via photography, graphic design and the written word. He also likes birds and stars.
Prior to his current position with Yale Climate Connections, Dr. Masters worked with the NOAA Hurricane Hunters from 1986-1990. After a near-fatal flight into category 5 Hurricane Hugo, Masters began graduate studies at the University of Michigan, where he earned a PhD in meteorology. He and two colleagues co-founded the Weather Underground in 1995, and between 2005 and 2019 his “Category 6” blog was one of the Internet’s most frequently visited extreme weather sources of information.
Jeff Nesbit is the executive director of Climate Nexus, a non-profit communications organization that works on climate and clean energy issues and solutions. He was the director of legislative and public affairs at the National Science Foundation during the Bush and Obama administrations, where he helped craft the legislative and public affairs strategy that led to the passage of the bipartisan America COMPETES Act. He was also former Vice President Dan Quayle’s communications director at the White House, and former FDA Commissioner David Kessler’s public affairs chief at the Food and Drug Administration, where he was instrumental in the agency’s successful efforts to regulate the tobacco industry and ban the marketing of cigarettes to children. He was a national journalist with Knight-Ridder newspapers and others prior to that, and currently writes regular opinion pieces for The New York Times, Time and U.S. News & World Report. He’s written multiple books and novels, including THIS IS THE WAY THE WORLD ENDS and POISON TEA with St. Martin’s Press.
Jennifer is the Director of Survey Strategy at the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Her research interest is at the intersection of climate change adaptation and human behavior, focusing on how people can both protect themselves and advance the common good in the face of increasing climate change impacts. Her past work was in the energy sector as a program evaluation research analyst for energy utility and government clients. At YPCCC, she develops and supports survey research on public attitudes, behaviors, and policy support regarding climate change both in the U.S. and globally. She received her PhD and MS from the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability, and her BA from Haverford College.
Executive Director of the Yale Center for Geospatial Solutions
Jenn Marlon is the Executive Director of the Yale Center for Geospatial Solutions and a Senior Research Scientist at the Yale School of the Environment. She has a secondary appointment as Lecturer in the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology at Yale. Previously, Dr. Marlon served as the Director of Data Science at the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, leading research on risk communication about extreme weather and developing interactive maps and visualizations to support science communication and engagement – examples include the Yale Climate Opinion Maps and corresponding Factsheets, the Six Americas Super Short Survey (SASSY), the Heatwave Risk Perceptions Maps, and the Climate Change in the American Mind (CCAM) Explorer. She has authored over 80 peer-reviewed papers in journals such as Science, Nature Climate Change, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and is often cited by major media and news outlets. She obtained her Ph.D. and M.S. in Geography from the University of Oregon, where she studied climate change and wildfires.
Jhena is a second-year Master of Environmental Management candidate at the Yale School of the Environment, specializing in environmental policy analysis and energy and the environment. She is interested in bringing her background in behavior change, environmental justice, and policy advocacy to the energy sector to create more equitable and durable renewable energy programs. Jhena spent the summer as a Solar Development Associate for a low-income community solar developer. Before attending YSE, Jhena worked to increase food access and oppose fossil fuel projects in the New York region, and most recently spent a year studying in Israel. She holds bachelor degrees in Viola Performance and Environmental Studies from the University of Michigan
Jim Moffitt (@snowman) is a Staff Engineer on the Developer Relations team at Twitter. Using code examples, documentation, blog posts, and presentations, he enjoys his mission of helping developers find their ‘data signals’ of interest on Twitter. Before Twitter, Jim developed software for real-time weather monitoring and flood-warning systems. Jim has stayed involved with the early-warning community by advocating and demonstrating the use of Twitter for real-time communication and data exchange.
Joaquin is a junior in Pauli Murray College majoring in Political Science. He has been part of the team since his freshman year, starting as a social media producer. He is excited to work for YPCCC for another year and highly encourages anyone to read over our material!
John Chung-En Liu, MEM/MA (International Development & Economics) 2009
John Chung-En is a PhD candidate in sociology at University of Wisconsin-Madison. Prior to entering his doctoral program, he received a joint master’s degree in environmental management and economics at Yale University, and a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from National Taiwan University in his home country. In John’s dissertation, he looks into the construction and governance of carbon markets, and has conducted extensive fieldwork in the European Union. During his time at YPCCC, John worked with Dr. Leiserowitz to examine environmental attitudes and behaviors in urban China. He is currently writing a paper on the climate change skepticism in China to continue this research agenda.
Jordan Schmolka is a junior at Yale College studying environmental justice. She is particularly interested in the creation, dissemination, and use of environmental knowledge and its relationship to social change. Before joining the YPCCC team, Jordan worked with Artspace New Haven to organize a set of environmentally-focused exhibitions as well as an environmental justice summit centered on activism and the arts. In her spare time, she enjoys visiting museums, working on crossword puzzles, and spending time with her dog, Satchmo.
José G. González is the Founder and Director Emeritus of Latino Outdoors. He is a professional educator with training in the fields of education and conservation while engaging in different artistic endeavors with art and messaging—often exploring the intersection of the environment and culture. He received his B.A at the University of California, Davis, and his M.S at the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources & Environment. In our February 25, 2022, event on outdoor recreation, he addressed how cultural values in the Latino community can strengthen a sense of stewardship for the earth and help overcome systemic oppression, leading toward environmental equity as more and more Americans go outside to play.
Josh Hernandez is a Master of Environmental Management candidate at the Yale School of the Environment. He is interested in the roles of the public and private sectors in driving climate action (mitigation and adaptation), as well as solutions such as decarbonization and nature-based solutions. Prior to joining YPCCC, he was with ICF, managing four author teams as part of the U.S. Global Change Research Program’s Fifth National Climate Assessment. Josh holds a B.A. in Environmental Studies from Amherst College.
Josh Zeitlin is a mathematics student in the Yale Class of 2025, residing in Trumbull College. At YPCCC, Josh works on the Social Data Science team with Dr. Marlon studying American opinion dynamics regarding Climate Change, building predictive models of voters’ climate opinions. Before Yale, Josh lived in Palo Alto California and worked at Whiterabbit AI — an AI firm focusing on breast cancer diagnostics — on the Research Science Team, developing models to prioritize patients at risk for breast cancer during outreach campaigns. Outside of his academic work, Josh enjoys crossword puzzles, watching basketball and going for long hikes.
Julia Lin is an undergrad at Yale College in the Class of 2026 majoring in Sociology. On campus, she serves as the Treasurer of the Rural Students Alliance at Yale. She also volunteers with the Yale Prison Education Initiative. During her free time, you can find her going on walks down Hillhouse, going on runs, and listening to NPR.
Julie Ye (they/them) is a second-year M.S. student in the Department of Statistics and Data Science at Yale University. They are interested in the intersection of social data science and statistical modeling. At YPCCC, they are working with the Data and Tools Team to build multilevel models that predict public perception towards extreme weather hazards. Julie graduated from Pomona College with a B.A. in Mathematics, minor in Computer Science, and Distinction in Senior Exercise in 2023. In their spare time, they enjoy hiking, playing violin and piano, and drawing.
Justin Farmer is a 25-year-old activist and elected official. He is currently serving his second term as a Legislative Councilman representing Hamden’s 5th District. Justin’s experience as a seasoned community organizer has enabled him to build some of the strongest grassroots campaigns in state history.
Karine’s research focuses on applying behavioral science to design interventions targeting group-specific barriers and motivators. She has developed a tool to measure psychological barriers to pro-environmental behavior, tested interventions to help individuals reach their dietary goals, and investigated shifts in climate change risk perception as it relates to experience with forest fires. As a Postdoctoral Associate, she contributes to experimental research design, implementation, and data analysis. Karine received a PhD and a MA in Environmental Studies from the University of Victoria in the Environmental, Social, and Personality Lab, and a BA in Environmental Studies from the University of Ottawa.
Kartikeya Singh, a PhD candidate at The Fletcher School and CIERP Junior Research Fellow, received his Master of Environmental Science degree at the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies at Yale University. His research interests include climate change and energy policy, innovation and the geopolitics of energy use. His Master’s thesis focused on effective management of access to energy for rural communities in India through decentralized renewable energy systems. Previously, Kartikeya was a consultant with the Environmental Defense Fund. He is the co-founder of the Indian Youth Climate Network (IYCN), which has served as a forum for voices of the budding youth climate movement across South Asia. He has been involved with international climate negotiations since the UN climate talks in Bali in 2007 and has served as part of the negotiating team of the government of Maldives at the climate talks from 2009 to 2012.
Kate Donatelli recently graduated with a Masters in Environmental Management. While at Yale, she studied environmental policy with a focus on land use and climate adaptation strategies. Before graduate school, she worked for The Trust for Public Land in New York City. She earned her bachelor’s degree in environmental studies from the University of Pittsburgh.
Kate is a 2018 Master of Environmental Management graduate from the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. She is interested urban resilience and climate change adaptation planning. Before coming to Yale, Kate worked on university sustainability and food access programs. She has a BA in English and a BS in environmental science and policy from the University of Maryland. In her free time, she likes to read, play piano, and experiment with sourdough baking.
Kate Tewksbury is a graduate of Yale College, where she majored in Ethics, Politics, and Economics with a concentration in Environmental Policy and Law. She believes in YPCCC’s mission because she sees narratives as a tool that can compel people to take action against the climate crisis. On campus, she was a member of the Yale Women’s Ice Hockey team for two years. She was an active member of her residential college, Berkeley, where she served as a College Aide. She was born and raised in New York City.
Katherine is a Master of Environmental Management candidate at the Yale School of the Environment specializing in Water Resources Science and Management and Rural Planning. A native of Vermont, she received her BA in Geography and History from Bucknell University. Prior to Yale, Katherine worked as a GIS Technician for the City of Thornton, Colorado. She’s excited to work with YPCCC on identifying emerging geographies for place-based climate stories.
Katie Deeg is a PhD Candidate in Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley. She investigates materials for environmental and clean energy applications, such as carbon capture and hydrogen storage, via computational chemistry methods. She is working to build bridges between science and policy in order to enact research-based, forward-looking policies, especially in climate change and energy. With Dr. Jennifer Marlon and colleagues at the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, she is investigating what demographics of Americans have changed their minds about global warming, and why, in order to study how to help Americans better understand the problem.
Kelsey is a first year Master of Environmental Management candidate at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. She is pursuing a specialization in Ecosystems and Land Conservation and Management, and is interested in how people and institutions make decisions around sustainable natural resource use. Before coming to Yale, Kelsey did communications and project management for WWF’s Greater Mekong program. Most recently she spent a year in the littoral forests of southeastern Madagascar as a conservation research assistant doing biodiversity surveys.
Lauryn Burdine is a junior in Yale College majoring in American Studies, with particular interests in the American South, rural society, and environmental restoration. Outside of YPCCC, Lauryn is involved with Yale Questbridge Network, Rural Students Alliance at Yale and is a FroCo in Timothy Dwight College.
