Announcing the 2025 YPS Grant Recipients: 23 Projects to Transform Knowledge into Impact
In its fourth year, the Planetary Solutions Grant Program will distribute $2 million to 23 projects aspiring to change the way we use energy, address climate-related health impacts, support farmers, improve data collection, and much more.
In response to feedback, the YPS Grant Program was re-envisioned to better support the campus community and to more effectively turn knowledge into action and positive impact beyond campus. The solicitation invited proposals for three types of grants:
- Initiation Grants (up to $25,000): Intended to spark new ideas
- Acceleration Grants (up to $100,000): Intended to lay the groundwork for implementation
- Constellation Grants (up to $250,000): Intended to transform knowledge into action
From a record 102 submitted proposals, five Initiation Grants, seventeen Acceleration Grants, and one Constellation Grant were selected for funding by faculty-led review committees. Project teams include representatives from across the University, including nine departments and eight professional schools. The first-ever Constellation Grant – the largest grant in the program’s history – will be awarded to Lea Winter, Assistant Professor of Chemical & Environmental Engineering, and her team for a project to develop the first low-temperature, electrified, modular approach to destroying hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants – potent greenhouse gases that are often inadvertently released.
The YPS Grant Program is funded by the Three Cairns Climate Impact Innovation Fund which serves as a catalyst to encourage Yale faculty and the wider Yale community to focus their research, scholarship, and expertise on climate solutions. By providing early-stage support for innovative projects, the fund enables faculty to experiment with promising ideas and to try new approaches. This fund was previously called the Climate Impact Innovation Fund. The Three Cairns Group is a mission-driven investment and philanthropic firm focused on the climate crisis. It develops and supports cross-sector initiatives to accelerate the clean energy transition and drive transformative, equitable progress.
Other generous supporters include the Natural Carbon Solutions Fund, the Simon Bates Catalyst Fund, and the Birnbaum-Harford Planetary Solutions Translation Fund, with co-funding from the Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture and the Office of the Provost AI Initiatives.
Read on to discover all of the projects funded through the 2025 YPS Grant Program!
2025 Initiation Grants
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Listening to the Forest
Through multisensory experiences, the forest transforms into a concert hall, classroom, and guide—drawing audiences into an immersive installation.
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Mobilizing Social Science and Practitioner Experience to Open New Channels from Climate Knowledge to Climate Action
The gap between climate evidence and action is stark—this project maps how knowledge can better drive change.
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Planning for a Yale Program in National Security, Intelligence, and the Environment
Providing intelligence and security communities with expertise on climate and environmental risks can drive lasting solutions to global challenges.
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Redesigning Feeding America’s Real-Time Donation System
Food insecurity, meanwhile, affects 47 million Americans, particularly those from marginalized communities.
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Resilient Rivers: Historical Lessons for Climate Adaptation and Sustainable Governance
In a time of accelerating ecological crises, actionable insights from history are a valuable tool to inform today’s preparation and adaptation plans.
2025 Acceleration Grants
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A Novel Species-selective Rodenticide: a Humane, Environmentally Safe Solution to Protect Biodiversity and Agriculture
Traditional rodenticides have caused raptor decline and endangered species loss leading to proposed legislation banning their use.
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AI-Powered, Low-Cost Soil Carbon Verification: Scalable and Continuous Monitoring for Agricultural Carbon Credits
This project develops an AI-powered, low-cost soil sensing system for frequent, automated carbon monitoring.
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Ambient Temperature and Pregnancy Outcomes of Women with Autoimmune Diseases
Autoimmune Diseases (ADs) are health conditions caused by dysregulation of the immune system.
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Biphasic Carbon Capture and Conversion using Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer
Large-scale capture and utilization of atmospheric CO2 is vital for mitigating climate change.
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climate Action and Information for communities (cAIc)
This project will pilot a distributed and scalable multi-modal generative AI that builds power for disadvantaged communities.
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Climate-Driven Global Expansion of Dengue Endemicity
Human-accelerated global changes to climate and land use are fundamentally altering the dynamics of infectious diseases.
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Design for Deglaciation: Spatial Protocols, Anticipatory Planning and Scenarios of Land Use for a Disappearing Cryosphere
As glaciers melt, landmasses that had been concealed for thousands of years are rapidly revealed.
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Developing an Energy Proportional Switch
Network devices are particularly energy inefficient, consuming significant power even when they are idle and there is no data to communicate.
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Financing Investments in the Energy Efficiency and Resiliency of Real Estate
Climate change is intensifying the frequency and severity of natural disasters, amplifying the need for resilient housing and increasing repair costs.
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Harnessing AI for Climate Change Mitigation and Resilience
AI may provide promising tools for addressing mitigation and adaptation challenges in fast-growing but low-state-capacity countries.
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Hidden Climate Benefits: Leveraging Cover Crops to Protect Forest Edges in the Amazon
In the southeastern Amazon and other tropical frontiers, producers are increasingly using deeper-rooted cover crops to improve soil health.
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Incentivizing Sustainable Agricultural Practices Using Satellite Technology
Satellite-verified incentives cut rice farming emissions and water use, making smallholder agriculture a driver of climate and livelihood gains.
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Leveraging “RNA Signatures” to Optimize Microalgal Biorefineries
Biorefineries aim to shift the material basis of our economy from petroleum to biomass to reduce fossil carbon output.
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Natural Capital Accounting of Soil
Sustainable soil management is critical to mitigating climate change and improving water quality in freshwater and coastal ecosystems.
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Scaling Community-Sensing and Recalling of Historical Climate Impact Data
A major challenge in finding planetary solutions for climate change is engaging the marginalized communities who are most affected.
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Validation of a Novel Solid State Alkalinity Sensor for Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal
Accurately measuring ocean alkalinity is essential for understanding the ocean’s role in the carbon cycle and ocean acidification.
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Yale Climate Change & Animal Agriculture Litigation Initiative
Agribusinesses have not received legal or regulatory scrutiny commensurate with their share of climate pollution.
2025 Constellation Grant
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Portable Destruction of High-GWP Refrigerants Using Low-Temperature Plasma-Water Arc
Hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) gases have ultra-high global warming potentials, typically between 700-13,000 times the potency of CO2.
