Jay Ague

Henry Barnard Davis Memorial Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences

Curator-in-charge of Mineralogy and Meteoritics, Yale Peabody Museum 

Research description: “Rock formation processes operating deep within active mountain belts produce and consume water, carbon dioxide, methane, sulfur compounds, and other chemical species of environmental significance. Our laboratory investigates the role that these processes play in global geochemical cycling and the long-term evolution of climate. Furthermore, we study how natural rock carbonation processes preserved in the geologic record may provide valuable analogs for the large-scale sequestration of anthropogenic carbon.”

Research keywords: Climate, Geochemical Cycling, Carbon Sequestration

Shimon Anisfeld 

Senior Lecturer II and Research Scientist, Yale School of the Environment 

Research description: “My research examines how sea-level rise and other factors (large storms, nutrients, herbivores, sediment loading) affect the health of coastal salt marshes. I am also interested in understanding how we can better manage water in the face of climate change and other stressors (groundwater depletion, aging infrastructure, lack of WASH access, the decline of freshwater ecosystems, water conflict, etc.).” 

Research keywords: Coastal Wetlands, Water Management, Sea-Level Rise

Gaboury Benoit 

Grinstein - Class of 1954 Professor of Environmental Chemistry, Yale School of the Environment 

Research description: “My current research focuses on water quality in urban environments.  My main topics involve the environmental behavior of anthropogenic litter (especially plastics and microplastics), deicing salts, and green infrastructure.”

Research keywords: Plastics and Microplastics, Deicing Salts, Green Infrastructure

Bhart-Anjan Bhullar

Associate Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences

Associate Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology and Vertebrate Zoology (Herpetology), Yale Peabody Museum

Research description: “My group focuses on great transitions in the history of vertebrates. In the field and in the lab, we use the geological record of life to guide questions about major transformations across Vertebrata, especially at the origins of extant radiations such as (but not limited to) birds, mammals, tetrapods, and gnathostomes. To address the nature and mechanism of pivotal events at crucial points in evolutionary history, we bring to bear a full range of modern biological and geological techniques, especially molecular developmental biology and functional biology, coupled with advanced three-dimensional imaging and geometric analysis. However, we maintain a surpassing commitment to the discovery of new fossils in the field; these will always be the inspiration, the grist, and the final validating test for work on the history of life.” 

Mark Bradford

Professor, Soils and Ecosystem Ecology, Yale School of the Environment

Research description:”Bradford’s research group investigates how soil microbes, animals and their interactions with plants govern carbon cycle responses to global change and ecosystem management. Their current work spans questions that address uncertainties in Earth system feedbacks to quantifying soil and forest health. He is particularly interested in how organisms and their interactions affect decomposition processes, soil carbon and how changes in these variables affect ecosystem services, such as agricultural yields.”

Research keywords: Soil Carbon, Forests, Sustainable Agriculture

Richard Bribiescas

J. Clayton Stephenson/Class of 1954 Professor of Anthropology and of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Department of Anthropology 

Research description: “I’m interested in the evolution of human life histories, including aspects of reproduction, aging, and metabolism. My research entails the assessment of hormones and other biomarkers in non-industrialized societies as well as comparative species. I am currently engaged in research projects in Ecuador among Shuar communities, rural Poland, and Samoa.”

Research keywords: Human Evolution, Diversity, Life History Theory

Craig Brodersen

Professor of Physiological Plant Ecology, Yale School of the Environment

Research description: “Our group studies the relationships between plant form and function, with a specific focus on photosynthesis and vascular transport. We use a combination of theoretical and empirical approaches, as well as the development of new instrumentation and software. We use these tools to explore plant performance both within an evolutionary context, but also in applied, agricultural settings.”

Research keywords: Plants, Photosynthesis, Drought

Adalgisa (Gisella) Caccone

Senior Research Scientist and Lecturer, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

Research description: “I am an evolutionary biologist interested in using genomic data to address issues in conservation and invasion biology. molecular ecology, and vector and parasites evolutionary genetics.”

