Dear Members of the Yale School of the Environment Community,
We are pleased to announce that the Yale Corporation has approved the reappointment of Indy Burke, professor of ecosystem ecology, as the Carl W. Knobloch, Jr. Dean of the Yale School of the Environment (YSE) for a third term of five years, effective July 1, 2026. This renewal recognizes Dean Burke’s success in strengthening YSE’s position as a leader in interdisciplinary environmental research and practice, increasing support for students, and extending the school’s global reach.
Dean Burke, a noted ecosystem ecologist and biogeochemist, has brought a highly effective mix of the aspirational and the practical to her tenure as dean. In her second term, she has led efforts to advance next-generation environmental leadership and to expand scholarship support through two transformative programs. The Bekenstein Climate Leaders Program, founded in 2024, aims to increase the number of YSE and Yale graduates working to address the climate crisis and accelerate the pace and scale of climate change mitigation. The Three Cairns Climate Program for the Global South, which welcomed its third cohort of scholars to campus last fall, reduces barriers to advanced environmental education and training for emerging climate leaders from the Global South.
In recent years, YSE has also launched five new online certificate programs—in urban climate leadership, clean and equitable energy development, environmental data science, green chemistry, and strategic climate change communication—expanding educational and training opportunities for environmental professionals worldwide.
Under Dean Burke’s leadership, YSE—which celebrated its 125th anniversary last year—has reinforced its traditional strengths while fervently pursuing new areas of inquiry. Faculty appointments in tropical forest ecology, temperate forest resilience, and disturbance ecology and ecosystem dynamics have enhanced YSE’s historic expertise in forest and ecosystem science. Additional faculty recruits in areas of emerging importance—including water resource management and policy, urban planning and data science, climate migration, and sustainable resource use—have enriched these programs. Meanwhile, Dean Burke has advanced the school’s commitment to building a world-class environmental justice program.
Dean Burke has also led YSE in forging new strategic partnerships and developing the knowledge and leadership needed to address today’s urgent global challenges. Interdisciplinary teams across YSE have worked with external partners to advance the scientific integrity of voluntary carbon markets, develop a comprehensive sustainability agenda for the international trade system, and mitigate the environmental impacts of artificial intelligence. YSE continues to grow its urban, environmental data science, and environmental communications initiatives, increase support for its doctoral program, facilitate the school’s expansion into the Prospect Street wing of Osborn Memorial Laboratories, and cultivate its expertise across the broad field of climate science.
We thank all of you who provided input on the reappointment review process. Based on your comments, there is a clear consensus, both within and beyond the YSE community, that Dean Burke has been an outstanding and “transformative” leader. Colleagues noted her prioritization of research excellence, her mentorship of junior faculty, and her exceptional success in raising the school’s national and international profile. Others expressed deep appreciation for Dean Burke’s thoughtful and collaborative leadership style, and for her outstanding track record of fundraising to advance YSE’s mission.
We are grateful to Dean Burke for her willingness to continue providing visionary leadership to the YSE and Yale community. Please join us in congratulating her on her reappointment and in thanking her for her steadfast service.
Sincerely,
Maurie McInnis
President
Professor of the History of Art
Scott Strobel
Provost
Henry Ford II Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry