Education, Innovation, and Advocacy at Yale & in New Haven

Emma Polinsky

Environmental Studies B.A.; certificates in Energy Studies and Spanish

Yale College

Rose Hansen

Yale University

Rose (she/her), one of the co-presidents of the Yale Student Environmental Coalition, comes from a background in marine conservation and education. She is overjoyed to bring her passion for justice and socially-conscious decision making to the team. After working in the renewable energy nonprofit sector, she became passionate about tailored community systems that balance social justice with climate justice. She has been involved with the Center for Business and the Environment, where she studied innovation and entrepreneurship. At COP, she is excited to support the World Bank Group and their main focus areas: marine spatial planning for resilience and biodiversity as well as pathways for nature finance. She will also support CoralVita, a startup focused on coral reef conservation. Throughout COP, she looks forward to analyzing the intersection of gender justice and environmentalism. At Yale, Rose splits her time between environmental organizing and performance art. She is a proud member of the jazz a cappella group Redhot and Blue, and can be found onstage in musicals and plays. If she could power the world on one thing, she would choose the vibrations of vocal chords.

Marco Marsans

Yale University

Marco was born in Spain and grew up in Italy before coming to the U.S. for boarding school and college. At Yale, he’s majoring in Global Affairs, while also completing the certificate in Energy Studies. Marco is particularly interested in carbon dioxide removal, and is partnering with the Yale Carbon Containment Lab to investigate the market aspects of Article 6 at COP 28. Prior to COP, he was in Bahrain and Qatar, conducting research for the White House National Security Council (NSC) on AI’s role in the post-oil Middle Eastern security architecture. His plan is to work as a Business Analyst in McKinsey’s Sustainability practice after graduation, with an eye toward green entrepreneurship and venture capital long-term.

Daniela Macaya

Yale University

Daniela is a junior in Morse majoring in Environmental Studies. Her background is in environmental art activism, climate education, and biodiversity conservation. Born and raised in Costa Rica, she focused many of her environmental efforts using art and education as her megaphone. Her previous projects include writing/illustrating children's books published by UNICEF, storm drain painting contests, and now leading Yale’s Art Exhibition at COP28 to showcase youth talents and expand their voices. She has also interned with National Geographic’s Ocean Education team (Summer 2022) and the Global Environment Facility (Summer 2023), where she advised the CEO during the creation of their official youth engagement strategy.

At COP28, she will be partnering with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and supporting their America Is All In (AIAI) pavilion. Furthermore, she is honored to be a panelist at a AIAI panel session on youth in climate justice and a panelist at Yale’s pavilion on Education, Innovation & Advocacy in New Haven, alongside the Yale delegation.

Isabelle Ramseyer

Yale University

Isabelle Ramseyer is a junior at Yale University, from Puerto Rico and Switzerland, where she is pursuing a double major in Global Affairs and Environmental Studies. Her academic focus centers on climate policy, with particular emphasis on climate perspectives and adaptation efforts in the global south. A glance at Isabelle’s professional experience includes interning at the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Civil Enforcement, where she researched the effectiveness of pesticide enforcement policies. Currently, she is interning and consulting with Step Up Advisers, working alongside Meagan Fallone, to support CARE’s Climate Solution Accelerator and investigate financing mechanisms for local direct investment. Isabelle is leading the Ground Support Team for the COP28 delegation and focuses on developing environmental curriculums for New Haven schools. At COP28, she is interested in exploring carbon markets, climate adaptation, and climate outcomes based financing instruments.

Saskia Braden

Yale University

Saskia is a second semester junior at Yale focusing her studies on international climate policy. Last summer she interned for the White House Climate Policy Office and she currently serves as Government Affairs Assistant at the Woodwell Climate Research Center. Saskia also brings experience from internships working on corporate climate action (The World Wildlife Fund), agricultural emissions research (Yale Law School), and grassroots organizing (The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance). She leads Yale’s undergraduate COP delegation and is excited to track progress on carbon markets and nature-based solutions at the conference.

Selin Goren

Yale University

Selin is a climate activist from Turkey and the co-founder of the Fridays for Future Turkey movement. She’s passionate about the green energy transition, carbon containment technologies, and youth’s involvement in climate policy making & research. At Yale, she’s working as a Research Assistant at the Yale Carbon Containment Lab and the Student Director of the Environmental Studies major. She previously worked as a content producer with YPCCC and as a sustainability liaison with the Yale Office of Sustainability. Last summer she traveled to Iceland, where she took classes on renewable energy economics and did research on geologic carbon sequestration in basalt rock. Outside of work, Selin can be found dancing latin, bird-watching, and reading in the TD courtyard.

COP Research Interests: Carbon mineralizaton technologies, youth participation in international climate politics, climate communications

COP Partner Organization: Woodwell Climate Research Center

Peyton Meyer

Yale University

Peyton (he/him) is a senior in Yale College from Waunakee, Wisconsin majoring in Environmental Studies with a concentration in Energy and Climate and a certificate in Energy Studies. At Yale he works for the Office of Sustainability in the Peer Education Program and is a mental health advocate, serving as Co-Director of the Yale Student Mental Health Association his junior year. He has previously worked on social science research investigating the impacts of nature on mental wellbeing, studied renewable energy technology and economics in Iceland, and interned with a U.S.-based solar energy company. Peyton’s COP interests center around the impacts of climate change and mitigation efforts on health, and equitable access to urban greenspaces, and he will be partnering with the Global Climate and Health Alliance to support their negotiations tracking work and advocacy efforts along those lines at COP28.

Nick McGowan

Yale University

Nick is a senior at Yale College pursuing a B.A. in Global Affairs and Urban Studies as a double major. Nick is also earning a Certificate of Advanced Language Study in Mandarin Chinese.