Research keywords: Biodiversity, Public Health

Liza Comita

Professor of Tropical Forest Ecology, Yale School of the Environment 

Co-director, Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture

Research description: “My research addresses both fundamental and applied questions in the field of plant community ecology, with an emphasis on understanding the drivers of biodiversity in both intact and human-altered forest ecosystems. Much of my research focuses on forest understory dynamics and species coexistence in tropical tree communities. In my lab, we use a variety of approaches to address our research questions, including long-term observational studies, field and greenhouse experiments, and computer simulations.”

Research keywords: Biodiversity, Community Ecology, Tropical Forests

Martina Dal Bello

Assistant Professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and Yale Microbial Sciences Institute

Research description: “We study how microbes respond to and modify their environment, and how these feedback processes shape species interactions, assembly processes, and the overall function of microbial communities. Our approach leverages laboratory experiments, data from natural communities, and theory, integrating ideas and tools from community ecology, microbial physiology, and systems biology. By linking metabolic traits to community properties, we aim at uncovering general principles for how microbial communities respond to environmental change.”

Research keywords: Microbial Ecology

Michael Donoghue

Sterling Professor Emeritus of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

YIBS Director from 2019-2021

Research description: “We study the phylogeny of plants to understand the evolution of their morphological characteristics, patterns of diversification, and historical biogeography. We are especially interested in how plants have moved around the globe in relation to past climate change.”

Research keywords: Plant Evolution, Biodiversity, Climate Change

Casey Dunn

Professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

Curator-in-charge of Invertebrate Zoology and Informatics, Yale Peabody Museum

Research description: “We study how evolution has produced a diversity of life. We are interested in learning about the actual history of life on Earth as well as the general properties of evolution that have contributed to these historical patterns. The type of questions we ask require field (marine), laboratory, and computational work.”

Research keywords: Biodiversity, Evolution, Marine Biology

Menachem Elimelech

Sterling Professor of Chemical & Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering & Applied Science

Research description: “My research focuses on membrane-based technologies at the water-energy nexus, materials for next-generation desalination and water reuse membranes, and environmental applications of novel materials.”

Research keywords: Water-Energy Nexus, Water treatment, Desalination and Water Reuse

Vanessa Ezenwa

Professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

Research description: “I study the ecology of infectious diseases with a specific focus on linking processes across scales. My lab investigates how behavioral, physiological, and ecological processes at the individual level shape interactions between hosts and their parasites and pathogens, and the consequences for population and community-wide patterns of disease. We combine field studies with laboratory approaches and theory to address fundamental questions about the ecology of infectious diseases in wild animal populations.”

Research keywords: Infectious Disease, Ecology, Behavior

Eli Fenichel 

Knobloch Family Professor of Natural Resource Economics, Yale School of the Environment 

Research description: “I consider natural resource and ecological stocks as a form or capital (or liability). I work on a wide variety of systems including natural capital valuation theory and methods, fisheries, infectious disease, groundwater, forests, and invasive species.”

Research keywords: Natural Capital, Economic-Epidemiology, Couple Human-Natural Systems

Jacques Gauthier

Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences

Curator-in-charge of Vertebrate Paleontology, Curator of Vertebrate Zoology (Herpetology), Yale Peabody Museum 

Research description: “Phylogeny and evolution of Reptilia (including Aves). Comparative vertebrate anatomy. Influence of climate and geography on reptile evolution from mid-Mesozoic through Cenozoic.”

Research keywords: Morphology, Phylogeny, Evolution

Nyeema Harris

Knobloch Family Associate Professor of Wildlife and Land Conservation, Yale School of the Environment

Director, Applied Wildlife Ecology (AWE) Lab 

Research description: “In my Applied Wildlife Ecology (AWE) Lab, our work spans the globe, across scales and ecosystems from cities to protected areas to investigate carnivore ecology, behavior, conservation, and human-wildlife conflict. We aim to facilitate exposure, broaden participation in who has agency and contributes to knowledge production, and stimulate an awe for the natural world. Ultimately, we strive to do socially-relevant ecology by implementing inclusive scholarship that contributes to promoting wildlife persistence and coexistence.”

Research keywords: Wildlife Ecology, Biogeography, Conservation 

Walter Jetz

Professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and Forestry and Environmental Studies

Research description: “Research in my group addresses biodiversity dynamics in a changing world. We are particularly interested in the scale-dependence of both evidence and mechanism in biodiversity science and how environment, ecological, and macroevolutionary mechanisms combine to determine the co-occurrence of species and the structure of assemblages. We aim to use this as basis for assessing the fate of biodiversity and its functions under global change. We work with a variety of systems, both animals and plants, but have to date been particularly active addressing birds and terrestrial vertebrates.”

Research keywords: Biodiversity, Global Ecology, Global Change

Bill Lauenroth

Joseph F. Cullman 3rd ‘35 Professor, Yale School of the Environment 

Research description: “I study ecosystems in dry areas. My current research concentrates on questions associated with mixtures of grasses and shrubs or on ecosystems dominated by shrubs. My research interests include: plant population and community ecology; ecohydrology, ecosystem ecology, and the effects of projected climate change on plant communities and ecosystems. I use simulation modeling as a key exploratory and analysis tool across all of the organizational and spatial scales of my research. My current research is on big sagebrush plant communities and ecosystems in western North America.”

Research keywords: Big Sagebrush, Climate Change, Ecosystem Ecology

Anthony Leiserowitz

Director, Yale Program on Climate Change Communication

JoshAni - TomKat Professor of Climate Communication, Yale School of the Environment 

Research description: “I study public climate change beliefs, risk perceptions, policy support and behaviors and the psychological, cultural, and political factors that shape them, in the United States and around the world.”

Research keywords: Climate change, Public Opinion, Risk Perception, Decision Making, Behavior

Jennifer Marlon 

Research Scientist and Lecturer, Yale School of the Environment and Yale Program on Climate Change Communication

Executive Director, Yale Center for Geospatial Solutions

Research description: “My research investigates wildfire-climate-ecosystem dynamics and human responses to extreme events (e.g., wildfire and drought). I use a variety of approaches, including experiments, surveys, data synthesis, and modeling.”

Research keywords: Climate Change, Paleoecology, Extreme Weather, Risk Perception

Jacob Musser

Assistant Professor of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology

Research description: “Our research group investigates how animals invent new types of cells and tissues. A key theme of our work is understanding the role of the environment in shaping cell and developmental innovation. We explore this in sponges and sea anemones, two of our most distant animal relatives, using functional genomics, 3D imaging, and theory.”

Research keywords: Animal Evolution, Evolutionary Cell and Developmental Biology, Marine Biology

Brandon Ogbunu

Assistant Professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology 

Research description: “The Ogbunu Lab studies how complex interactions between genetic information, hosts, parasites, and environments craft disease phenomena. In doing so, his laboratory aims to reveal fragilities in disease systems that can be leveraged for health interventions and explore diseases as models for theoretical questions in evolution and ecology.”

Research keywords: Evolutionary Biology, Complex Systems, Epidemiology

Jordan Peccia

Thomas E. Golden, Jr. Professor and Chair of Chemical & Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering & Applied Science

Research description: “Research in the Peccia lab integrates biotechnology, genetics and engineering to solve important environmental problems. Principle areas of research include human exposure to and health impacts from pathogenic and beneficial microbes in the indoor and outdoor environment, wastewater-based epidemiology, and biological control of global methane emission. Along with quantitative engineering-based fundamentals and tools, we have developed extensive molecular and computational biology skill sets and strategic collaborations in public health, epidemiology, and data sciences.”

Research keywords: Indoor Environment, Public Health, Climate Change

Noah Planavsky

Associate Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences

Associate Curator of Mineralogy & Meteoritics, Yale Peabody Museum

Research description: “I am an isotope geochemist that works on environmental change in Earth’s past, present, and future. Current projects focus on changes in ocean oxygen levels, tracking how primary productivity has changed through time, and on the potential for carbon capture through enhanced mineral weathering in marine and terrestrial environments.”

Research keywords: Geochemistry, Geobiology, Carbon Capture

Richard Prum 

William Robertson Coe Professor of Ornithology, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

Curator-in-charge of Vertebrate Zoology (Ornithology), Yale Peabody Museum 

Research description: “My recent research has focused on theoretical and molecular studies of the development and evolution of feathers, developing and applying new tools for the study of the physics and evolution of structural coloration, and continued efforts in phylogenetic ethology of polygynous birds (Link to Research page). I have conducted field work throughout the Neotropics and in Madagascar and have studied fossil theropods in China.”

Narasimha Rao 

Associate Professor of Energy Systems, Yale School of the Environment 

Research description: “Dr. Rao’s research examines the relationship between energy, human development, and climate change. He studies equity dimensions of energy transitions and their development impacts in emerging economies. He has developed the idea of ‘decent living energy,’ the energy needs to support basic well-being in different societies.”

Research keywords: Energy, Inequality, Climate

Barbara Reck 

Senior Research Scientist, Center for Industrial Ecology, Yale School of the Environment 

Research description: “I study the sustainability of material use in society by evaluating the degree of their circularity and the implications for embodied carbon. This work is rooted in detailed material cycles that are the basis for material efficiency assessments and better decision making in material selection. The materials I study include metals, plastics, textiles, and biogenic building materials such as mass timber.”

Research keywords: Industrial Ecology, Sustainable Materials, Recycling

Holly Rushmeier 

John C. Malone Professor and Chair of Computer Science, Yale University 

Research description: “My research is in the development and application of methods for generating photorealistic computer graphics imagery. My group works on imaging for documentation and analysis of both cultural and natural heritage. We extract models of texture and geometry from images and use realistic synthetic images in machine learning for image interpretation.”

Research keywords: Image Analysis, Cultural Heritage, Natural Heritage 

Luke Sanford 

Assistant Professor of Environmental Policy and Governance, Yale School of the Environment 

Research description: “I study the political economy of environmental stewardship: how do citizens and politicians value the preservation or exploitation of natural resources, and how are those values converted into actions and policies? My research combines deep understanding of environmental processes and governance with methods from computer vision, spatial statistics, and natural language processing that facilitate use of satellite imagery and text for casual inference around these equations.” 

Research keywords: Environmental Politics, Political Economy, Remote Sensing 

Karen Seto

Frederick C. Hixon Professor of Geography and Urbanization Science, Yale School of the Environment

Co-director, Yale Center for Geospatial Solutions

Research description: “Professor Seto’s central research focus is how urbanization will affect the planet. A geographer by training, she integrates remote sensing, field interviews, and modeling methods to study urbanization and land change, future urban land expansion, and the environmental consequences of urbanization at scale. She has pioneered methods to reconstruct historical land-use and to develop empirical models to explain and forecast the expansion of urban areas. She has extensive fieldwork experience in Asia, especially China and India, where she has conducted research for over 20 and 10 years, respectively. Her research has generated new knowledge on the links between urbanization and food systems, the effects of urban expansion on biodiversity and cropland loss, urban energy use and emissions, and urban mitigation of climate change.”

Research keywords: Urbanization, Climate Change, Biodiversity

Eric Slessarev

Assistant Professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

Research description: I study soil and its role in terrestrial ecosystems. My research is guided by two major objectives: (1) understanding how soil properties develop in different ecological contexts, and how they are expressed at the global scale; and (2) understanding how the soil environment governs belowground ecology and influences carbon and nutrient cycling. In addition to these fundamental research objectives, I evaluate soil-based climate change mitigation strategies. 

Research keywords: Terrestrial Biogeochemistry, Soil Science, Carbon and Nutrient Cycling.

Lidya Tarhan

Assistant Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences 

Assistant Curator of Invertebrate Paleontology, Yale Peabody Museum

Research description: “My group uses the sedimentary record to reconstruct ancient life and environments during key intervals in Earth’s history. In particular, we investigate the interplay between animals, microbial consortia and environments and the role of animals as environmental and ecosystem engineers—from minute to global scales—in both ancient and modern settings. We also study processes of fossilization and how preservational biases modify the stratigraphic record. Our research employs a sedimentological, paleontological, geochemical and experimental toolkit, combining field work, laboratory-based investigations and modeling.”

Research keywords: Organism-Environment Interactions, Bioturbation, Fossilization

Jessica Thompson

Assistant Professor of Anthropology

Assistant Curator of Anthropology, Yale Peabody Museum

Research description: “Jessica Thompson specializes in human evolution, especially those aspects that can be revealed through the analysis of ancient animal bones found at archaeological sites (zooarchaeology). She leads the Malawi Ancient Lifeways and Peoples Project in Malawi, central Africa, where she has maintained a field site since 2009. This multidisciplinary work combines archaeological science, evolutionary theory, and hunter-gatherer ethnography to develop and interpret the first cultural and paleoenvironmental chronologies in the region that span the transition from the last Ice Age. Her other research, based on collaborative work in Ethiopia, targets the opposite end of the archaeological record, at its origin in the Pliocene. Thompson is PI of the Paleoarchaeology Laboratory at Yale University.”

Research keywords: Paleoclimate, Archaeology, Paleoanthropology

Serena Tucci

Assistant Professor of Anthropology

Research description: “The Tucci Lab addresses fundamental questions in human evolution and population history using DNA from present-day and ancient humans. We use an interdisciplinary approach that combines expertise from anthropology, population genetics, and computational biology, to reconstruct past demographic events and disentangle the genetic basis of human adaptation.”

Research keyword: Human Evolutionary Genomics

Anne Underhill

Professor of Anthropology

Curator of Anthropology, Yale Peabody Museum 

Research description: “Urbanization in late prehistoric China, change in craft production (ceramics, lithics), landscape analysis for investigation of ancient economic activities (including food resources).”

Research keywords: Archaeology of Late Prehistoric East Asia, Ethnoarchaeology, Human Use of Landscapes and Impact on Landscapes Over Time

David Vasseur

Professor and Chair of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

Research description: “I am a theoretical ecologist addressing fundamental questions in community ecology by developing new mathematical theory, conducting simple lab-based experiments, and analyzing long-term data. The questions I address are motivated by a desire to mechanistically describe the processes underlying population and community dynamics in natural ecosystems.”

Research keywords: Theoretical Ecology, Community Ecology, Eco-evolutionary Dynamics

John Wargo

Chair, Yale College Environmental Studies Program

Tweedy Ordway Professor of Environmental Health and Politics, Yale School of the Environment 

Research description: “Professor Wargo’s research explores threats to human health posed by environmental hazards. He topics include exposures to pesticides, solvents, vehicle emissions, toxins in foods, plastics, flame-retardants, metals, and chemicals released outdoors and indoors. Current research examines environmental and health challenges associated with the global food system.”

Research keywords: Health, Environment, Children, Law

Michelle Wong 

Assistant Professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

Research description: “I am interested in how plants and microbes interact with nutrient availability to shape terrestrial ecosystem responses to global change. More specifically, how do terrestrial ecosystems overcome nutrient limitation to facilitate carbon storage in plant biomass and soils, and how can our findings inform ecosystem management and restoration efforts?” 

Research keywords: Ecosystem Ecology, Biogeochemistry, Forests 

Elizabeth Yankovsky 

Assistant Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences

Member of the Scientific Leadership Team, Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture

Research description: “I am a physical oceanographer who uses numerical modeling to understand the multi-scale turbulent dynamics governing the way that the ocean and climate system evolve. I am interested in how physical dynamics shape the ocean’s biogeochemistry and carbon cycle. Recently, I started working on ocean-based carbon dioxide removal technologies such as ocean alkalinity enhancement.”

Research keywords: Climate Modeling, Physical Oceanography, Turbulence, Biogeochemistry