The Jackson School currently hosts the Yale hub of the World Climate Research Program (WCRP) “My Climate Risk” lighthouse project. WCRP, convened by the World Meteorological Organization, UNESCO, and the International Science Council, coordinates and facilitates international climate research to develop, share, and apply the climate knowledge that contributes to societal well-being. The members of the My Climate Risk network aim to develop and mainstream a ‘bottom-up’ approach to recognizing and responding to regional climate risk.
The Yale hub focuses on developing and documenting structures for increasing the integration between climate knowledge and environmental governance. It seeks to create a community of learning across campus on strategies for working with policymakers, communities, and others to develop research questions, incorporate research users in their work, and communicate about both what is known and what remains uncertain about the dynamics and drivers environmental change. To this end, it hosts the Science Policy Interchange series, which brings together natural scientists and policy practitioners to discuss key climate and ecological topics as research foci and as policy challenges. The Interchange format highlights the similarities and differences between scientific and policy questions about different aspects of Earth system change. Topics covered in 2025-6 including hurricanes, extreme heat, Arctic warming, and marine carbon dioxide removal.
The Yale My Climate Risk Hub is currently convened by Jessica Seddon at the Jackson School of Global Affairs.
Its initial Steering Committee draws on faculty across various departments: Deborah Coen (History), Juan Lora (Earth and Planetary Sciences), Karen Seto (Yale School of the Environment), and Julie Zimmerman (Vice Provost, Yale Planetary Solutions). Its initial work is supported by a gift from the Bamboo Grove Fund.