Kenneth Gillingham is a Professor of Economics at Yale University, with a primary appointment in the School of the Environment and secondary appointments in the Department of Economics and School of Management. In 2015-2016 he served as the Senior Economist for Energy and the Environment at the White House Council of Economic Advisers. His research examines the adoption of new energy technologies, energy efficiency, quantitative policy and program analysis, and climate change policy.
As the Yale Center for Environmental Justice Program Manager, Kristin oversees the advancement and growth of YCEJ’s programs, cultivating partnerships and collaboration among Yale faculty, staff, students, and local partners to promote engaged research and experiential learning. She also develops tools and coordinates convenings for network development including the annual Global Environmental Justice Conference. In addition, Kristin develops, manages, and implements the Environmental Justice Community Fellows Program and Community Resource Lab in collaboration with affiliated faculty and local partners.
Kristina is a first-year Master of Environmental Management candidate at Yale’s School of the Environment, specializing in Environmental Policy Analysis. She is especially interested in sea level rise adaptation, coastal resilience, and climate change mitigation. She is from Miami Beach and graduated from the University of Florida this past spring with a B.S in Environmental Science.
Laura González Mantecón is a Master of Environmental Management candidate at the Yale School of the Environment, focusing on Ecosystem Conservation and Management. She is interested in the intersection of ecosystem conservation and rural development, and in the incorporation of traditional knowledge and community-led planning into land management practices, as part of the broader goal of addressing climate change and environmental inequities. Before coming to YSE, Laura worked in outdoor and international education, where she learned about the importance of delivering environmental messages to a broader audience that is at the core of YPCCC’s mission.
Laura is a Master of Environmental Management student at the Yale School of the Environment and a Fulbright Fellow. She’s interested in addressing the intersection of conservation, rural development, outdoor access, and climate resilience through collaborative and multi-scale approaches that bridge the natural and social dimensions of conservation. During her time at YSE and besides climate communications, Laura has worked on forest collaboratives and habitat connectivity in the Northern Rockies, rangeland monitoring for regenerative grazing in the Great Plains, sustainability consulting, quantifying the effects of environmental rollbacks on Indigenous communities in Canada, and characterizing equitable partnerships in private land conservation. Before coming to Yale, Laura worked in outdoor, science, and environmental education for very diverse communities in India, Canada, and Bosnia & Herzegovina, where she learned about the importance of delivering environmental messages to a broader audience that is at the core of YPCCC’s mission. She holds a BSc in Biotechnology from the University of Oviedo in Spain.
Laura is passionate about supporting environmentally sustainable and resilient development through a combination of creative community engagement, human-centered design, education, and social enterprise. As a Masters of Environmental Management candidate at Yale, Laura is focusing on issues of urban resiliency and climate change adaptation through studying urban ecology, climate and energy policy, risk analysis, and behavioral economics. Laura comes to Yale after six years in the environmental planning, international development, and communications fields. She spent three years as a project lead with consulting firm Marstel-Day, where she helped the U.S. Air Force resolve resource and land use challenges in collaboration with host communities in South Korea and Japan. Prior to that experience, she served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Albania, working with a municipality on capacity building and community development projects while also leading a national environmental education network for high school students. Laura holds a Bachelors of Urban and Environmental Planning degree from the University of Virginia and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners. As a Research Assistant at the YPCCC, she manages outreach for the Yale Climate Connections daily radio program and assists with overall media strategy.
Lauren Ashbrook is a Master of Environmental Management candidate at the Yale School of the Environment. She’s focused on agriculture, rural livelihoods, and climate adaptation. Before coming to YSE, Lauren was working in communications and strategy at a Boston-based agriculture start-up. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology from Yale College.
Lauren Boucher is a first year Master of Environmental Management student at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Her academic interests include renewable energy, energy access, and international development. Prior to attending Yale, Lauren worked for a national non-profit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C. She organized and led professional development workshops that gave K-12 teachers interactive, interdisciplinary methods for teaching and communicating contemporary global and environmental issues in their classrooms. Lauren received her B.S. in Environmental Studies and Political Science from the University of Oregon and M.Ed. in from George Mason University. In her spare time, Lauren enjoys reading, crossword puzzles, and spending time outdoors.
Lauren is a rising senior majoring in Environmental Studies & Urban Studies interested in strategies for climate resiliency. Through her work as an environmental justice peer mentor and agroforestry researcher in Taiwan, she advocates for an intergenerational and inclusive climate movement. She hopes to pursue graduate research in disaster mitigation, equitable urban planning, and critical geography in coastal communities. She is excited to work with YPCCC on data visualization and storytelling projects this summer!
Leah Ndumi Kioko is a visiting scholar from Yale-NUS in Singapore who is currently in her senior year, majoring in Global Affairs and minoring in Computer Science. Her undergraduate research so far has consisted of looking into socio-political and environmental factors influencing contemporary migration patterns. She is also interested in the up and coming sector of clean tech and technology’s potential to increase climate change resilience for vulnerable populations. Other than that, she has a keen interest in how data can be leveraged to increase civic engagement in cities. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, board games and crocheting.
Danning (Leilani) Lu is a second-year Master of Environmental Science candidate with social science concentration from Bejing, China. She graduated from Wheaton College (IL), holding bachelor degrees in environmental science and sociology. At YPCCC, she works in the experiment team with Jennifer Carman as a research assistant on climate justice public opinions and survey data analysis. She is interested in using social research methods to study pro-environmental behaviors, civic environmental actions, social organizations and environmental governance to promote sustainability in cities.
