Group Alumni
Chester Ling
Nanyang Technological University ’24
Chester is a rising senior studying Environmental Earth Systems Science and specializing in Society and Earth Systems at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. At DDL, Chester will be working on expanding city coverage and adding more indicators to our Urban, Environment, and Social Inclusion Index. He is excited to explore the intersections between environmental systems, data science, and urbanization, and build his machine learning and data visualization skills through his work at DDL. Chester hopes to take the knowledge about data analytics, urban environments and sustainability into his post-grad career.
Anusha Pandey
Samuel Centre for Social Connectedness Fellow
M.S., Environmental Science
Anusha, a Nepalese researcher, is joining DDL as a Samuel Centre for Social Connectedness Fellow. She has a Masters degree in Environmental Science from Kathmandu University and specializes in social inclusion, climate action, and sustainable urban planning. Through her extensive experience, she has delved into the intricate relationship between water availability and ecosystems throughout Nepal. Anusha is dedicated to unraveling the complexities of these systems using innovative approaches such as citizen science, young researchers, mobile technology, and remote sensing. Her impactful campaigns and active involvement in research projects serve as a testament to her unwavering commitment to sustainable resource management and the transformative power of technology. With her expertise and unyielding passion, Anusha is a catalyst for creating greener, more inclusive, and equitable cities.
Jia-Shen Tsai
Duke University, Masters Student
Jia-Shen is a second-year Environmental Economics and Policy student in the Master’s program of Environmental Management at Duke. Originally from Taiwan, he holds dual bachelor’s degrees in Anthropology and Sociology from National Taiwan University. Prior to joining Duke, Jia-Shen dedicated himself to advocating for farmland conservation and national land-use planning through civic-hacking as a campaigner for Citizens of the Earth, Taiwan. Jia-Shen is interested in electrified transportation and energy land use. Over the summer, he is working on the Global Climate Action project to hone his policy literacy and data science skills. In his free time, he enjoys bouldering, watching films, and playing volleyball.
Yichi Liu
UNC-Chapel Hill ’26
Yichi is a sophomore at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, pursuing majors in Environmental Science and Mathematics. Her involvement in the web development of the Urban Environment & Social Inclusion Index project at DDL during Fall 2022 set her on path toward finding solutions for a more sustainable and equitable planet. At UNC, she has also interned for the Cleantech Summit, where she assisted with event organizing, interviewed Dr. Henry McKoy, and published a blog post. Yichi enjoys applying mathematical modeling to answer questions about the actual world, and is excited to pursue this passion at DDL.
Nageen Ayesha Rameez
Yale-NUS College ’24
Nageen is a rising senior majoring in Environmental Studies and minoring in Psychology. Interested in the disproportinate burden of climate impacts on the Global South, Nageen is excited to join our team and contribute to research related to climate action and justice. This summer, she is excited to learn more about climate action mechanisms and polish her data science skills through her work on our Global Climate Action project.
Mira Dewan
Yale-NUS College ’24
Mira is a rising senior majoring in Physical Sciences at Yale-NUS College. Although the focus of her studies are physics and chemistry, Mira is interested in environmental and urban studies and hopes to pursue a career involving science communication and data science. Over the summer, she is working on the Urban, Environment and Social Inclusion Index to sharpen her data science and GIS skills. While in Chapel Hill, Mira is excited to hike and spend time outdoors.
Hantao Wang
UNC-Chapel Hill, PhD Student
Hantao is pursuing a PhD degree in Environmental Engineering at the Gillings School of Public Health. His current research focus is on using a data fusion framework to create a global ozone map. At DDL, Hantao works on data analysis and visualization for multiple projects, including our Global Climate Action and UESI projects. In his free time, he enjoys playing the stock market and watching TV, especially “The Wire”.
Steve Yoon
UNC-Chapel Hill ’23
Steve is a recent graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he studied environmental science with a minor in GIS. He is interested in using remote-sensing data to better inform stakeholders and decision makers make key decisions about their environments, and is joining DDL as a student GIS engineer/analyst. In his free time, Steve likes to go on walks and listen to podcasts.
Jackson Dowden
UNC-Chapel Hill ’23
Jackson is a senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill pursuing Bachelors degrees in Computer Science and Quantitative Biology with a minor in Data Science. He is passionate about the growing role of data in every field, specifically at the intersection of computer science and biology in healthcare and biotech. Jackson is currently working at the DDL to assist in creating data ingestion pipelines and collaborating with partner organizations.
Zhi Yi Yeo
Research Scientist
BSc, Environmental Studies
Zhi Yi holds a BSc from Yale-NUS College majoring in Environmental Studies and a minor in Mathematical, Computational, and Statistical Science. He is interested in the intersection of data science and the environmental sciences, and is keen to use data-driven approaches to enable the net-zero transition. Zhi Yi has previously worked on developing the ClimActor package, a code package and dataset which provides harmonized climate network participation on global climate actors. Prior to joining DDL, Zhi Yi also worked as a strategist where he supported the development and growth of a sustainability strategy practice.
Tuviere Onookome-Okome
Collaborator
M.Sc, Epidemiology
Tuviere is a McGill epidemiology graduate who has joined our team as an Environmental Epidemiology Researcher and Senior Researcher for the Samuel Centre for Social Connectedness (SCSC). She is working on our Urban Environment and Social Inclusion Program and is interested in exploring the link between the built environment and mental health. She previously worked as a fellow at SCSC where she explored the relationship between socio-economic status and heat exposure in the different neighborhoods in Montreal.
