Our Work
Through the work of outstanding faculty, pioneering centers, innovative clinics, and longstanding partnerships with colleagues at Yale University and beyond, the Law School is training the next generation of scholars and advocates to tackle the most pressing environmental challenges facing the planet.
The Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy, a cooperative undertaking between Yale Law School and Yale’s School of the Environment, draws upon resources throughout Yale University to develop and advance environmental policy locally, nationally, and around the globe. Additionally, students can jointly pursue a J.D. at Yale Law School and a Master of Environmental Management (M.E.M) degree at the School of the Environment.
Yale Law School’s Law, Environment & Animals Program (LEAP) includes courses in animal law, speaking events, a Student Fellows program, and more. The program has two goals: to inspire impactful learning and scholarship about the deep legal, scientific, and moral questions around humanity’s treatment of animals; and to empower Yale scholars and students to produce positive legal and political change.
The Goldman Sonnenfeldt Environmental Protection Clinic offers students the opportunity to engage with environmental law and policy problems through skills-based seminars, interdisciplinary projects, and partnerships with the National Resources Defense Council and other organizations. The clinic looks for creative approaches to environmental justice, like a recent project with Elevate Policy Lab of the Yale School of Public Health and the Yale School of Medicine aimed at enriching civic engagement.
The student-run Yale Environmental Law Association sponsors an annual lecture and coffee chat series featuring visiting scholars, environmental professionals, business leaders, and government officials, and organizes the annual New Directions in Environmental Law and Policy conference, the region’s largest environmental law and policy gathering.
Beyond New Haven, Yale Law School alumni work tirelessly to address some of the most pressing challenges of climate change. From the sea beds off the coastlines of Pacific Island nations to the boreal forests of northern Canada, they are fighting in the courts and other arenas to establish accountability for climate change, limit harmful environmental policy, and advance environmental justice around the world.
