Yale Environmental Studies is thrilled to announce a new cohort of Peer Mentors who will guide fellow Environmental Studies majors throughout the 2025–2026 academic year: Auston Collings, Bella García, Roan Hollander, Jenny Liu, Ingrid Moore, Maia Roothaan, and David Woods.
Environmental Studies Peer Mentors meet with current and prospective majors to provide guidance and information to them about creating their individual paths within the major. They are essential resources for students trying to decide what courses to take, how to build a concentration, and how to become more deeply involved in environmental work on campus. First-year and sophomore students are especially encouraged to contact Peer Mentors with any questions about the major.
In addition to their role as student mentors, the Peer Mentors are part of an advisory committee that meets regularly during the year to review the Environmental Studies curriculum. The committee generates ideas for new courses and programs and provides suggestions for the improvement of pre-existing courses and advising.
Read more about this year’s Peer Mentors below – and don’t hesitate to contact them if you have any questions about the major!
Auston Collings
Auston Collings is a senior in Saybrook College concentrating in Energy & Climate. He is also pursuing an Advanced Spanish Language Certificate and a Climate Solutions Certificate. Originally from Tucson, Arizona, Auston grew up in the heart of the Sonoran Desert. This past summer, he used his Summer Experience Award to work as a Research Assistant in the Planavsky Lab, where he studied cation transfer from basalt feedstock into soil as part of a Virginia-based enhanced rock weathering project.
On campus, Auston is actively involved in Ballet Folklórico de Yale, where he celebrates his Mexican heritage through dance. He also serves as Secretary for the Saybrook College Council and is a member of De Colores, Yale’s queer Latine affinity group. Previously, he has been involved with the Yale College Democrats and the Yale Endowment Justice Collective. He also works as the student manager for the EVST website. Auston is especially passionate about exploring how climate solutions, particularly carbon removal, can be implemented in ways that generate co-benefits for communities and advance environmental justice. He is excited to serve as a peer mentor and support fellow students in the EVST community!
Bella García
Bella (she/her) is a senior in Benjamin Franklin College, majoring in Environmental Studies (BA) with a concentration in Urban Environments and pursuing an Energy Studies Certificate. At Yale, she is involved with the Yale Student Environmental Coalition, the Episcopal Church at Yale, Ballet Folklórico de Yale, and previously served as a Peer Liaison for La Casa Cultural. She has previously interned at JERA Americas on the Renewables Development Team and at Grid United as a Development Intern. She also studied renewable energy abroad in Iceland through the International Study Award. Bella hopes to pursue a career in the energy industry, specifically within renewable energy or grid reliability and resilience. She is excited to serve as a peer mentor this year and looks forward to supporting students as they explore everything EVST has to offer!
Roan Hollander
Roan Hollander is pursuing an EVST BA in Urban and Coastal Resilience, a custom concentration she created by taking classes on urban design, coastal development and communities, and wetlands. She is also completing an Energy Studies certificate and has taken numerous environmental data science courses. Roan is in Pierson College, is from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and loves to go hiking in the forests of Connecticut that remind her of home! On campus, she works for Urban Resources Initiative and manages social media for Environmental Studies and Environmental Humanities, was a coordinator of Dwight Hall’s First Years in Support of New Haven and a FOCUS leader, and is a member of the Yale Student Environmental Coalition.
She has held a variety of environmental jobs around campus, working for the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy, the Office of Sustainability, and the Yale Bird-Friendly Building Initiative. She would be happy to talk to anyone about how to get involved in environmental work on campus! This past summer she worked for World Resources Institute in their Ross Center for Sustainable Cities through the Hixon Center for Urban Sustainability’s fellowship program. In previous summers, she has worked as a Community Forestry Intern with Urban Resources Initiative through the President’s Public Service Fellowship and studied abroad in Spain, Morocco, and Germany. You can usually find her wandering around Rainbow Park, walking to East Rock, or trying one of New Haven’s many coffee shops. She is always happy to talk so feel free to contact her at any time!
Jenny Liu
Jenny (she/her) is pursuing degrees in Environmental Studies (BS) and Statistics & Data Science (BA) with an EVST concentration in Energy & Climate. Her interests lie at the intersections of energy equity, urban environments, and sustainable development. Through the Summer Experience Award, International Study Award, and Planetary Solutions in Clean Energy, she has studied abroad in Australia, worked at ClimateHaven, a New Haven-based climate tech start-up, and Rewiring America, the leading electrification nonprofit. She has also worked at NineDot Energy, a battery storage developer in New York City. During her time at Yale, she has served as the 2024–2025 YSEC(Link is external) (Link opens in new window) Co-President and held roles at the Yale Center for Climate Change Communication, Yale Sustainable Food Program, Yale FOOT, the Yale Center for Business and the Environment, and Yale Center for Geospatial Solutions. Jenny is very grateful for all these opportunities and happy to support students, especially those from FGLI backgrounds, as they navigate their climate/environmental journey! A lifelong New Yorker and proud Hopper College member, Jenny enjoys a good bike ride, a strong cup of coffee, and a nice nap.
Ingrid Moore
Ingrid is a senior from Chilmark, Massachusetts. She is completing the EVST BS and concentrating in Biodiversity and Conservation. For the past two summers, Ingrid has worked on Martha’s Vineyard for the Shellfish Group. She raises oysters, clams, and scallops for public food security and wetland restoration. Her work with them has inspired her thesis on oyster aquaculture management. While on campus, Ingrid works at the vertebrate zoology department at the Peabody Museum, is a member of YSEC, helps out at the Yale Sustainable Food Program, and designs sustainable fashion. In her free time, Ingrid loves going on long hikes up East Rock, baking, and procrastinating by finding the best London Fog in New Haven.
Maia Roothaan
Maia is a senior in Branford College from Evanston, Illinois. She is completing the EVST BA and is pursuing a concentration in Law and Anthropology and fulfilling certificates in Advance French Language and Food, Agriculture, and Climate Change. Maia has previously served as Political Director of the Yale Student Environmental Coalition, Speakers Director for Yale College Democrats, and a chairperson for the Yale Residential College Seminar Program. She has worked in various capacities for the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, Branford Head of College House, the Yale Sustainable Food Program, and the EVST Program. After her first year, Maia did a language study abroad in Aix-en-Provence, France. In summer 2025, Maia spent three months working for Conservation International in Suriname as a legal intern. Her internship experience was supported by the Summer Experience Award, Global Food Fellowship, Summer Environmental Fellowship, and Branford Class of 1960/1986 award. In her free time, Maia loves doing yoga, hosting dinner parties with friends, and taking long walks around East Rock.
David Woods
David is a senior in Timothy Dwight College pursuing the EVST BA with a concentration in Energy & Climate and a certificate in Energy Studies. Originally from the beautiful rolling hills of Kentucky, David calls the small town of Herndon, on the Tennessee-Kentucky border, his home. In the summer of 2025, David made use of the Yale College Summer Experience Award to intern at the CT-based environmental non-profit Save the Sound, where his internship experience centered on building a report that benchmarked and assessed the implementation of various climate change and resilience directives under Governor Ned Lamont’s administration.
On campus, David has worked for the Yale Office of Sustainability, where he led a team of peer educators in institutional waste-reduction measures and has served as the Timothy Dwight College Sustainability Liaison. David also writes for The Yale Logos and Times New Roman and is involved in Yale Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship, which allows him to marry his intellectual passions in religious philosophy with environmental stewardship and ecological responsibility. David is a proud first-generation, low-income student and enjoys baking with friends, playing table tennis, and reading in his free time.