Ian French
Yale-NUS College ’22
Ian is a third-year student at Yale-NUS majoring in Environmental Studies and minoring in Anthropology. A California native, he is a lifelong lover of the ocean who is passionate about marine conservation. At the same time, volunteering in his campus chapter of Habitat for Humanity has cultivated in him a strong desire to work directly with and for people. He is therefore interested in investigating how partnerships between different types of actors can foster synergies between climate action and sustainable development.
Davin Rammani
UNC-Chapel Hill ’23
Davin is a senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill pursuing Bachelors degrees in Computer Science and Mathematics. He is interested in using data analytics and development tools to find patterns and create visualizations to be able to solve real-world problems and sharing findings with the general public. At the Data-Driven Lab, he works a front-end developer. In his free time, he enjoys traveling, running, and hiking.
Stefan-Cristian Roata
Yale-NUS College, ’23
Qianhui Fang
UNC-Chapel Hill ’23
Qianhui is a senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, double-majoring in Statistics and Economics with a minor in Math. She works in the Data-Driven Lab as a Data Scientist/Analyst. She is interested in using data-driven methods to research public policy, trade policy, and supply chain issues. She is passionate about discovering patterns in datasets, making visualizations of features, and reporting research findings in a storytelling manner. She intends to pursue her career in business analytics or data analysis. In her free time, she enjoys watching travel vlogs and mukbang.
Andi Carnell
UNC-Chapel Hill ’23
Andi is a senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill pursuing a double-major in Statistics and Economics with a minor in French. At DDL, she works as a Data Analyst and is passionate about the ethics surrounding AI and machine learning techniques, finding unexpected insights in large datasets, and working with non-technical stakeholders to create data-based initiatives. After graduation, she plans to work as a data analyst before hopefully returning to school to pursue a master’s program.
Hanqi Hua
UNC-Chapel Hill, ’23
Hanqi is a rising senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, double-majoring in Computer Science and Statistics. He is particularly interested in solving real-life problems using data analysis and machine learning systems. He intends to pursue his career as a machine learning engineer. In his free time, he enjoys hiking and playing basketball.
Julia Cardwell
PhD Student
Julia is a second year Ph.D. student in the Department of Geography at UNC Chapel Hill. Her research examines the social impacts of extreme weather events, with a special focus on equity within federal recovery aid payout. She is more broadly interested in the shifting policy landscape surrounding these extreme events within the context of increasing extremes due to climate change.
Kate Mao
UNC-Chapel Hill, ’22
Samantha Anthony
UNC ’23
Samantha is a junior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill pursuing a B.S. in Statistics & Analytics and Computer Science. She is interested in the intersection of data and politics and how current climate research is being leveraged to form public policy and inform public opinion. Her prior work experience has focused on leveraging data analytics for marketing and financial purposes, and she is hoping to bring perspectives from those other industries into environmental and political data analysis. During her free time, you can find her swimming, kayaking, or at the beach.
Varun Subramaniam
UNC ’22
Varun Subramaniam is a rising senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, pursuing a B.A. in Political Science and a B.S.P.H. in Environmental Health Sciences at the Gillings School of Global Public Health. He is interested in health policy and data-driven solutions to global climate issues. He is passionate about improving equitable outcomes in public health, both within the United States and at international scales. Varun grew up in Bangkok, Thailand and hopes for his future work to, in part, contribute to air quality research in Southeast Asia. In his free time, he is an ardent fan of all-things basketball and an avid “foodie.”
Wenxin Chen
UNC-Chapel Hill, ’23
Wenxin Chen is a rising second-year master’s student in the Media and Communication program (Strategic Communication Track) at UNC-Chapel Hill and comes to the Data-Driven Lab as a Science Communications Assistant. She’s passionate about bridging information gaps between scientists and the public and bringing significant discoveries on climate change and environmental policies out to the world. Before joining DDL, she earned her BA in Communications at CU Denver with minors in International Studies, Sociology, and Women and Gender Studies.
Joyce Mei
UNC/Cornell ’23
Joyce is an undergraduate student at UNC-Chapel Hill majoring in Statistics and Computer Science. She is interested in learning environmental issues, improving environmental sustainability, and promoting eco-friendly products. She is passionate about solving real-world problems with the power of data and coding. At DDL she works on in the area of big data applications, machine learning, and is interested in operations research.
Zhitong Yu
UNC ’22
Zhitong is a Master of Public Health candidate ’22 at UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health with a concentration in Public Health Data Science. She holds a bachelor’s degree with the highest distinction from UNC, where she majored in Statistics and Biology. She is interested in the application of data science in public health, including environmental health and environmental policy-making. In her free time, she enjoys swimming, hiking, and practicing karate.
Kayla Guilliams
UNC ’22
Kayla Guilliams is a second-year master’s student in the environment and science communication dual degree program at UNC Chapel Hill and comes to the Data-Driven Lab as a science communications assistant. She’s interested in leveraging communications for public good in the areas of climate change, coastal resiliency, and environmental justice. Prior to joining DDL, she earned her BA in environmental studies with minors in statistics and journalism from UNC Chapel Hill, and worked as an environmental journalist across the Southeast.
