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.

More information coming soon. 

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. 

More information coming soon 

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.