Strategic Environmental Communication Speaker Series Coordinator
Madeleine Zaritsky is a fourth-year student at Yale College majoring in Environmental Studies with a concentration in Environmental Justice. She currently serves as Executive Chair for the Yale Student Environmental Coalition and as Student Program Manager for the Yale Center for Environmental Justice. Her work focuses on climate and energy justice.
Maia Roothaan is an undergrad at Yale College in the Class of 2026 pursuing a B.A. in Environmental Studies with a concentration on Global Environmental Law and Policy. She is also pursuing a certificate in French Language and Literature. Maia is interested in the intersection of global food politics with sustainability and international legal cooperation on ocean conservation. Outside of YPCCC, Maia works as a Culinary Events Manager for the Yale Sustainable Food Program and as an Aide for Branford College. She currently serves as Speakers Director of Yale College Democrats.
Mallika supports the work of the Partnerships Team in helping climate advocacy organizations apply public opinion data and research towards strategic campaigning, organizing and advocacy. She is currently a graduate student at the Yale School of the Environment and is pursuing a master’s degree in Environmental Management . Prior to joining YPCCC, owing to her passion for community-centred approaches to environmental management, she worked with a grassroots organization on community-based conservation and resource governance in India.
Marissa is a second-year Master of Environmental Management candidate at Yale School of the Environment and a 3L at Northeastern University School of Law. She is interested in the intersection of coastal and marine restoration, ecological resilience, and environmental justice.
With La Mano del Mono, Mauricio is reforming Mexico’s nature-tourism industry, replacing it with a system that creates sustainable and profitable livelihoods for rural and indigenous communities based on conservation, market value, and local autonomy.
Meera is a senior at Yale College majoring in Ethics, Politics, and Economics. She is interested in ecofeminism, and studying how environmental justice can lead to greater racial, economic, and gender equality. Meera serves as the editor-in-chief for the Yale Human Rights Journal, as well as an associate editor for The New Journal. This summer, she is working as a researcher at The Public Policy Lab, where she is focusing on projects aimed to alleviate urban disparities in health care and education.
Megan (she/her) is a PhD student in Statistics & Data Science at Yale. She works with Dr. Marlon and the Social Data Science team studying American belief, risk perception, and behavior changes relating to Climate Change. Her general research interests include environmental policy evaluation, causal inference, machine learning, and science communication via data visualization. She holds bachelor’s degrees in Mathematics and Physics from Lewis & Clark College.
Megan He is a senior in Yale College majoring in Environmental Engineering and Global Affairs. Outside of YPCCC, she conducts research in the Gentner Lab on air pollution from nontraditional sources. In her free time, she enjoys running to East Rock while listening to podcasts, baking scones, and traveling.
Megan is currently a Senior Digital Associate at the Pew Charitable Trusts, and works with Pew’s environmental, creative, and multimedia teams on content packaging and strategy. She oversees content development, works with the distribution team on social media and email marketing, and advises Pew staff on incorporating digital communications techniques into their work. Before Pew, Megan served as the Communications Manager at the U.S. Global Change Research Program, where she developed and implemented strategies for enhancing the Program’s web-based presence and overall communications effectiveness. She designed, launched, and managed the USGCRP website, implemented social media outreach strategies to increase engagement with those within the climate change communication community, and informed staff about online engagement and user experience best practices. She also served as the coordinator for the Communication and Education Interagency Working Group, which aimed to coordinate and enhance unified Federal strategies to communicate and educate about climate change science.
Mia is a second-year Master of Environmental Management candidate at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. She is pursuing a specialization in Climate Change Science and Solutions. She is particularly interested in solutions to achieve 1.5 C and the energy transition off of fossil fuels. Prior to arriving at Yale, Mia worked as a community organizer in Portland, Oregon developing community-based climate policy and leading campaigns against new fossil fuel infrastructure projects. She holds a degree in Environmental Studies – Economics from Reed College.
Miles Starr Radin is a first year Business & the Environment student at the Yale School of the Environment (’22). He is joining YPCCC to help find ways to engage the public with climate change news and solutions, from skeptics to activists. At YSE, he plans to find community-minded ways to drive organizations to be leaders in combating climate change. Before YPCCC, Miles worked on environmental communication at the University of Connecticut, and created the first sustainable living community in a national park – the Yosemite Living & Learning Community.
Mingmin is in her second year at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, where she is pursuing a Master of Environmental Management with a focus on ecosystem conservation. She has several years of professional experience with environmental nonprofits, including three years as a researcher with the Nature Conservancy in Beijing. This summer, Mingmin interned with Conservation International, where she researched the governance of protected areas.
I am an applied microeconomist with a special interest in economic development, labor economics, and behavior.
I received my PhD in applied economics at the University of Minnesota in 2021.
I am currently a post-doctoral researcher at the Computational Social Science team of Meta Platforms.
My research interests lie in two areas: how individuals’ beliefs shape their decisions as they relate to economic development, and the study of frictions that make poverty and inequality persistent.
Natasha is a first year Master of Environmental Management candidate at Yale School of the Environment. She is particularly interested in food security and food justice. Prior to YSE, Natasha lived and worked in Washington D.C., running a direct food distribution program at the Capital Area Food Bank. She has a BA in Environmental Studies from Yale College and wrote her senior thesis on climate change communication.
Nathan Empsall has worked with YPCCC for the past two years, offering professional advice on our overall digital strategy including email and social media. Nathan is a former digital strategist for the national Sierra Club and the official Barack Obama campaign email list, and is currently a dual-degree student at Yale Divinity School and the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. He is pursuing ordination as an Episcopal priest while also continuing to work as a freelance digital-campaign consultant. Originally from East Texas and North Idaho, he received his BA in government and Native American Studies from Dartmouth College, is a passionate fan of Americana, country, and bluegrass music, and is married to Diana Empsall who currently works for Yale Divinity School. Nathan also manages the Facebook page Episcopal Climate News.
