In research, Professor Peccia wants to impact big problems facing the world, and he seeks to do the same in teaching and service. He served as the faculty adviser for Yale’s Engineers Without Borders group from 2013 to 2023, where teams composed of Yale students and a professional mentor built water infrastructure for villages in Cameroon and Tanzania. As an outgrowth of his research, his lab continues to provide up-to-date infectious disease surveillance information for southern Connecticut. He is a member of the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute, leading seminars on climate change and environmental justice for junior high and high school teachers who teach in underserved schools.
Professor Peccia grew up in Cut Bank, Montana, a small town whose unofficial motto is “the coldest spot in the nation.”
Associate Head of College Melissa Castleman is a writer. She recently finished a novel about two sister surgeons living in a climate-changed future. Before focusing on fiction, she was a food and travel writer for national magazines. She received a BA in English from Harvard University and an MFA in Fiction from Columbia University.
Head Jordan and Melissa’s 15-year-old son, Julian, is a high school freshman and loves anything related to flying. He is a runner, golfer, skier, painter, and an avid baker. A maker of drone films, Julian likes to explore rivers, oceans, and forests for new footage.