A Better Planet: 40 Big Ideas for A Sustainable Future
A practical, bipartisan call to action from the world’s leading thinkers on the environment and sustainability
Biodiversity
On World Environment Day, “A Better Planet” Event Highlights the Need for Collaboration
This June, four authors from “A Better Planet: Pathways to a Sustainable Future” joined Center Director Dan Esty, Yale FES Dean Indy Burke, and special guest UN Ambassador Marco Antonio Suazo to discuss how the lessons from “A Better Planet” can be used to address today’s environmental challenges.
Thomas Lovejoy: Biodiversity on a Changing Planet
Thomas Lovejoy, university professor in the Environmental Science and Policy department at George Mason University and dedicated conservation biologist, joins Alix Kashdan (FES ‘20) and Liz Bourguet (FES ‘20) to talk about the importance of biodiversity in the face of climate change.
#23: Jed Kaplan
The start date for what scientists call the Anthropocene - the era in which human activities begin to have a significant global impact on Earth’s ecosystems - varies widely. Some researchers point to the industrial revolution, others look much further back. In this podcast Jed Kaplan, of the Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics, University of Lausanne, Switzerland, discusses his research, focused on the role of the Earth’s land surface in the climate system – and what it reveals about how humans were transforming ecosystem more than 3,000 years ago.
#15: Dan Simberloff
From battered Asian carp to wild boar bacon, fighting invasive species at the dinner table has become an increasingly popular trend, even catching the attention of NPR commentator Bonny Wolf. While invasivory might make for some interesting recipes — lionfish nachos anyone? —is it an effective strategy for control? In this podcast University of Tennessee Professor Dan Simberloff and Yale postdoc and invasion biologist Sara Kuebbing discuss their concerns with the tactic.
#5: Kevin Poland
Maine farmer Kevin Poland visits with YCELP Associate Director Josh Galperin about the local food sovereignty movement. Proponents of the movement would like to see food safety regulations handled at a local rather than the federal or state level, but the issue has proved divisive. The Poland Family Farm has been operating in Brooklin, Maine since 1978 and grows MOFGA certified organic vegetables, flowers, berries, and hay as well as pasture-raised, heritage breeds pork, beef, and eggs.
EPI Insights: Protected Areas
Biodiversity underpins all ecosystem services that sustain our environment and power our economies. Intact and sufficient habitat is critical to supporting ecosystems and maintaining biodiversity. However, natural habitats have witnessed considerable declines in biodiversity in recent decades, and today many species are at risk of extinction.
Resilient Agriculture and Resilient Environmentalism Require Food Equity
By Michael Meehan
Within the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), there is a small team of employees who believe that regional food systems make up not only the subject of work but also a theory of change – that issues of national and global importance may be effectively approached by leveraging state and local politics.
What are we talking about when we talk about REDD+? From a top-down to a bottom-up approach
By Whitney Johnson, F&ES ‘16
Agroforestry: Merging Human And Environmental Needs
by guest author Elias Kohn, F&ES ‘16