Qin Wayne Toh
Yale College ’21
Wayne is a rising junior at Yale-NUS with a major in Mathematical, Computational and Statistical Sciences and a minor in Physical Sciences (Physics). He is interested in the potential that data science and technology has in improving educational standards in his home country, Malaysia, as well as other developing countries, given his strong belief in the benefits of having a good education. During his free time, Wayne enjoys playing badminton, volleyball and listening to classical music.
Brendan Mapes
Research Associate
MA, International Development
Brendan holds an MA in International Development from the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver. He has worked across several research-oriented roles in the sustainable development field, including consulting for the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in Cali, Colombia on global food systems futures, climate-smart agriculture, long-term agricultural modeling, and the food-health-environment nexus. He has also consulted and worked as a research fellow for the Frederick S. Pardee Center for International Futures, including on quantitative assesments of the impact of violent conflict on human and sustainable development processes in Yemen, and modeling and scenario analysis for accelerating global Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) achievement in collaboration with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). He also holds a BA in Philosophy, Politics, and Law from Binghamton University.
Sowmya Raghavan
Yale-NUS College ’21
Sowmya Raghavan is a rising junior at Yale-NUS College majoring in Global Affairs and minoring in Environmental Studies. Sowmya’s key research interests are evaluating how data can drive policy decisions, and the creation of a multi-stakeholder climate governance regime that prioritises non-state actors
Jonas Tan
Yale College ’21
Jonas is an undergraduate student from Yale-NUS College majoring in Mathematical, Computational and Statistical Sciences (MCS) and minoring in Philosophy. He is interested in exploring the intersections between the sciences and humanities, believing that the two are meant to be interconnected rather than separated and that these intersections have implications and applications in various aspects of life. His other academic interests are in machine learning, quantum computing, eastern philosophy, neuroscience and theology.
Vasu Namdeo
Yale-NUS College ’23
Vasu is an undergraduate student at Yale-NUS College, undergoing the Double Degree Programme with Law, with an interest in Data Science and Economics. He is eager to delve into the interaction between legal systems and climate change, particularly how one can be motivated to go beyond their preconceived notions about their capabilities to effect change. He is also passionate about problem-solving from a multitude of perspectives and believes that effective data usage and analyses can bring substantial outcomes to the table.
Tan Yin Xi
Yale-NUS College ’22
Yin Xi is a rising junior at Yale-NUS College majoring in Urban Studies and minoring in Mathematical, Computational and Statistical Sciences (MCS). She is interested in the synthesis of urban studies and data science, and is keen to explore how big data can be used to inform urban planning and design in the smart city. She is also interested in how cities can work towards ethical urban development, to make it accessible and inclusive for all.
Elwin Lim
Research Assistant
Elwin is an environmental studies graduate from Yale-NUS College. He is interested in renewable energy and policy research, and is planning to pursue a master of environmental management at the Yale School of Environment.
Nicholas Chin Jian Wei
Yale-NUS College ’21
Nick is an undergraduate student in Yale-NUS College and is majoring in Computer Science. He is interested in a data driven approach in the analysis of competitive e-sports. Nick has also designed various mods for video games and is interested in virtual reality technology for use in entertainment and the medical field.
Odele Tan
Yale-NUS College ’23
Odele is an undergraduate student at Yale-NUS College who grew up in a hodgepodge of cities – expatriate industrial Chinese cities, cramped Tokyo neighbourhoods, the scorching desert metropolis of the UAE, and sunny Singapore. She is interested in the confluence of urban landscapes, environmental sustainability and the lifestyles concerning them both. She plans to major in Urban Studies and believes that data analytics is a powerful approach to the future of sustainable cities.
Amy Weinfurter
Research Associate and Lab Manager
Amy explores the growing role that cities, states, businesses, and investors play in addressing climate change. Her work focuses on quantifying the national mitigation potential impact of state and city climate action, and identifying the drivers of successful renewable energy and energy efficiency initiatives in developing countries. Amy holds a masters degree from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, where she studied the overlap between climate change, environmental planning, and water management. Her professional experience includes a background in watershed monitoring and remediation, along with experience supporting capacity-building and communication efforts for a range of non-profit organizations.
Nihit Goyal, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Nihit obtained his PhD at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, where he specialized in comparative policy studies with a focus on energy, climate change, and sustainability. Nihit was previously a Research Scientist at the Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy, where he conducted research on strategies for a sustainable energy transition in India. Building on this, his doctoral dissertation examined state-level energy policymaking in India to identify triggers for accelerating the Indian energy transition. His research has been published in various journals, including Policy Sciences, Evaluation, Public Administration and Development, Energy Economics, Energy for Sustainable Development, and the International Journal of Epidemiology.
Ross Rauber
University of Chicago ’19; Programmer
Ross is a fourth year undergraduate student at the University of Chicago. In addition to being very interested in data analysis, Ross is a web developer. So far, he has helped with gathering and displaying data used to create a clean energy performance index for Connecticut’s municipalities and is now working on creating visualizations for a global environmental data dashboard.
Hannah Melville-Rea
Samuel Centre for Social Connectedness Fellow
Hannah is a Social Connectedness Fellow jointly appointed by DDL and the Samuel Centre for Social Connectedness. She graduated from New York University Abu Dhabi, and subsequently stayed-on as a Fellow to research the sociopolitical impacts of drought in Australia. During her undergraduate studies, she led a youth climate think tank and organised environmental education workshops. Passionate about climate policy, she has trained with Al Gore in climate leadership, participated in UN climate negotiations and provided policy recommendations for the G7 as a youth delegate.
Zhi Yi Yeo
Yale-NUS College ’20
Zhi Yi is an undergraduate student from Yale-NUS College majoring in Environmental Studies with a minor in Mathematical, Computational, and Statistical Science (MCS). He is interested in the intersection of data science and the environmental sciences, and is keen to explore the use of data-driven approaches to guide natural resource management and environmental policy. Apart from his work with Data-Driven Yale, Zhi Yi also has experience conducting field-based research and bioacoustics research.
Xiyao Fu
Yale-NUS College ’21
Xiyao is an undergraduate in Yale-NUS College. Majoring in Environmental Studies, she is interested in the interplay between environmental policies and bottom-up climate actions. She is the co-founder of Fossil Free Yale-NUS which asks National University of Singapore to divest from fossil fuel companies. She also interns at Institute for Public and Environmental Affairs in Beijing. Her interest in the environment stems from her love for hiking and climbing.
Willie Khoo
Project Manager and Research Assistant
Willie graduated from the pioneer class of students at Yale-NUS College, where he specialized in Environmental Studies and Anthropology. As the founding member of several green advocacy groups in Singapore, he believes in the role of civil society to drive sociopolitical and environmental change and is interested in building platforms that professionalize the non-profit sector. Willie also has experience with startups and environmental tech, having been the Product and Strategy Manager at Electrify Asia, as well as a Founder-in-Residence at Entrepreneur First.
Ryan Thomas
Research Associate
Ryan is an urban planning researcher with interests in sustainability and monitoring and evaluation. His education, work experience, and research have focused on how civic engagement, technology, and data affect planning outcomes. He worked as a city planner on the 2012 master plan for Cincinnati, Ohio – the first master plan for the city in 30 years. He also worked on a favela mapping project in Rio de Janeiro and conducted an evaluation of USAID’s decentralized energy programming in Tanzania. Ryan holds a Bachelor’s in Philosophy and a Master’s in Community Planning. He is currently working on his PhD in urban and regional planning at Cornell University in Ithaca.
Ng Yi Ming
Yale-NUS College ’21
Yi Ming majors in Philosophy, Politics, & Economics, with a secondary focus in data science. He immerses himself in private enterprises and public policy, and past experiences have included being on the founding teams of Protege Ventures, South-east Asia’s 1st student-run venture capital fund, and the Roosevelt Institute @ Yale-NUS, Singapore’s 1st student-run public policy think-tank. Over the 2019 summer, on top of the research with Data-Driven Labs into global cities climate sustainability strategies, Yi Ming is also a Policy Fellow at GovInsider, the world’s most-read publication on government innovation, and he will connect with global city leaders to unearth possibilities of urban liveability.
Yunsoo Kim
Yale-NUS College ’21
Yunsoo is an undergraduate student from Yale-NUS College majoring in Environmental Studies and minoring in Mathematical, Computational, and Statistical Science (MCS). He is interested in how raw data can be converted into useful information for environmental politics. Prior to joining the team, he has experience producing an environmental policy memo for a municipal government in the Philippines and researching South Korea’s vision and policies on urbanization.
Jacob Jarabejo
Yale-NUS College ’21
Jacob is an undergraduate student from Yale-NUS College. He plans to major in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE). He is interested in behavioural finance and is keen to explore the concept of irrationality in the financial markets. Jacob is excited about leveraging on the power of data to flesh out instances of such irrationalities. Apart from his time with Data-Driven Yale, Jacob is privileged in having internship experiences in both the buy-side and the sell-side.
Rayner Ng
Yale-NUS College ’22
Rayner is a student from Yale-NUS College interested in the fields of Economics and Data Science. He is keen on exploring the intersection of people, policy and the environment. That aside, he is passionate about people development, and believes that data science can empower individuals to tackle real-world problems in their respective fields. Rayner enjoys Mandopop and sings in his College’s Barbershop Chorus.
Geoffrey Martin
Yale-NUS College ’19
Geoffrey is a student from Yale-NUS College majoring in computer science and statistics with a minor in economics. He has spent time conducting data driven research on economics, dating and health sciences for several research centers at university and in the data analytics industry. His interests span the intersection of data science and macrosociological issues although he has also started to explore full stack web development as a tool for addressing such issues.
Daniel Csonth
Masters of Environmental Management (MEM) Candidate ’20
Daniel is a Master’s of Environmental Management student at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies with a specialization in Renewable Energy and Environmental Data Science. Prior to joining Yale, Daniel worked at McKinsey Energy Insights, where he developed big data forecasting software for the energy sector as a Product Manager. He is currently working on utilizing distributed ledger technology, such as Blockchain, to track data relevant to climate change in a trusted and open way.
Ajay Nair
Yale-NUS College ’23
Ajay is an undergraduate student at Yale-NUS College and NUS Faculty of Law who is interested in the intersections of climate change policy, environmental law, and collective climate action. This summer, he is looking forward to learning more about DDL’s data collection and processing methods. He will also be conducting qualitative research on climate action by corporate and financial institutions.
Emmett Culhane
Masters of Environmental Science (Candidate ’20)
Emmett Culhane is a Master’s of Environmental Science Candidate at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. Prior to joining the FES community, Emmett worked as a performer on several DARPA programs under the Information Innovation Office (I2O), where he contributed to research efforts in computer science and statistics. He is currently working on a project that seeks to understand land use segmentation in Beijing through the analysis of social media data.
Damon Lim Wei Da
Yale-NUS College ’21
Damon is a second-year student studying anthropology at Yale-NUS College. He is fascinated by questions of identity and culture and believes that anthropology provides a human-centric approach in studying climate change and urbanization. At Yale-NUS College, Damon is the Co-President of the Data Science Society which aims to improve data literacy at Yale-NUS College.
Jane Jia Weng
PhD Candidate, Yale School of Architecture
Jane Jia Weng joined Yale School of Architecture as a graduate student in the Ph.D. program in 2018. Her research interests include aesthetic theories, weather, accidents and stability, and architectural and urban regulations.
John Brandt
Masters of Environmental Management (MEM) Candidate ’19
John Brandt is a Master’s of Environmental Management candidate ’19 at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Brandt is experienced in applying data analytics, geospatial analysis, and programming to solving environmental issues within academia and the private sector. He is most interested in using open-sourced data to inform environmental policy. Brandt holds a Bachelor’s in Biology from Vassar College, where he focused on using sensor networks to model the impact of large-scale construction on water resources.
Claire Suh
Samuel Centre for Social Connectedness Research Fellow
Claire is a 2019 Samuel Centre research fellow based in Montreal, Canada. This summer, she looks to use data analysis to identify successful policies that promote environmental justice and social connectedness. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics from McGill University. Prior to working with Data-Driven Yale, Claire served as a research assistant investigating numerous linguistic phenomena including the structure of phonetic variability and the role of inhibition in lexical processing.
David Paolella
Masters of Environmental Management (MEM) Candidate ’20
David Paolella is a Master’s of Environmental Management Candidate at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Middlebury College and most recently conducted air pollution and environmental justice research at the University of Washington. David is interested in using data science to guide environmental management and better inform companies and consumers of their individual environmental impacts.
Luke Hellum
Yale College ’19
Luke Hellum is a senior at Yale College majoring in Statistics + Data Science and participating in the Energy Studies program. He became interested in climate change his freshman year after attending a dinner with Elizabeth Kolbert, the author of The Sixth Extinction. He’s also passionate about public policy, having had summer work experiences on a political campaign and in local government. Outside of class, Luke likes making playlists on Spotify and playing basketball.
Isabelle Riu
Masters of Environmental Management (MEM) candidate, 2018
Isabelle Riu is a first year Masters of Environmental Management student at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. She holds a Bachelors degree in International Affairs and Environmental Studies from the George Washington University and was most recently working for Sierra Club’s Environmental Law Program on the Beyond Coal campaign. She is interested in driving energy policy and solving environmental problems by using the power of data and metrics.
Algol (Ziang) Li
Yale-NUS College ’20
Algol (Ziang Li) is originally from China and is now part of Yale-NUS class of 2020. Interested in political science, economics, data science and sustainability, Algol hopes to learn more about global environmental governance, environmental policies and eco-cities. In his free time, he loves traveling and exploring food, cultures and shooting photos of architecture.
Saskia Comess
Yale School of Public Health ’19
Saskia Comess is a Master’s of Public Health candidate (’19) in the department of Environmental Health Sciences at the Yale School of Public Health. Saskia is interested in using data analysis to understand and communicate the impact of environmental challenges on human health and food systems. Saskia graduated cum laude from Vassar College with a Bachelor’s in Science, Technology & Society and a minor in Mathematics; she also received the Phi Beta Kappa Prize for the “most distinguished academic record of the graduating class.”
Nomawethu Moyo
Master of Environmental Management (MEM) candidate ’20
Noma holds a Bachelor’s degree from Colby College where she majored in Environmental Policy and minored in Economics. For the past three years, she has been working in environmental economics consulting. Noma is enthusiastic about interdisciplinary work and leveraging different types of data for applications in sustainable development.
Yihao Xie
Yale Masters of Environmental Management (MEM)’19; Yale-NUS College (’17)
Yihao is a graduate from Yale-NUS College, where he majored in environmental studies with a specialization in public health and environment. His senior capstone was titled “Constructing a Model for Mosquito Abundance in HDB Estates in Singapore Using Meteorological, Environmental and Socioeconomic Predictors.” Yihao’s other academic interests include urban environmental sustainability, environmental justice and food systems. He is the first concurrent Yale MEM/Yale-NUS College degree candidate.
Matt Moroney
Research Associate
Matt Moroney is a Masters of Environmental Management graduate from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. He obtained a Bachelors of Environmental Science with a Chemistry minor at Western Washington University. Afterwards, he spent four years investigating contaminated sites and assisting permitting for new data centers. He studies the flow of materials in society and ways to replace them using green chemistry and systems thinking, as well as technologies that will alter the way we live and work.
Tina Huang
Masters of Environmental Management Candidate (MEM), 2019
Tina Huang is a Master’s of Environmental Management Candidate at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. She received her bachelor degree at University of California, Berkeley in environmental economics and policy and society and environment (global environmental politics concentration). She also minored in city and regional planning and interned at a non-profit, Ecocity Builders, before coming to Yale. She is interested in U.S.-China climate change politics, low carbon city development in China, and participatory mapping.
Franz Hochstrasser
Masters of Environmental Management (MEM) Candidate ’18
Franz Hochstrasser is a Teaching Assistant at Yale Law School, and a Research Assistant at Yale University, as well as a Masters in Environmental Management Candidate ’18 at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Hochstrasser served 8 years in the Obama Administration, most recently as Senior Advisor to the Special Envoy for Climate Change at the US Department of State working on international climate negotiations and policy. Prior to that, he was Deputy Associate Director at the White House Council on Environmental Quality working on energy, environment and climate policy; and a Confidential Assistant and Legislative Analyst at the US Department of Agriculture. He also worked on both of Barack Obama’s Presidential campaigns in 2008 and 2012. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics and a Bachelor of Arts in Politics from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Andrew Feierman
Data Scientist
Andrew is a Data Scientist at Data-Driven Lab. Before joining the group, he worked for the Institute for Market Transformation in Washington, DC, where he modeled city-level environmental policies and worked with real estate companies to reduce energy consumption within their buildings. He graduated from American University’s School of International Service in 2012. He’s now working at the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI).
Sophie Janaskie
Masters of Environmental Management (MEM) Candidate, 2018
Sophie Janaskie is a second year Masters of Environmental Management student at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. She holds a Bachelors degree in Environmental Engineering from Yale University, and most recently served as a Venture for America Fellow in Philadelphia, where she spent two years at an early stage green-tech start-up. She is particularly interested in using data and metrics to inform environmental decision-making in urban policy and business.
Yaolin Zhang
Yale-NUS College ’19
Yaolin is a law and liberal arts double-degree student at Yale-NUS College and National University of Singapore. He is interested in the intersection between the environment, economics and the law. Previously involved in consulting work at IBM Smarter City Southern China, he is seeking a new sustainable model of development with market-based innovations to fundamentally address the environmental challenge of the 21st century. He is currently conducting citizen science environmental data and green finance research.
Elle Brunsdale
Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Master of Environmental Management (MEM) candidate ’19
Elle Brunsdale is a joint-degree candidate at the Yale School of Management (SOM) and School of Forestry and Environmental Studies (F&ES). She is also a graduate of Yale College where she studied economics and environmental studies. Elle is passionate about leveraging capital markets and technology to advance ecologically sustainable, community-based solutions that address climate change and other environmental challenges. Previously, Elle worked on the water team at Encourage Capital, an impact investing firm using innovative financing mechanisms to alleviate a range of environmental and social problems. Prior to graduate school, she worked for big data technology start-up that was using NLP and ML to predict public policy (FiscalNote). At Data-Driven Yale, she works on the team that uses these techniques to analyze climate actions taken by companies, cities, and other non-state actors.
Jeffrey Tong
Yale-NUS College ’18
Jeffrey is a final year undergraduate at Yale-NUS College, majoring in Environmental Studies. He finds his passion in topics of urban environmental governance and policy, including issues surrounding climate justice, adaptation and resilience. Jeffrey was previously involved in spatial analysis projects studying urbanization processes with the Singapore-ETH Future Cities Laboratory. He is currently working with the team to develop an upcoming urban environmental performance index with a focus on social equity.
Nikola Alexandre
Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Master of Forestry (MF) ’18
Nikola is a creative professional specializing in community development and natural resource management. His work focuses on catalyzing regenerative economies grounded in both the needs of people and of place. With graduate degrees in both forest management and business administration from Yale University, he combines perspectives and skillset that are informed by ecology, economics, and social equity. His work experience includes the development of policy tools for equitable development in US cities, setting agroforestry-based community development strategies in a northern province of Ecuador, and authoring the agricultural section of the 2016 Environmental Performance Index
Stefanie Wnuck
Researcher A Masters of Environmental Management candidate at Yale’s School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, Stefanie’s research centers on climate policy, with a focus on carbon markets and the role of voluntary and information-based approaches that drive behavior change. With Data Driven Yale, Stefanie will explore how data can be used to spur ambitious climate action in all spheres. Prior to arriving at Yale, Stefanie worked on product stewardship and waste management, promoting recycling policies that minimize the end-of-life environmental and health impacts of consumer products. Stefanie holds a Bachelors of Arts in International Affairs and Environmental Science from Lafayette College.
Sabrina Long
Yale College ’19
Sabrina Long is a third-year undergraduate student in Yale College, studying Computer Science with a concentration in Energy Studies. She is passionate about climate change communication, and is interested in combining data analysis and design to create more effective communication methods. Sabrina has experience with graphic design, and hopes to use that experience to create compelling data visualizations.
Zev Nicolai-Scanio
Choate-Rosemary Hall ’18
Zev is a programmer focusing on computer modeling, data science, and data visualization. He is interested in the connections between programming and the sciences, the intersection of coding and design, and the ways in which programming can be used as a tool to help inform policy decisions, particularly in the field of sustainable development. At Data-Driven Yale, his work includes database design, construction, and management; API development; and dashboard and widget development. His other independent projects include full-stack development and WebGL experiments.
