In 2019 the Sustainability Fund was established to support the Office of Sustainability, which has a goal to work toward a Yale where sustainability is seamlessly integrated into the operations, scholarship, and daily life of the University, positioning Yale as a local and global leader. The Sustainability Fund supports student research assistant to develop programming, communications, events to advance the work of the Office of Sustainability. Thanks to the generosity of many alumni, the Fund has raised over $86,000 to date. We hope you will support the Fund. Gifts can be made to the Yale Blue Green Sustainability Fund!
Since its inception, the Fund has provided much needed financial support to develop student environmental leaders. The Office of Sustainability has hired undergraduate and graduate student researchers to provide them with hands-on training and work experience in the field of campus sustainability. Collectively, these YBG Fellows support the Office’s efforts: • to provide thought leadership and direction to the University on sustainability, • to help ensure accountability on Yale’s sustainability performance, and • to build a culture of sustainability across Yale and beyond.
In fall 2026, the Office has hired two Yale School of the Environment students as research assistants with support from YBG. Theo Wang will help evaluate the University’s transportation system as Yale moves to electrify its vehicle emissions, and Raphaella Heath will survey waste management facilities in campus venues outside the residential colleges. You can read about this year’s YBG RAs, and other interns we have supported last year, on the Office of Sustainability website.
We were gratified to learn that Yale has hired several new administrative leaders to strengthen the University’s efforts to ensure the campus is as environmentally sustainable as possible, including a campus architect, landscape architect, hospitality head, and waste manager. In the spring, in coordination with the new administrative leaders, the Office of Sustainability will create a new cohort program for half a dozen research assistants who will serve as Summer Sustainability Interns, working on projects that also align with their chosen courses of study.
In previous years, the Fund supported student projects to:
• provide vital assistance in communications for the Office in graphic design, photographic and videographic presentations , and expanded social media presence,
• support the School of Architecture’s Zero Waste Plan,
• create student travel surveys to support scope 3 emissions data gathering,
• develop student-focused outreach programming on climate adaptation and resiliency,
• evaluate faculty research linked to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals,
• enhance graphic design for sustainability communications,
• work to manage the School of Architecture design waste,
• shape a Campus Biodiversity Plan with recommendations for plantings and a business case.
• collect data with The Schools of Management and Architecture for the Yale Bike Map
We are proud of the work the Office of Sustainability is doing to support student environmental leaders at Yale. These and future student projects at Yale are dependent in part on our financial contributions. We hope that you will join us in supporting this vital enterprise at Yale with a generous gift to the Yale Blue Green Sustainability Fund. Thanks for your support, and go Yale Blue Green!
Becky Bunnell ’78, Paul Chapman ’70, Anne Crawley ’76, Sustainability Fund Co-Chairs
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Yale Student Sustainability Presentations April 2026
Yale Blue Green was glad to provide partial financial support for several Research Assistants in the Office of Sustainability in the 2025-26 academic year. Below is a brief summary of their accomplishments from the annual Student Sustainability Presentations on April 27th.
Aileen Santiago, Graphic Design Assistant, created illustrations for a retrospective celebrating the 20thanniversary of the founding of the Office of Sustainability. During Celebrate Sustainability Week in October, her illustrations appeared in an article documenting 20 years of progress (click here to read the story). She also worked on the Office’s 2025 Impact Report, and in the spring she helped promote the Spring Salvage event and Yale’s annual Bike to Work Breakfast.
Yevgeniya Regent, Videographer, worked on two new videos that will be released in the coming months. She partnered with Bulldog Sustainability, our student athletics group, on a video urging fans at Yale sports games to “put waste in its place.” She also produced a video about the Yale Environmental Monitoring Data Project, an initiative led by Yale’s museums and cultural properties to reduce energy use in collections spaces. Last year, Yevgenia produced a documentary-style video on where campus recycling ends up.
Miffy Wang, previously Social Media Assistant, took on a new role this spring as office Photographer. Miffy documented numerous sustainability programs and events throughout the spring, including our celebratory State of Sustainability and Awards Breakfast on April 8. See examples of Miffy’s photography from that event here. Miffy also received a recognition of her own, winning a photo contest with the International Campus Sustainability Network for a photograph depicting biodiversity at Yale Farm. Find the photo and more about it on the Yale Sustainability Instagram.
Nyle Jones, Social Media Assistant, told the story of Yale’s sustainability efforts through weekly posts on the Office’s social media channels, documenting and promoting events, the hiring of new Assistant Director Jen Baldwin, green-certified student groups, campus partners such as Marsh Botanical Garden, and a university-wide food-waste challenge for undergrads. You can see examples of his work on our Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, or X pages.