Neehaar is a senior in Yale College majoring in Environmental Studies and Statistics & Data Science. Besides his work for the YPCCC, Neehaar organizes annual hackathons through HackMentalHealth, serves as an editor for the Yale Daily News, and competes with the Yale Rugby Team. He is largely interested in data analysis, ESG investing, and climate policy.
Neha Middela is a sophomore at Yale College studying political science and environmental studies. She is interested in climate justice and environmental policy and has interned for the Sierra Club Michigan chapter, and worked for Greening Forward, a youth-run environmental education initiative. On campus, Neha writes for the Yale Daily News and the Yale Politic, an undergraduate politics and culture magazine.
Nicholas Perez is a senior at Yale pursuing an Environmental Studies and Political Science double major. He is passionate about the clean energy transition, environmental justice, and data-driven climate communications. Prior to his work as a Partnership Research Assistant, Nicholas interned for several climate organizations such as Earthjustice and the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions. He is very excited to expand his climate toolkit by supporting the mission of the Partnerships Team and other collaborating organizations this semester.
Nick Dahl is a rising senior at Yale University where he is pursuing a Bachelor of Science Degree in the Statistics and Data Science Department. In S&DS, he specializes in data analysis and exploration, machine learning, and data mining with a particular focus in environmental protection and modeling. Outside of his work with YPCCC, Nick spends his time as a varsity athlete on the Cross Country and Track and Field teams representing the Yale Bulldogs, as well as tutoring in the New Haven community. He is a proud Philadelphia native, and current resident of Davenport College.
Nikita Hitesh Gardi is a Master of Environmental Management candidate at the Yale School of the Environment. She is interested in the intersection between finance and the environment. She intends to work in impact finance and funding climate solutions focused on increasing resilience for communities that are disproportionately affected by climate change. At YSE, she is studying climate change science and solutions and business and the environment. She holds a Bachelors and Masters in Finance.
NoraHeaphy is a senior in Yale College studying ecology and climate justice. She is interested in climate-induced displacement and global change ecology. Before joining the YPCCC team, she researched species delimitation in Mexican mangosteens at the Yale Peabody Herbarium. Nora organizes with Fossil Free Yale and Sunrise, a movement of young people to make climate change an urgent electoral priority and create millions of green jobs in the process.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 “to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; and to secure the national defense. With an annual budget of about $6.9 billion (FY 2010), they are the funding source for approximately 20 percent of all federally supported basic research conducted by America’s colleges and universities. NSF issues limited-term grants to fund specific research proposals that have been judged the most promising by a rigorous and objective merit-review system.
Phoebe Merrick is a third-year joint degree Master of Environmental Management and Master of Public Health student at the Yale School of the Environment and the Yale School of Public Health. She is interested in the intersection of climate change and public health, and particularly extreme heat events and air and water quality standards. She holds a B.S. in Environmental Science from the University of Virginia.
Quincy Yangh (he/him) is a Master of Environmental Management Student with a focus on indigenous and cultural resurgence, climate change adaptation, and environmental justice. Quincy is interested in co-building modes of environmental/climate communication that are rooted in reciprocity, equity, and cultural competency. He’s worked towards this goal in multiple capacities ranging from local to international levels both as a researcher and coalition-builder.
Raffaele is a data scientist focusing on climate change risk perception in the United States. Before arriving at Yale, Raffaele consulted a wide away of organizations on how to influence public policy and emerge victorious in high-stake litigation cases using data-driven insights and graphics, including the U.S. DOJ, the ACLU, and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights. Raffaele is also the founder and curriculum director at the Movement for Emotional Resilience in Climate Crisis (at Yale’s Good Life Center), where he teaches meditation and facilitates healing and grieving processes for fellow earth-loving humans. Raffaele is currently pursuing a MEM at Yale. He holds a B.A. in Economics from UCLA, and worked at Cornerstone Research and KPMG Advisory prior to joining YPCCC.
Raleigh Adams is a Master of Arts in Religion, Concentration in Ethics, candidate at Yale Divinity School. She is interested in political philosophy, as well as the intersection of faith and politics, and how faith informs public action. Raleigh holds a B.A. in Political Science and Philosophy from the Clemson University Honors College.
Rebeka is an FES Masters graduate most interested in the connections people have with nature. She studies climate justice, climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction, and catastrophe response. She has carried out disaster forensic research for the Red Cross Climate Centre in Malawi, is Co Director of the Environmental Film Fest @ Yale, and co leads the Environmental Justice student interest group. The highlight of her week is usually “working” alongside grade 2 farmers at the Yale Farm, rockclimbing, yoga, or talking to her parents on the phone. Oh, and of course doing social media for YPCCC.
Rev. Dr. Ambrose Carroll Sr. is the senior pastor at The Church by the Side of the Road in Berkeley, CA, and one of the nation’s premiere Practical Theologians. He is also the CEO of Green The Church, the largest repository and catalyst for environmental and sustainability practices of the Black church worldwide.
Rev. Kyle Meyaard-Schaap is the Vice President of the Evangelical Environmental Network. Much of his professional experience has involved the integration of theology, science, and action toward a deeper awareness of the Christian responsibility to care for God’s earth and to love one’s neighbors, both at home and around the world.
Robert Denniston is a junior at Yale College majoring in History with a certificate in Energy Studies. On campus, he’s the captain of the Club Alpine Ski Team and volunteers for the Yale Restaurant Rescue Project, an organization working towards food security in New Haven by connecting restaurants to food banks and teaching local children how to cook.