Andrew Moffat
Masters of Environmental Management (MEM) candidate, 2016 Andrew is a Masters of Environmental Management candidate at Yale’s School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. Prior to attending Yale he lived in Beijing, China for five years where he studied Mandarin and was exposed to extreme air pollution that contributed to his interest in sustainable environmental management. Andrew worked most recently at China Policy where he researched environmental and energy policy in the People’s Republic of China. At F&ES he studies energy production and technological innovation, examining our energy infrastructure’s environmental and economic impacts.
Yaping Cheng
Research Fellow Yaping is a research fellow at Yale’s data-driven environmental policy lab focusing on renewable energy and energy efficiency. Her work investigates how to quantify the reduced greenhouse gas emissions resulting from renewable energy and energy efficiency programs in developing countries. Yaping holds a Master’s Degree from Yale’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies where she specialized in business and the environment. Prior to Yale, Yaping worked in the public education sector as a teaching fellow with Teach For China. She has also worked at Goldman Sachs, Alibaba, and Nokia Siemens Networks. Yaping received her Bachelor’s Degree in Geographical Information Systems from Wuhan University in China.
Don Mosteller
Research Fellow Don supports the lab’s communication strategies and platforms, researches the effectiveness of climate-focused international development initiatives, and is an author of the upcoming 2016 EPI report. Don holds a master’s degree from Yale’s School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, where he studied energy laws and policies that incentivize the development and deployment of renewable energy technologies. Prior to Yale, Don held positions at National Geographic, the Pew Charitable Trusts, and the National Environmental Education Foundation where studied and wrote about climate science and policy. Don also holds a Bachelors of Science in Physical Geography from Penn State University where he studied climatology and Geographic Information Systems.
Kaiyang Xu
Research Associate
Kaiyang Xu is a graduate of Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, receiving his Masters of Environmental Management Candidate at F&ES. He also holds a Bachelors of Science in Biological Sciences and Bachelors of Arts in Economics at The Ohio State University, Columbus, where his research focused on tropical forestry ecology and the interaction between insects and tree seedlings. At F&ES, he studies topics at the intersection of energy, business, and environment. Kai is particularly interested in greenhouse gas emissions from China’s building sector as well as that nation’s carbon trading system and energy production’s impact on China’s rapidly transforming economy. He specializes in data science and analysis.
Alisa Zomer
Research Associate and Manager, Environmental Performance Index Alisa Zomer is a research associate with the data-driven environmental policy lab at Yale focusing on urban sustainability metrics and climate change planning in cities. She investigates how urban sustainability indicators compare across cities and how qualitative and quantitative data can be combined to improve urban environmental policies. Alisa holds a masters degree from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies where she researched urban climate adaptation governance in Manila, Philippines. She is currently a World Social Science Fellow focusing on sustainable urbanization and a member of the NSF-funded Research Coordination Group on Sustainable Cities. Prior to Yale, Alisa worked on international environmental governance and justice at the World Resources Institute.
Nadia Irwanto
Yale College ’20
Nadia is a double major in Computer Science and Global Affairs who wants to use technology for the environment or to tackle inequality. She strongly believes that technology can overcome the lack of political will and corporate greed that surround many social issues. In particular, she hopes to use data analysis and visualization to bring attention to the political and economic importance of environmental issues, and push for systemic, long-term change.
Aadit Gupta
Yale-NUS College ’19
Aadit is a second-year undergraduate student at Yale-NUS College, currently considering majoring in Computer Science or History. Prior to joining Data-Driven Yale, he wrote for public policy journals — focusing on European and South East Asian affairs — and was a freelance web developer. He is interested in data science and visualization, as well as computer graphics and UI design. He is currently working on developing an API to help make sense of sub-national actor commitments to counter climate change.
Maria Ivanenko
Yale-NUS College, 2017
Maria is a third-year undergraduate at Yale-NUS College majoring in Environmental Studies. She is especially interested in the intersection of environmental issues and global affairs. As a data analyst for the 2016 EPI, Maria has helped with the analysis of a variety of indicators. She is currently analyzing data in order to help develop a clean energy performance index for Connecticut. She is very interested in the ways that energy security influences international relations, particularly amongst the Central Asian states. Prior to studying in Singapore, Maria has lived in the US, Russia, and China.
Swarnima Sircar
Programmer, Yale-NUS College ’19
Swarnima Sircar is a second year undergraduate student at Yale-NUS College looking to major in Mathematics, Computational, and Statistical Sciences. Both new to the field of data science and sceptical of the singular ability of markets to mitigate climate change, she hopes to conduct research that will spur action and contribute to the discourse of the role of cities and markets in climate change.
Yuqian Peng
Masters of Environmental Management (MEM) candidate, 2017
Yuqian is a Masters of Environmental Management candidate at Yale’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. She is interested in international environmental cooperation and environmental justice, with a focus on climate and energy. A researcher and data analyst with Data Driven Yale, Yuqian blogs about Chinese environmental policy and is building the 2016 EPI’s air quality issue profile. Prior to Yale, Yuqian worked at the Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection and International Rivers – an environmental justice NGO that supports a global network of dam-affected people, environmentalists, human rights advocates, and experts to fight destructive river projects. She graduated from Mount Holyoke College with a degree in International Relations and Environmental Studies.
