My research explores how struggles over sovereignty, personhood, and capital reorganize land, life, and environmental governance.
Yale Center for Environmental Justice and Collaboration with the Yurok Trube
As a Yale Environmental Justice Fellow, Raffaele has been working with the Yurok Tribe’s forestry and carbon divisions for over three years. In this time, they have delivered a 30-page Forest Trends & Strategies report to the Yurok Tribal Council to support the Tribes sovereignty efforts.
Today, Raffaele is continually in conversation with Yurok land stewards to strategize pathways for climate-resilient forests, carbon project income, Tribal circular economies (bioenergy, wood products, etc.), and ancestral land re-acquisition. In November 2025, the Yurok Tribal council approved a collaboratively authored publication concerning the Yurok Indigenous Circular Economy. Read the pre-report below while it’s in Peer-Review.
Yale Lab on Western Lands and Peoples
In the past, Raffaele has worked within Environmental Sociologist Justin Farrell’s Lab for Western Lands and people as a research assistant. As part of the lab, Raffaele published research on regenerative agriculture and carbon sequestration on Native American lands. Read the full peer-reviewed report here.
The Status of Tribes and Climate Change (STACC) Report
Chapter 4 - Good Fire and Climate Change: The Return of Indigenous Fire Stewardship
The STACC Report is an ongoing series written for diverse audiences, including Tribal managers, leaders, and community members; federal and state agencies and decision-makers; and non-governmental organizations. It elevates the voices and efforts of Indigenous Peoples, Nations, and communities and the space within published literature to share Indigenous stories about the environmental challenges and threats Indigenous people are experiencing and the solutions being implemented.
Raffaele was respectfully invited as a co-author of Chapter 4 (Good Fire) given his experiences in forestry, the history of fire, decolonization, and prior work with the Yurok Tribe.
Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (YPCCC)
With the YPCCC, I researched the sociology of climate change using data-science and spatial mapping.
Land Trust Alliance
Raffaele has partnered with the largest land trust coordinator in the United States to research the ways “conservation land” can support affordable housing, instead of working against it. This report gives land trusts the tools to communicate and strategize with communities, Tribes, and policymakers to create housing for all, while also respecting the non-human environment.