From Research to Transformation
Environmental Transformation and Sustainability (ETS) grew from decades of research, mentorship, program development, and community building led by Dr. Dorceta E. Taylor in collaboration with students, researchers, staff, alumni, funders, community, and institutional partners.
The work began while Dr. Taylor was a student at Yale and was refined while on the faculty at the University of Michigan. Over time, the questions, research, and programming inspired new initiatives, including fellowship programs, national internship programs, professional networks, public resources, and an annual international conference. These initiatives were moved to the Yale School of the Environment, where they became part of the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Sustainability Initiative—and ultimately evolved into ETS.
Although the names and institutional homes have changed, the central purpose has remained consistent: producing knowledge, expanding opportunity, preserving environmental histories, and connecting people working to create healthier and more sustainable communities.
1990s–Early 2000s
Research Roots at the University of Michigan
Dr. Taylor arrived at the University of Michigan (UM) in 1993 with a postdoctoral appointment and assistant professorship. She was jointly appointed in the School of Natural Resources and Environment (now School of Environment and Sustainability) and the Center for Afroamerican and African Studies (now Department of Afroamerican and African Studies). Her internationally recognized scholarship examined environmental attitudes and behavior, environmental justice, environmental history, urban environmental conditions, institutional diversity, poverty and inequality, food access, environmental organizations, workforce infrastructure, leadership, institutional transparency, and social movements.
The research revealed that sectors of many societies were disproportionately affected by environmental harms and lacked access to environmental benefits such as educational opportunities, jobs, and membership and leadership in mainstream environmental organizations and government agencies. This research also revealed the challenges many faced in obtaining requisite training in environmental fields, embarking on careers in the sector, and obtaining and retaining leadership positions in environmental institutions.
These findings became the foundation for the programs and initiatives that followed.
2003
Connecting Research and Leadership Development
In 2003, Dr. Taylor founded the Multicultural Environmental Leadership Development Initiative (MELDI) at UM-SNRE.
MELDI combined teaching, research, and mentorship with leadership development and professional networking. It focused on two goals: providing opportunities for students historically underrepresented in academic environmental programs and offering career development programming to create pathways into environmental careers. To support this, MELDI created the Fellowship to provide financial assistance to attend SNRE’s program. MELDI also organized its first national conference in 2005.
Shortly after the conference, MELDI began creating web profiles of People of Color (POC) with outstanding careers in the environmental sector to highlight their accomplishments and help those seeking mentorship find potential mentors.
2015
Creating Environmental Career Pathways
In 2015, Dr. Taylor developed two national career pathway programs for university students to expand access to environmental careers. Both programs were housed at UM-SNRE.
The Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program (DDCSP) at the University of Michigan provided undergraduates with paid research and internship experiences, mentorship, professional development, and applied conservation opportunities. The Doris Duke Charitable Trust funded the program, which was part of a national network of similar programs the foundation supported. Students spent two years in the program conducting research their first summer and interning in an environmental organization or agency the second.
The Environmental Fellows Program (EFP) was created out of a collaboration between MELDI, the Environmental Grantmakers Association (EGA), and the C. S. Mott Foundation. The program provided graduate students with paid internship opportunities in environmental philanthropies, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, think tanks, and other institutions. Several EGA member philanthropies supported the program financially.
Together, the programs supported students at different stages of their educational journey while building a growing national community of scholars, fellows, mentors, environmental professionals, and partner organizations. The programs also connected hundreds of environmental organizations with talented students eager to work with them and protect the environment.
2018
The Creation of the New Horizons in Conservation Conference
In 2018, the MELDI conferences were reenvisioned as a national conference focused on DDCSP participants and alumni, EFP participants and alumni, organizations hosting our summer interns, and environmental professionals and practitioners interested in enhancing career pathways and leadership skills to strengthen the environmental workforce.
That vision became the New Horizons in Conservation Conference.
The inaugural conference was held in Washington, D.C., in 2018. It brought together students, alumni, faculty, environmental professionals, organizational leaders, and others committed to strengthening participation and leadership throughout the environmental sector.
New Horizons combined environmental dialogue with networking, professional development, field experiences, and opportunities to learn from leaders at different career stages. New Horizons held a second conference in Chicago in 2019. After the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the program and canceled the 2020 conference, New Horizons returned in 2021 as a large virtual international gathering hosted by Yale, with over 900 registrants. The conference operated as a large virtual international conference during the pandemic years but resumed the in-person format in 2024 with between 275 and 350 registrants. The conference was held in Washington, D.C., in 2024 and on Yale’s campus in New Haven, Connecticut, in 2025 and 2026.
New Horizons continues to evolve as a forum for examining environmental challenges, exchanging knowledge, generating new ideas, and building relationships across institutions, disciplines, communities, and generations.
2020
A New Chapter at Yale
In 2020, Dr. Taylor joined the faculty of Yale School of the Environment (YSE) and ushered in a new chapter of teaching, research, and programming that built on the foundation created at UM.
The EFP and DDCSP initiatives continued and expanded at Yale; so did the conference, research, and related programming activities.
2021
The Creation of JEDSI and YCS-ELI
In 2021, Dr. Taylor established the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Sustainability Initiative (JEDSI) at YSE to house the expanding research portfolio, pathway programs, conference, and profiles of POC in environmental careers.
That same year, DDCSP ceased operating at Yale, and a new program launched to take its place —Yale Conservation Scholars–Early Leadership Initiative (YCS-ELI). Several philanthropic foundations supported YCS-ELI, and it offered its first summer experiences in 2022.
Preserving Environmental Leadership and Legacy
JEDSI continued documenting POC environmental professionals. The website featured hundreds of these profiles, making it one of the largest repositories of its kind in the country.
This documentary and archival project is now the Encyclopedia of Environmental Catalysts. It has grown in size and scope to profile youth and senior leaders, as well as environmental champions and advocates who have passed away.
It is a foundational element of our Legacy Data Hub.
2026
The Launch of Environmental Transformation and Sustainability
In 2026, JEDSI officially evolved into Environmental Transformation and Sustainability (ETS).
The transition to ETS expands our work as it continues to bring together research, programs, publications, convenings, mapping, professional networks, and historical preservation. The developing Legacy Data Hub will connect information about environmental catalysts, organizations, events, movements, historic spaces, and archival materials within a shared public knowledge platform. It will serve as an important space to identify and archive past and present accomplishments.
Home of the World’s First Environmental Justice Encyclopedia
The three-volume Sage Environmental Justice Encyclopedia was published in July 2026. This was an important milestone, as Dr. Taylor led the multi-year project. It resulted from a collaboration between faculty at six U.S. and Canadian Universities. YSE and JEDSI faculty, staff, and students; interns and alumni of our pathway programs; and hundreds of scholars and practitioners worldwide wrote entries and helped bring the project to fruition.
Over 390 authors contributed roughly 360 entries to the compendium.
Legacy Continues
The history of ETS is one of research translated into action.
What began in a University of Michigan research lab developed into programs that opened pathways to hundreds, convenings that connected national and international communities, and resources that made overlooked environmental contributions more visible. At Yale, those efforts came together through JEDSI and are now expanding through ETS.
This history continues through every researcher, scholar, fellow, alumnus, mentor, practitioner, partner, and community member who contributes to the work.