Rose Nagele is a Master of Environmental Management candidate at the Yale School of the Environment. She is interested in the intersection of science, social science, and humanities in climate change solutions, particularly in coastal environments. She holds a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, where she studied Biology, Creative Writing, and the Environmental Humanities.
Ruby is a Digital Ads Assistant for the Google Ads Team in YPCCC. She is a junior at Yale College, studying English and data science. She is passionate in learning about data storytelling and digital marketing to highlight the racial and gender inequities caused by the impacts of global warming. Outside of YPCCC, Ruby is involved in gender advocacy work on campus, serving as a research assistant at the Yale Institution of Social and Policy Studies, the Vice President of STAND with the “Comfort Women” and the Panel Chair of Women Leadership Initiative. She is excited to work with YPCCC to initiate more conversations on climate connections and the social impact of climate change for our digital audience.
Sabrina is a rising junior in Yale College working on the social media team. Majoring in Computer Science and pursuing a certificate in Energy Studies, she is interested in understanding how data analysis and modeling techniques can be used to analyze public support of climate change adaptation. She is also passionate about graphic design, and is excited to use her experience to support the YPCCC’s social media presence. Sabrina is a member of the Yale Women’s Golf Team and enjoys cooking, rock-climbing, and hiking in her spare time.
Sadie Frank is a Policy Fellow at the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, where she focuses on finance and climate risk disclosure. Before C2ES, Ms. Frank worked as a project manager and research assistant at the Brookings Institution on the “Markets at Risk” project. Ms. Frank holds a Masters in development practice from the University of California Berkeley, where she focused on climate policy and innovation, and a Bachelor of Arts in geography from the University of Washington.
Sam Inglis is a member of YPCCC’s social media team. He holds an MSc in Climate Change & Risk Management from the University of Exeter, UK. His research focuses on glacial hazards, mountain environments, and transboundary water resources. He currently writes for the website ‘GlacierHub,’ trying to increase awareness and understanding of the world’s rapidly disappearing glaciers. Sam is an active campaigner for climate action, and notably coordinated the ‘People’s Climate March’ in Hong Kong in 2014 – the only city of China’s 600+ to participate. He comes to Yale following a two month odyssey, having walked over 950 miles from the Vatican in Rome to COP21 in Paris for climate justice, alongside former Philippine climate negotiator Yeb Saño. Sam is a founder and the newly appointed Vice Chairperson of the Interfaith Climate Network in his hometown of Hong Kong, working to promote awareness of climate science within the local spiritual community.
Sam Konstantinov is a 2021 Master in Environmental Management candidate, with a focus on Water Resource Science and Management. Prior to his arrival to Yale, Sam interned as a research analyst at a water non-profit in Tel Aviv and worked as a water flow data analyst in Pennsauken, NJ. Sam is interested in developing water networks that responsibly and effectively integrate the latest technology and management practices. Sam holds a BA in environmental studies and a minor in anthropology from Temple University, in Philadelphia.
Sarah is excited to join the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication as a data scientist. Her previous work investigated local hydrology and water quality from a public health perspective, with a focus on system vulnerabilities from climate change. She has also constructed and compared land use regression models of ambient air pollutants with exposures measured from personal monitors. Sarah is a second year MPH student in the Environmental Health Sciences program at Yale School of Public Health and holds a B.Sc. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Sarah is a senior at Yale College, and she is majoring in Environmental Studies with a certificate in Energy Studies. She is interested in sustainable agricultural, and understanding how climate change affects wetlands and coastal environments. On campus, Sarah is a member of the Women’s Varsity Field Hockey team.
SED Foundation is an initiative that supports governments and civil society as they undertake economic development according to principles of sustainability, equity and diversity. SED Foundation works with partners to enhance existing initiatives that will have the most impact in support of these goals. It aims for prosperous, sustainable economies that work for people and protect our environment.
Selin Goren is a first-year student at Yale College and a climate activist. She’s passionate about climate justice and she is a part of the climate movement in both Turkey and the US. Outside her work for YPCCC, she’s a part of Dramat, EECO and Endowment Justice Coalition on campus.
Sena Wazer is a first year Master of Environmental Management candidate at the Yale School of the Environment specializing in People, Equity, & the Environment as well as Climate Change Science & Solutions. Sena is a lifelong environmental advocate passionate about creating meaningful policy change that centers environmental justice. Sena graduated summa cum laude from the University of Connecticut in 2022 with a BA in Environmental Studies.
Senna is a first-year Master of Environmental Science candidate at the Yale School of the Environment. Her research interests include environmental justice, public policy, and environmental communication. Prior to coming to YSE, Senna directed a nature program at a children’s camp in the Adirondacks. She recently graduated from Loyola University Maryland where she received a bachelor’s degree in Biology and English.
Sharon Lewis runs the Connecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice, whose purpose is to improve urban environmental health, primarily in Connecticut, through educating the community, through promoting changes in governmental policy, and through promoting individual, corporate and governmental responsibility towards our environment.
Shuran is a first year Master’s student in the Environmental Engineering department. She loves doing creative things outside the engineering field, and is also a passionate entrepreneur planning a sustainable lifestyle startup. Born and raised in Inner Mongolia, her goal is to bring back the blue sky and beautiful grassland that’s always been in her childhood memory.
Shuran is in her second year at the Yale School of Public Health, where she is pursuing a Master of Science in Biostatistics. She has several years of professional statistical analysis experience, particularly as an actuarial analyst for the Aon Centre for Innovation and Analytics where she worked for three years before attending Yale. Over the summer, Shuran interned at McKinsey & Company.
