F&ES Launches Dual Degree with Beijing-Based Tsinghua University

Officials from Yale University and Tsinghua University sign the Memorandum of Understanding on Oct. 27 in Beijing. Seated, from left, Yale F&ES Dean Peter Crane and Tsinghua SOE Dean He Kebin; standing, from left, Yale President Peter Salovey and Tsinghua President Chen Jining.
October 27, 2014

The Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (F&ES) and Tsinghua University School of Environment (SOE) in Beijing, China have announced a collaborative dual degree program that will provide new opportunities for a select group of students to build the skills needed to tackle the most important environmental challenges of our time.
 
The dual degree, which will be introduced during the 2015-2016 academic year, was announced on Oct. 27 at a ceremony at Tsinghua University. The announcement also coincided with the opening of the Yale Center Beijing.
 
School leaders say this innovative partnership will allow students at Tsinghua to bolster their skills in environmental policy and management, and at the same time will enable Yale students to enhance their expertise in key areas of environmental engineering, including the study of industrial systems, pollution management, water treatment, and energy technology.
 
The program will also connect Yale and Tsinghua students to leading environmental researchers and practitioners in both the United States and China.
 
“Securing a healthy environment and developing more sustainable patterns of consumption will be among the defining global challenges of the twenty first century. Through this new partnership Yale and Tsinghua can play a key role in preparing leaders who can make a real difference in these critical areas,” said F&ES Dean Peter Crane. “And by working with one of China’s finest universities, we will significantly strengthen the curriculum for our own students.”

“Over time, we also expect that this closer relationship will encourage closer research collaboration among outstanding faculty at Tsinghua and at Yale,” he said.
 
Tsinghua University’s School of Environment was one of the first academic programs in China dedicated to environmental education and research. Its mission is focused on the development of sustainable solutions that minimize the impacts of human activities on the environment.
 
Students accepted into the dual degree program will receive a Master of Science in Environmental Engineering degree from Tsinghua and a Master of Environmental Management, Master of Forestry, Master of Environmental Science, or Master of Forest Science degree from Yale F&ES.
 
“This partnership will provide us an opportunity to train Chinese students who will return to their home country to tackle the very pressing environmental challenges there,” said Xuhui Lee, the Sara Shallenberger Brown Professor of Meteorology at F&ES and program director for Yale.

By Kevin Dennehy, Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies