Leehi Yona, an interdisciplinary legal scholar with a robust background in climate science, joined the Cornell Law faculty as an assistant professor of law in July. Starting in 2025, she will teach a course on Climate Change Law and Policy and a course on Environmental Law.
“Leehi Yona’s work is at the forefront of climate and environmental law policy, and her contributions have quickly established her as a young leader in her field,” said Dean Ohlin. “With her arrival at Cornell Law School, she will instantly elevate the stature of our environmental law program and train the next generation of Cornell environmental lawyers.”
Yona completed her Ph.D. in the Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, along with a J.D. at Stanford Law School. With a scholarly record that spans prestigious journals such as Nature, Nature Sustainability, and the Journal of Environmental Science and Policy, Yona has been recognized for her innovative and impactful contributions to environmental regulation and climate law. Her work has also been celebrated in academic forums, including the Junior Faculty Forum on Law and STEM and colloquia at Columbia Law School and the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law.
“I’m absolutely thrilled to join the Cornell Law community and feel lucky to join colleagues who have such a deep commitment to scholarship and teaching,” said Yona.
In addition to her academic achievements, Yona has worked as a climate justice community organizer and youth delegate at United Nations climate negotiations. She has also written over 100 opinion pieces for outlets like the Los Angeles Times and Science, with her insights featured in the Guardian and the Washington Post. Yona holds an A.B. from Dartmouth College and a Master of Environmental Science from Yale University, where she focused on translating science into policy for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
