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Vice Provost for Planetary Solutions
Address:
2 Whitney Avenue (Whitney Grove Square Bldg), Suite 400, Room 405
Julie Beth Zimmerman is Yale’s inaugural Vice Provost for Planetary Solutions. In this capacity, Julie advances university priorities in the areas of climate and sustainability, overseeing strategies and initiatives that bring the full breadth of Yale’s intellectual and institutional capabilities to bear on the world’s most pressing planetary challenges — including climate change, biodiversity loss, and the social and economic impacts of these interconnected crises.
As Vice Provost for Planetary Solutions, Julie works across the academic, research, and operations communities, and with external partners, to envision and execute a university-wide climate and sustainability portfolio. She provides strategic leadership to drive pioneering, scalable solutions to planetary challenges and accelerate the impact of these solutions in the broader world. Her leadership also extends to campus operations and facilities projects relating to climate and sustainability, partnering with colleagues in Yale Operations and Facilities to ensure that Yale leads by example.
Julie oversees Yale’s cross-school centers related to climate and sustainability, including the Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture, the Yale Center for Biospheric Studies, and the Yale Center for Geospatial Solutions. She also fosters interdisciplinary research through the YPS grants program, the YPS Impact Accelerator, and the YPS Doctoral Fellows program. In this capacity, Julie provides support and guidance to multiple departments and works directly with institutional leadership, deans, Yale Operations and Facilities, Yale Ventures, and faculty, staff, and students throughout Yale.
Julie holds a joint appointment as the Liliane and Christian Haub Professor in the School of Engineering and Applied Science and the School of the Environment (YSE) and serves as the Deputy Director of the Yale Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering. Prior to joining the Office of the Provost, Julie served as Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at YSE, overseeing the professional master’s degree program, including curriculum, degree requirements, and non-ladder faculty. In addition, Julie serves as the Editor-in-Chief of Environmental Science & Technology, the most highly cited journal in environmental sciences and engineering.
Julie holds an interdisciplinary PhD in Environmental Engineering and Natural Resource Policy from the University of Michigan. Prior to joining Yale, Julie served as an Engineer and Program Manager in the Office of Research and Development at the United States Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, DC. Julie was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2025 and to the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2026.
Caitlin Rubenstein