Kroon Hall, 203.432.5100
http://environment.yale.edu
M.S., M.Phil., Ph.D.

Dean
Ingrid Burke 

Director of Doctoral Studies
Michelle Bell (Kroon 215, 203.432.9869, michelle.bell@yale.edu)

Professors Mark Ashton, Michelle Bell, Mark Bradford, Craig Brodersen, Ingrid Burke, Liza Comita, Michael Dove, Daniel Esty, Justin Farrell, Eli Fenichel, Kenneth Gillingham, David Keiser, Matthew Kotchen, William Lauenroth, Xuhui Lee, Anthony Leiserowitz, Narasimha Rao, Peter Raymond, James Saiers, Oswald Schmitz, Karen Seto, David Skelly, Dorceta Taylor, Gerald Torres, John Wargo, Yuan Yao, Julie Zimmerman

Associate Professors Paulo Brando, Nyeema Harris

Assistant Professors Karl Aspelund, Brianna Castro, Sara Kuebbing, Sparkle Malone, Arianna Salazar-Miranda, Luke Sanford

Fields of Study

Fields include but are not limited to agroforestry; biodiversity conservation; biostatistics and biometry; community ecology; ecosystems ecology; ecosystems management; energy and the environment; environmental and resource policy; environmental anthropology and sociology; environmental biophysics and meteorology; environmental chemistry; environmental governance; environmental health; environmental justice; environmental law and politics; environmental management; forest ecology; green chemistry and engineering; hydrology; industrial ecology; industrial environmental management; plant physiology and anatomy; pollution management; population ecology; resource economics; silviculture; social ecology; stand development, tropical ecology, and conservation; sustainable development; urban ecology; urban geography; urban land cover change; urban planning; and water resource management.

Special Requirements for the Ph.D. Degree

Students are required to take ENV 900, Doctoral Student Seminar and Responsible Conduct of Research, in the first year of their program. Courses of study are individually designated through consultation between degree candidates and their advisers and dissertation committees. The coursework required will depend on the previous training of the student, but the normal requirement for a student with no previous graduate training is three or four courses per term for four terms. At least two term grades of Honors are required in the first two years of study. However, it is anticipated that students will maintain a grades average of at least a High Pass. A written and oral qualifying examination is required for admission to candidacy. Students are expected to take the examination by the end of their second year, although this can be extended to the third year in cases with appropriate extenuating circumstances. At the time of the qualifying examination, the student must present a prospectus of the research work proposed for the dissertation. Successful completion of the qualifying examination and submission of the prospectus will result in admission to candidacy. Upon completion of the dissertation, the candidate must make copies of the dissertation available to the faculty and appear for an oral examination at a time and place designated by the director of doctoral studies. Copies of the approved dissertation must be submitted to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS). Completion of the Ph.D. degree normally requires five years. Please see the YSE Doctoral Student Handbook for additional details.

Teaching and research experiences are regarded as integral parts of the doctoral training program in Environment. All students are required to serve as teaching fellows. The nature of the teaching assignment is determined in cooperation with the student’s major adviser, the director of doctoral studies, and YSE Academic Affairs. With the permission of the director of doctoral studies, the total teaching requirement may be reduced for students who are awarded substantial fellowships supported by outside funding. Please see the YSE Doctoral Student Handbook for details on the teaching policy. 

Combined Ph.D. Program

The School of the Environment offers a combined Ph.D. degree program with the Department of Anthropology. Students enrolled in combined programs normally receive a single en route degree if both programs offer the same en route degree. If only one of the programs offers an en route degree, the student will be eligible to receive it from that program. If the two programs offer different en route degrees the student may receive only one en route degree and will choose which one in consultation with their departments and the appropriate academic dean. This policy also applies to ad hoc combined degree programs. See Degree Requirements under Policies and Regulations.

In general, eligibility for entry into the combined degree program is the same as for entering either the YSE or the anthropology doctoral program. Prospective combined degree students must initially apply either to Anthropology or to YSE. They should indicate their interest in the combined degree on the application form. Admitted students will be assigned to the initially chosen program as their primary administrative home but will enter Yale as members of the combined degree program. 

Doctoral degree students previously accepted to YSE or the Department of Anthropology, but not to the combined degree program, may submit a petition to enter the combined degree program. For details, please see the director of graduate studies (DGSs) for YSE and anthropology. Ideally, applications from existing students to join the combined program are made as soon as possible in the student’s doctoral program, no later than the last week in October during the first semester of graduate study at Yale and not later than the end of the first semester. 

For more information contact the program coordinators Michael Dove (YSE; michael.dove@yale.edu) or Kalyanakrishnan Sivaramakrishnan (Anthropology; kalyanakrishnan.sivaramakrishnan@yale.edu).

Master’s Degrees

M.Phil. Students may petition for this degree after they have passed the qualifying exam and advanced to candidacy. Applications for this master’s degree are not accepted. See Degree Requirements under Policies and Regulations.

M.S. (upon withdrawal) This degree is normally granted only to students who are withdrawing from the Ph.D. program. Applications for this master’s degree are not accepted. Requirements that must be met for award of the M.S. are (1) successful completion of two years of coursework in residence with two grades of Honors; (2) a written prospectus; (3) fulfillment of one term of the teaching requirement. Students who are eligible for or who have already received the M.Phil. will not be awarded the M.S.

For information on the terminal master’s degrees offered by the Yale School of the Environment (the Master of Forestry, Master of Forest Science, Master of Environmental Management, and Master of Environmental Science degrees), visit the school’s website, http://environment.yale.edu, or contact Admissions Director, Yale School of the Environment, 195 Prospect Street, New Haven CT 06511, Admissions Yale School of the Environment.

required Course

All Ph.D. students are required to take ENV 900, Doctoral Student Seminar and Responsible Conduct of Research in the fall term of their first year. For a complete list of ENV courses, see the School of the Environment bulletin, available online at https://catalog.yale.edu/environment, and Yale Course Search at https://courses.yale.edu.