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Ecosystems

Sustaining functioning landscapes to enable all life to thrive.

Since the founding of its Forest School in 1900, Yale has been a leader in understanding how to manage ecosystems to be both productive and healthy. 

Growing from the wooded acres of New England, today, Yale’s work covers the globe, from studies of arctic tundra to tropical conservation efforts along the equator. With the creation of urban meadows and rain gardens and through its research facilities, Yale is a steward of its land.

The university is equally committed to the support of distant ecosystems, offering programs that train people from all sectors in conservation and restoration strategies.

At a Glance

Facts and figures about ecosystems

  • 10,000

    10,000+ trees have been planted in New Haven through the Urban Resources Initiative, a nonprofit that partners with Yale

  • 4

    From 1900 to 1940, the Yale Forest School produced the first four chiefs of the U.S. Forest Service

  • 98.9%

    Indigenous nations in the U.S. have lost 98.9% of their historical land and are further threatened by climate change

Related Resources

AI-Powered, Low-Cost Soil Carbon Verification: Scalable and Continuous Monitoring for Agricultural Carbon Credits

2025 Grant Project

Accurately measuring soil carbon is essential for carbon credit programs and sustainable land management, but current methods are expensive and infrequent, limiting their scalability. This 2025 YPS grant project develops an AI-powered, low-cost soil sensing system for frequent, automated carbon monitoring.

Water beads up on the soil below blurry seedlings

Events

  • YPS Visioning Summit 2050

    In-person

    Yale Schwarzman Center Presidents’ Room

    9:30 am - 1:00 pm | October 10, 2025

  • Yale @ Climate Week NYC

    In-person

    From September 23 to 25, 2025, Yale @ Climate Week NYC will bring together thought leaders, activists, scholars, students, and innovators…

  • YPS 2050 Listening Session

    Online

    Describe your vision for how Yale can lead and collaborate on planetary solutions in the next 25 years!