Indy Burke, professor of ecosystem ecology, has been reappointed as the Carl W. Knobloch, Jr. Dean of the Yale School of the Environment (YSE), President Maurie McInnis and Provost Scott Strobel announced this week. Her third five-year term will begin July 1, 2026.
The reappointment recognizes Burke's success in strengthening YSE's position as a leader in interdisciplinary environmental research and practice, increasing support for students, and extending the school's global reach, McInnis and Strobel wrote in a message to the school community.
"Under Dean Burke's leadership, YSE … has reinforced its traditional strengths while fervently pursuing new areas of inquiry," McInnis and Strobel said. "Dean Burke has also led YSE in forging new strategic partnerships and developing the knowledge and leadership needed to address today's urgent global challenges."
Burke, a renowned ecosystem ecologist and biogeochemist, has brought a highly effective mix of the aspirational and the practical to her tenure as dean, the president and provost wrote. In recent years, she has overseen major initiatives designed to cultivate the next generation of environmental leaders and broaden access to environmental education.
Among these initiatives is the creation of the Bekenstein Climate Leaders Program, launched in 2024 to increase the number of Yale graduates working to address the climate crisis and to accelerate climate change mitigation efforts. Similarly, the Three Cairns Climate Program for the Global South reduces barriers to advanced environmental education for emerging climate leaders from the Global South. The program welcomed its third cohort of scholars to campus last fall.
During Burke's tenure, YSE has also expanded its educational offerings through five new online certificate programs in urban climate leadership, clean and equitable energy development, environmental data science, green chemistry, and strategic climate change communication. These programs extend educational and training opportunities to environmental professionals around the world.
In addition to strengthening these new programs, YSE has appointed faculty in fields including tropical forest ecology, temperate forest resilience, and disturbance ecology and ecosystem dynamics, strengthening its historic expertise in forest and ecosystem science.
At the same time, faculty recruits in areas such as water resource management and policy, urban planning and data science, climate migration, and sustainable resource use enrich the school's research and teaching in increasingly important fields, McInnis and Strobel wrote. Burke has also advanced YSE's commitment to building a world-class environmental justice program.
During Burke's tenure, the school has also forged other new partnerships and initiatives aimed at addressing urgent global environmental challenges. Interdisciplinary teams at YSE have worked with external partners on efforts to advance the scientific integrity of voluntary carbon markets, develop a sustainability agenda for the international trade system, and mitigate the environmental impacts of artificial intelligence.
The school has also continued to grow its urban, environmental data science, and environmental communications initiatives; increased support for its doctoral program; facilitated its expansion into the Prospect Street wing of Osborn Memorial Laboratories; and cultivated the school's expertise across the broad field of climate science.
"Last year, YSE celebrated its 125th anniversary - a milestone that gave us the opportunity to reflect on the remarkable ways our faculty and alumni have shaped environmental policy and practice around the world. It also served as a powerful reminder of how much work remains," Burke said. "We're building on that legacy to tackle the defining environmental challenges of our time, and I'm deeply honored to continue doing this work with the YSE and Yale community."
Participants in the reappointment review process praised Burke's leadership and contributions to the school, noting her emphasis on research excellence, her mentorship of junior faculty, and her success in raising YSE's national and international profile. Members of the community also highlighted her collaborative leadership style and her effectiveness in securing philanthropic support for the school's mission.
"Based on the input we received, there is a clear consensus, both within and beyond the YSE community, that Dean Burke has been an outstanding and transformative leader," McInnis and Strobel wrote.
"We are grateful to Dean Burke for her willingness to continue providing visionary leadership to the YSE and Yale community," they added.