Yani Zeng
Masters of Environment Management in Yale-Tsinghua dual degree program
Yani Zeng is a candidate for a Masters of Environment Management in Yale-Tsinghua dual degree program. Yani’s professional and academic backgrounds spans the fields of engineering, finance and business and most recently interned at the Rock Mountain Institute where she was the lead researcher a Chinese building project of energy quota policy design, compliance and enforcement. She is highly interested in solving problems in energy & environmental sector using data and metrics approach leveraging business, engineering and policy perspectives.
Subhas Nair
Yale-NUS College ’17
Subhas Nair is a third-year undergraduate at Yale-NUS College, majoring in Urban Studies and minoring in Environmental Studies. He is particularly interested in disaster risk reduction and building resilience to climate change through urban planning. Currently, he is working on coding urban indicators for the 2016 Environmental Performance Index. Subhas also works with the Center for Liveable Cities in Singapore, researching on land use and the transformation of public space in Singapore. He hopes to one day influence climate change strategies in Singapore.
Cameron Yick
Programmer, Yale College ’17
Cameron is a third-year undergraduate in Yale College, majoring in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. He is interested in exploring how open data projects and data journalism improve community health, education, and energy usage. Currently, he works on data scraping, wrangling, and building visualization dashboards. He works to promote interdisciplinary problem solving through a design group, YaleMakes, and enjoys tweeting about data science.
Allison Khoe
Masters of Environmental Management (MEM) candidate, 2017
Allison Khoe is a second-year candidate for a Masters of Environmental Management at Yale. She received her bachelor’s degree at UC San Diego in Environmental Systems and was most recently working at SunPower on their supply chain sustainability team. Allison’s career interests focus around how businesses can be innovative leaders in preserving natural resources.
Chendan Yan
Researcher & Graphic Designer
Chendan is a Masters of Environmental Management candidate at Yale’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Her research centers on sustainable urban development and environmental justice with application of geospatial analytics. As the graphic designer and researcher at Data Driven Yale, Chendan creates data visualization tools to communicate complex environmental issues and conducts research on urban sustainability metrics. She worked at Center of Earth Energy and Democracy in Minneapolis, MN, developing neighborhood based Environmental Justice Mapping tool and examining disparities in capacity among communities to maintain environmental quality. Chendan holds a Bachelors of Arts in Environmental Studies and Philosophy from College of Saint Benedict and St.John’s University.
Udit Jain
Yale College ’18
Udit Jain is a third-year undergraduate at Yale College, double majoring in Computer Science and Statistics. He focuses on data science, visualizations and machine learning. He’s created a visualization website for the EPI and is currently working on studying land use patterns in China through social media. His other big interest is in deep learning. At DataDriven Yale, he’s using those techniques to make sense of non-state actors’ climate actions.
James Sun
Yale College ’21
James is majoring in Global Affairs and Statistics & Data Science at Yale. At Yale, he has worked at the Yale Office of Sustainability, using data analysis to formalize sustainability action plans for the residential colleges. James has also been involved in political and international affairs while writing for the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation, interning at the City of Detroit Mayor’s Office, tutoring for Bridges ESL, and managing the finances of the Yale Taiwanese-American Society. He is also a board member of the Chocolate and Confectionary Artisans Organization at Yale and loves food very dearly. James is interested in food systems, Smart Cities, environmental sustainability, national and international politics, and environmental justice.
Danny Macri
Research Fellow
Drawing on the EPI methodology, Danny is collaborating with the CT Green Bank to develop a clean energy performance index for CT municipalities. Danny holds a master’s degree from the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies where he studied industrial ecology and water resource management. He is particularly interested in exploring the drivers and barriers of adopting regenerative resource systems. Prior to Yale, Danny managed several environmental management and agriculture projects for USAID. Danny received his bachelor’s degree in political science from the College of the Holy Cross.
Kavya Gopal
Yale-NUS College ’18
Kavya Gopal is a second year undergraduate at Yale-NUS College, majoring in Urban Studies and minoring in Economics. She is very interested in questions of splintered infrastructures and equity in cities, especially in relation urban environmental amenities. Currently, Kavya is working on urban environmental sustainability indicators and measurement.
Ruifeng Zhong
Yale-NUS College ’20, Video Producer
Ruifeng is an undergraduate student at Yale-NUS College. He has worked as a freelance designer since the age of 19 and now specializes in animation, documentary, interview and social media promotional content. His interests span data analysis, visual representation and multimedia design in environmental studies. Currently working as a video producer in the Environmental Performance Index project team, he designed and produced multimedia content to improve the communication channels of text-heavy research findings.
Regina Vanda
Yale-NUS College ’21
Regina is an environmental studies major interested in the potential for polycentric governance to create transformation in global production and consumption systems. She believes that sustainability can emerge from collaboration and peer learning. She currently serves as president of I’dECO Yale NUS Sustainability Movement.
Barkley Dai
Yale College ’20
Barkley is a fourth year student at Yale College majoring in Statistics and Data Science. Born and raised in China, he experienced firsthand the pollution in the country but also felt the power of civil efforts in combating the issue. He has a strong interest in data visualization and wishes to leverage visualized data to motivate people to address pollution and climate change.
Claire Inciong Krummenacher
Yale-NUS College ’20
Claire is a fourth year undergrad at Yale-NUS College majoring in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE). She is particularly interested in the intersection of climate change and human geography, and is currently writing her capstone on the impact of global warming on migration within Central America. Apart from her work with Data-Driven Yale, Claire volunteers with Kiva as a Spanish translator.
