The Joint-Degree Program (YSOA+E) between the Yale School of Architecture (YSoA) and the Yale School of the Environment (YSE) trains future leaders at the forefront of design and environmental management and research. Leveraging full access to two globally acclaimed professional schools, students of YSOA+E gain the knowledge, skills, and vision for meaningful environmental change in the context of global urbanization, materials and resource use, and ecological stewardship. Graduates of YSOA+E are uniquely positioned to provide the leadership needed to shape the built environment toward impactful climate solutions.
About
Faculty Directors
Karen Seto, YSE
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Karen Seto is the Frederick C. Hixon Professor of Geography and Urbanization Science at the Yale School of the Environment. She is one of the world’s leading experts on urbanization and its impacts on the planet, including climate change, biodiversity, and food systems. A geographer and urban scientist, she integrates remote sensing, field interviews, and modeling methods to focus on four research themes: 1) measuring and characterizing urban land-use; 2) modeling and understanding the drivers of urban land-use change; 3) forecasting urban expansion; and 4) assessing the environmental consequences of urban expansion. She is an expert in satellite remote sensing analysis and has pioneered methods to reconstruct historical urban land-use. Her research developed the first forecasts of urban land expansion globally. She has extensive fieldwork experience in Asia, especially China and India, where she has conducted research for over 20 and 10 years, respectively.
Professor Seto serves on numerous national and international scientific bodies. She is chair of the Policy and Global Affairs Division of the U.S. National Academies and co-chair of the U.S. National Academies Climate Security Roundtable, established by the direction of Congress to help better understand and anticipate the ways climate change affects U.S. national security interests. She is also co-chair of the U.S. National Academies Subcommittee on U.S.-China Scientific Engagement. She was the Coordinating Lead Author for two UN climate change reports, the IPCC 5th (2014) and 6th (2022) Assessment Reports, where she co-led the chapters on how urban areas can mitigate climate change.
Professor Seto is committed to improving public understanding of an urbanizing planet. She was the Executive Producer of “10,000 Shovels: Rapid Urban Growth in China,” a documentary film that integrates satellite imagery, historical photographs, and contemporary film footage to highlight the urban changes occurring in China. Her book, City Unseen, co-authored with Meredith Reba (YSE MEM ’14), uses satellite imagery to show how cities shape landscapes and how landscapes shape cities.
Professor Seto has received many awards for her scientific contributions, including the Outstanding Contributions to Remote Sensing Research Award from the American Association of Geographers. She is an elected member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering. She is also a Foreign Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, an elected lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She holds a PhD in Geography from Boston University.
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Jen Shin, YSOA
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Jen Shin is an interdisciplinary practitioner and educator. Informed by her training in architecture and urban ecology, she works at the intersection of cities, people, and the environment from the scale of communities to the globe. Her work has straddled architecture practice, science communication, illustration, speculation, and imagination. Jen is the Global Lead for WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities where she leads the Prize for Cities, a flagship global competition that recognizes trailblazing projects and initiatives for their contribution to inclusive and sustainable urban transformation.
Jen has previously contributed to numerous synthesis reports on urban climate adaptation and mitigation including the urban mitigation chapter for the IPCC (UN Climate Change) 6th Assessment Report. In 2022, she lead an all-timber pavilion project with LevenBetts for an exhibition at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art that focused on affordable housing. The project was completed with a fully sustainable timber chain-of-custody and received grant support from the Sustainable Forestry Initiative. Jen earned her Master of Environmental Management from the Yale School of the Environment, where she was a Hixon Urban Fellow and Master of Architecture from the Yale School of Architecture, where she received the Janet Cain Seilaff Alumni Award. Her joint-graduate studies were supported by the prestigious Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans. Jen received her Bachelor of Architecture from Drexel University, where she was awarded the Michael Pearson Architecture Prize
Read full bioAïcha Woods, YSE
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Aïcha S. Woods is the Urban Program Manager at Yale School of the Environment, and supports the Urban@Yale Initiative and the Climate and Urban Learning Communities at YSE. Aïcha has worked at the intersection of community development and climate resilience, and has expertise in sustainable design, affordable housing, infrastructure, and community engagement. Aïcha is committed to advancing systems-level solutions for urban development that focuses on housing affordability and climate change impacts. Her work has centered on innovative capacity-building programs and collaborative initiatives working towards impactful implementation. With a Master of Architecture from Yale University and a BA in Architecture from UC Berkeley, Aïcha’s career encompasses diverse roles across the nonprofit, public, and private sectors. Her recent experience includes leading on federal grant applications for affordable housing and community development and advising on a HUD Choice Neighborhoods Initiative Transformation Plan in Bridgeport, CT. During her tenure as Executive Director of the City Plan Department in New Haven, Aïcha oversaw multi-million-dollar infrastructure projects and spearheaded impactful urban policies, including affordable housing zoning reforms and climate resiliency policies. In the private sector, Aïcha contributed to the design of landmark civic, institutional and commercial projects globally at Pelli Clarke Architects. Her work encompassed high-profile projects such as the Minneapolis Central Library, Liverpool One and Vietcombank Tower in Ho Chi Minh City.
Aïcha’s interdisciplinary approach integrates her passion for architecture, urban design, and equitable climate solutions. Her dedication extends beyond her professional roles; she actively volunteers in environmental and public art initiatives in New Haven and is an enthusiastic advocate for the role of art and design in imagining just climate futures.