Siya is a second year Masters of Environmental Management (MEM) student at the Yale School of the Environment specializing in Business and the Environment. She is passionate about corporate social responsibility and working with organizations to strengthen their climate communications strategies. Prior to Yale, Siya worked at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in New York City where she supported the Brand Partnerships, Marketing and National Media teams. She is originally from New Delhi, India and holds a BA Degree in Environmental Studies from New York University.
The Skoll Global Threats Fund’s mission is to confront global threats imperiling humanity by seeking solutions, strengthening alliances, and spurring actions needed to safeguard the future.
Sonia Klein is a Master of Environmental Management candidate at the Yale School of the Environment, pursuing a dual specialization in Ecosystem Management & Conservation and Business & the Environment. She is interested in communicating environmental knowledge in ways that engage stakeholders and advance equitable land management and conservation. With experience in organizing and consulting for environmental reform, Sonia excels in translating science into actionable strategies for businesses and communities. Her focus on balancing human interest and ecological health has led her to the YPCCC. In her free time, Sonia enjoys backpacking, cooking, and trying to keep her plants alive.
Spencer Blackwood (they/he) is a sophomore in Saybrook College intending to major in applied mathematics with a concentration in statistics and data science. Their work with YPCCC focuses on the relationship between patterns in extreme weather events and public perceptions of climate change. In their spare time, Spencer can be found singing with campus a cappella group Out of the Blue and exploring hiking spots in and around New Haven.
Stella is a senior in Davenport College studying cognitive science with a concentration in climate change communication and behavior. She is focused on understanding the psychological underpinnings of the social inertia surrounding the climate crisis, centering environmental justice and science accessibility in climate action, and using behavioral science at the nexus of climate science and policy. Stella is writing her thesis on international climate risk perception with Dr. Marlon as a research assistant on the data science team at YPCCC. She can often be found outdoors, giving campus tours, singing with Shades of Yale, or cooking for friends.
Stuart DeCew is the Executive Director at the Yale Center for Business and the Environment. In this role, Stuart is responsible for overseeing the management, administration, strategy, and development of the School of Management and the School of the Environment’s research, education, and outreach programs in business and the environment.
Sue Biniaz, a Senior Fellow and Lecturer at the Yale Jackson Institute, rejoined the U.S. State Department at the beginning of the Biden-Harris Administration. She serves as a Deputy to Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry. Sue previously served as a Deputy Legal Adviser at the State Department and, for more than 25 years, served as the lead climate lawyer for the United States. In that capacity, she played a central role in all major international climate negotiations, including the Paris Agreement on climate change.
Surbhi graduated from Yale College in May 2020 with a degree in Economics and Statistics & Data Science. She was also in the Energy Studies multidisciplinary academic program, through which she examined sustainability practices in the industry of corporate advising. She is now interning at a data journalism outlet in India, with a focus on the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Susanne Etti (she/her) is the Global Environmental Impact Manager of Intrepid Travel, the world’s largest adventure travel company. She has a PHD in natural science specializing in climate change and vector borne diseases.
Her work at Intrepid Travel centers around global decarbonization specifically around climate change performance, biodiversity, carbon reporting, and transitioning the business to the low-carbon economy. Intrepid, who are globally recognized as leaders in responsible travel, have been carbon neutral since 2010 and in 2018 became the largest B Corp in the tourism sector. In 2020 they became the first and only tour operator in the world with verified science-based emission reduction target.
Swetha is a Fulbright-Nehru scholar and an environmental management graduate from Yale University. She is a data scientist and a rural development professional with 15 years of professional experience in India and the USA.
Her work encompasses diverse fields like climate change, agriculture, and digital transformation. As Head of
Experimentation at UNDP, she has applied artificial intelligence and ecosystems thinking to curate unique platforms such as GeoAI and VAYU to combat air pollution in India, as well as digital public goods like DiCRA and KisanCRA chatbot for promoting climate resilience in agriculture. At the World Bank, she advises the global digital agriculture portfolio on AI systems for climate smart agriculture in Asia and Africa. Swetha enjoys trekking in the Himalayas in her free time. She considers her 18-month stay in remote areas of Nagarjuna Sagar Tiger Reserve Forest working for Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) Chenchu as a unique life experience.
Tai Michaels is an undergrad at Yale College in the Class of 2025 majoring in Environmental Studies and Quantitative Biology. He is interested in effective climate communication and urban issues, and he currently works with the data team at YPCCC developing an app to make analyzing climate data more user friendly. Outside of YPCCC, he does genomics research at the Gerstein Lab and TA’s a statistics class (which he barely understands himself). He likes plants, aimless wandering, coffee chocolate, and misremembering how many c’s are in YPCCC.
Taina Perez is a Digital Ads Assistant for the newly created LinkedIn Ads Team for YPCCC. She rejoined the team this semester having previously worked on the Google and Facebook Ads Team. Taina has 4 years of experience in the fields of climate marketing and environmental justice research through the Communications Network, the Decision Theory/Distributive Justice Fund, and most recently with the Program Office at USAID Honduras. As a Digital Ads Assistant, she identifies key needs and opportunities for search marketing, copywriting, and ad production. She received her BA in Environmental Studies from Franklin & Marshall College and is currently a second-year student at the Yale School of the Environment completing her Master’s of Environmental Management specializing in Food and Agricultural Policy.
Theia Chatelle is an undergraduate senior at Yale College pursuing a joint BA/MA in American Studies. Theia first became interested in studying the climate movement after watching protests against Line 3 in her home state of Minnesota. When she’s not hiking or training for her next half-marathon, Theia is likely planning her next climbing expedition.
