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Alumni

To Make Greener Buildings, Try Innovating around the Edges

The building industry is slow to change. But three Yale alumni are finding ways to make changes on the margins and in the process offer solutions that aren’t easy to ignore.

A aerial photo of a 20th-century building retrofitted with solar panels.
  • How Connecticut Accelerated Its Vaccinations

    Josh Geballe ’02, Connecticut’s chief operating officer, explains the state’s controversial decision to switch to age-based eligibility for COVID vaccines—and says it likely saved lives.

    A drawing of a woman taking a selfie while getting a vaccination.
  • California’s Path to a Carbon-Neutral Grid

    Elliot Mainzer ’98, CEO of CAISO, explains how California is working to avoid another summer of blackouts even as the state transitions to a carbon-neutral grid.

    A power substation at the LS Power Group Gateway Energy Storage project in Otay Mesa, California.
  • Why the Texas Power Market Failed

    Texas-based energy economist Ed Hirs ’81 says the February 2021 power crisis exposed longstanding, fatal flaws in the state’s energy market design and oversight.

    Workers repair a power line in Austin, Texas, on February 18, 2021. Photo: Thomas Ryan Allison/Bloomberg via Getty Images.
  • To Reduce Risk, Build Trust, in Developing Countries and the U.S.

    Mena Cammett ’12 of the World Bank says that the tools used to analyze risk in emerging markets are increasingly relevant to the United States. To mitigate vulnerabilities, build trust.

    The Taiba N’Diaye Wind Power Station in Senegal, a project underwritten by the World Bank’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency. Photo: MIGA.
  • Maintaining Momentum on Climate Change

    Tyler Van Leeuwen ’14 of Shell explains explains how his internal skunkworks team helps move Shell toward its decarbonization goals.

    An illustration of an electric car moving through a landscape of wind turbines
  • To Tackle Plastics Pollution, Embrace a Circular Economy

    To cut down on plastics pollution, says Matt Kopac ’09, sustainable business and innovation manager at Burt’s Bees, we need a fundamentally different approach to sustainability.

    Microplastic collected from the Sargasso Sea. Photo: Tom Gruber.
  • Pharma Collaborates in the Fight against the Pandemic

    Nandish Poluru ’13 discusses the pharmaceutical industry’s unprecedented cooperative efforts to treat and prevent COVID-19.

    Scientists gathered around a lab table working with test tubes in concert.
  • Building Blocks for Change

    We talked to Judith Scimone ’00, chief talent officer at MetLife, about her path into workforce management and what she has learned in a year shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement.

    An illustration of a woman sitting in front of her computer having a Zoom meeting.
  • Delivering Holistic Healthcare in an Underserved Community

    Dr. Suzanne Lagarde ’14 describes how her federally qualified nonprofit health center is both adapting and expanding to meet new needs in an underserved community.

    An illustration of a clinic at the center of a neighborhood
  • Adapting in India

    Bikram Sohal ’97, who began the year leading the Indian office of a global ad-tech company, describes the impact of COVID-19 in India, a country with deep ties to the global economy but where much of the economy is still informal.

    An illustration of people lined up for COVID checks in India