School Notes: School of the Environment
November/December 2011

Four students named Switzer Fellows

Four F&ES students are among the 2011 Switzer Fellows named by the Robert and Patricia Switzer Foundation, which recognizes emerging environmental leaders “who are able to think across traditional disciplinary boundaries and shape the future of environmental science, policy, and study.” Each of the fellows will receive a $15,000 award. Doctoral candidate Laura Bozzi focuses her research on mountaintop-removal mining for coal in Appalachia; master’s student Shereen D’Souza works to support justice and equity in global and local food and farming systems; Sharon Smith, another master’s student, is an organizer and trainer in movements for global justice, human rights, and environmental sustainability; and Sarah Uhl, also in the master’s program, studies the health effects of toxic chemicals, particularly endocrine disruptors.

Professor focuses on energy issues

An expert in energy and transportation has joined the tenure-track faculty at the environment school. Kenneth Gillingham, assistant professor of environmental and energy economics, uses the tools of economics and statistics, along with expertise in energy and systems engineering, to analyze policies addressing the world’s energy challenges. His recent publications have focused on the adoption of solar photovoltaic technology, market failures in household energy efficiency, and alternative fuels for transportation. Ongoing research delves into the effects of different policies on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transportation. Prior to Yale, Gillingham worked at the California Air Resources Board, the White House Council of Economic Advisers, and Resources for the Future. He holds a PhD from Stanford University.

Class of 2013 is school’s most diverse

The environment school’s Class of 2013 is the most diverse and competitive in the school’s 110-year history. There are 137 master’s students from 20 nations and 28 states, reflecting the increasingly global nature of environmental issues. Thirty-three students are from overseas, representing 24 percent of the class. Twenty-eight students, or 20 percent, are US minorities. This year there were 574 applicants to the master’s program, and the increasingly competitive nature of the program is reflected in the fact that 33.9 percent were accepted, down from 37 percent last year. In addition, 10 new students—half of them environment school alums—were admitted into the doctoral program, including two from China and one from Brazil. This brings the total number of current doctoral candidates in the school to 75.