Dr. Cort is a Lecturer in Sustainability at Yale School of Management and is the Faculty Co-Director at Yale Center for Business and the Environment. He works at the intersection of sustainability and investor value.
Thomas Murray is a junior at Yale College from New Jersey. He is double majoring in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Political Science. He is particularly interested in the strategies of turning important climate science into understandable material. When he is not at YPCCC, he is probably busy on the Model UN Team at Yale (MUNTY), Mock Trial, Moot Court, and doing ecological research. In his free time, he enjoys mountain biking and camping.
The Unity Charitable Fund seeks to promote empathy, respect, and community, as well as amplify impact, and engage with the creator community. It empowers changemakers by offering funding, mentorship, and technical support.
Urvi is a Master of Environmental Management candidate at the Yale School of the Environment. She is interested in green chemistry, industrial ecology and corporate sustainability and the role businesses have to play in mitigating climate change. Before coming to Yale, she has interned with various organizations including UN Environment. She has a Bachelors degree in chemical engineering and an MBA, and is a founder of a non-profit initiative in India called Mission SanScar.
Valentina graduated from Yale College in 2020 with a major in Political Science. She wrote her thesis on American climate change policies. On campus, Valentina served as the Managing Editor for The Politic, an undergraduate magazine; ran discussions about international climate change-induced migration with the Yale International Relations Association; and danced and choreographed for Danceworks, her dance group. She was also a Harvest pre-orientation leader and has volunteered on five organic farms throughout Connecticut. She loves trying new restaurants around New Haven with her friends.
Vinay is a Master of Business Administration student at the Yale School of Management. He has a specific interest in the convergence of climate change, environmental education, and impact investing. He has worked for more than five years across different cities in India and comes with an interdisciplinary experience cutting across the information technology, non-profit education and financial services industries. In his spare time, Vinay likes to read, and travel to places of historic and natural significance.
Wan Ping is a final year student at the Yale School of Environment. She brings her corporate experience working across Amsterdam, Vietnam and Singapore to her role as partnerships intern. She is interested in climate change and forwarding a circular economy. She is also an avid rock-climbing fan, as it combines her passion for sports with the outdoors
Wilhelmina Graff is a prospective Political Science major with an interest in human rights and immigration issues. She is a staff writer for the YDN Magazine and is a captain of Yale’s Ultimate Frisbee team.
Willie James Jennings is a Yale Divinity School Professor and an ordained Baptist minister who has served as interim pastor for several North Carolina churches. Writing in the areas of liberation theologies, cultural identities, and anthropology, Jennings has authored more than 40 scholarly essays and nearly two-dozen reviews, as well as essays on academic administration and blog posts for Religion Dispatches.
Xinran analyzes the datasets gathered from national, state, local and international surveys and experiments. Originally from China, she joined YPCCC in 2017 and is excited to take a quantitative approach to understand environmental communications and opinions. She incorporates predictive modeling, data mining, visualization and mapping to provide statistical input for the ongoing studies. Xinran holds an M.A. in Quantitative Method in Social Sciences from Columbia University, and a B.S. in Math from University of California, Los Angeles.
Yasmin Zainab Bergemann is a junior majoring in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology. In addition to working for YPCCC, she is involved in the Center for Ecosystems and Architecture within the Yale School of Architecture, IRIS CT, and Artspace. She is a local from New Haven, and loves taking advantage of all the local natural beauty.
Yihan Liu is a MPH student majoring in Biostatistics in Yale School of Public Health. At YPCCC, Yihan works with the Social Data Science modeling team and focuses on refining the statistical model to better predict American voters’ attitudes towards climate change. She also participates in the visualization of voters’ demographics information. As a student in the School of Public health, Yihan also is passionate about climate change and global health. Outside YPCCC, Yihan is committed to genomics research and research on the interaction between environment and genes. and hopes to make some achievements in public health and the environment. In her spare time, you will find her enjoying hiking, skiing, basketball and playing the piano.
Yulan is a first-year Master of Environmental Management candidate at Yale’s School of the Environment. At YPCCC, she coordinates and shares posts about climate-related issues on the Chinese social media platforms, Weibo and WeChat. She graduated from the University of Virginia with a double major in Environmental Science and Biology. Yulan is passionate about climate change and ecological conservation, and she looks forward to sharing global environmental issues with the Chinese audience.
Amelia is a first-year Master of Environmental Science candidate at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Prior to Yale, she conducted researches broadly on air quality sampling, environmental chemistry analysis, microbiology, and health impact of air pollution. She serves as student associate of Yale Climate Change and Health Initiative this year and has high interests in understanding the general opinion on climate change and environmental issues. She holds a degree from Sichuan University, where she majored in Environmental Engineering.
Zhiheng (Carbon) Chi is currently enrolled as a second-year MEM student at FES. She specializes in business and environment concentration and is passionate about corporate social responsibility and sustainable investment. In YPCCC, she primarily works on posting climate-related facts that attract the Chinese audience on social media such as Weibo and WeChat.
Zhinan is a Master of Environmental Management candidate at Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies interested in environmental anthropology, religion and ecology as well as sustainable development. Prior to attending Yale, she received her B.A. in Arabic and economics from Peking University in China. During her undergrad, Zhinan enjoyed observing and reporting cultures in the Middle East through months of studying in Oman, Morocco, and UAE. Nature and language are the two things that Zhinan loves the most. At Yale, she aspires to combine her expertise in Arabic with methodologies in environmental studies to understand water, energy and environmental impacts of Chinese investment in the Middle East.