Our Team

Daniel C. Esty is the Hillhouse Professor of Environmental Law and Policy.  As a professor at Yale since 1994, he holds faculty appointments in both Yale’s Environment and Law Schools and directs the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy and serves on the Board of the Center for Business & Environment at Yale, which he founded in 2006. He has an BA from Harvard College, an MA from Balliol College at Oxford University where he was a Rhodes Scholar, and a JD from Yale Law School.

Nicole Itano is the Director of Policy and Engagement at the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy and the Director of the Remaking Trade Project. She works at the international climate and development policy, with a focus on reform of the global financial architecture. A former journalist, Nicole has worked for international organizations including WWF, Save the Children and the Climate Emergency Collaboration Group. She has a B.A. from Yale University.

Meghan O’Sullivan Ruvinsky serves as the Research Director at the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy (YCELP). As Research Director, Meghan manages a number of key YCELP grants and priority initiatives and guides the Center’s growth and strategic planning efforts. Prior to coming to Yale, Meghan was the Legislative Director for U.S. Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02) and spent close to a decade working in the U.S. House of Representatives on dozens of policy areas, including trade, agriculture, financial services, tax, fisheries, environmental issues, and transportation. Meghan is a graduate of Hamilton College. 

Dr. Zachary A. Wendling is the Research Director for the 2026 Environmental Performance Index at the Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy, where he did his post-doctoral training. Before returning to Yale, he was a Senior Research Associate at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University and the project manager for the Global Commons Stewardship Index at the Sustainable Development Solutions Network. 

Austin Scheetz serves as program manager at YCELP, where he shapes the Center’s presence at key events and advises on key strategic directions. Previously, Austin worked in Washington, DC, at the National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Global Change Research Program, advancing programs that seek to connect social and natural sciences in order to more effectively inform decision-making. Austin is passionate about ensuring that policymakers at all levels draw upon sound science when making decisions that impact the environment. Austin has a background in environmental economics with degrees from Purdue and the Yale School of the Environment.

Dr. Etienne Berthet is a Postdoctoral Associate at the MIT Center for Sustainability Science and Strategy (CS3), where his research focuses on integrated modeling frameworks that link global economic systems with environmental, agricultural, and water dynamics to support resilient policy. He also provides scientific guidance on the development of the Global Commons Stewardship Index in collaboration with the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy.