Raffaele is a PhD candidate at Yale University in Political Ecology and Human Geography - the ways humans shape the land, and in return, the way the land shapes us. They have published research and scholarly writing with Issues in Science and Technology, the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, Sage Magazine, and more.
Raffaele’s current research focuses on the sociopolitical aspects of Rights of Nature and Environmental Personhood, paying special attention on the means by which Rights of Nature interacts with Western law, private property regimes, and Indigenous sovereignty. Raffaele’s other work includes critical research on green capitalism (i.e. carbon offsets, biodiversity credits), community resilience, and the relationships between sovereign Indigenous nations and the American state. They are currently a Research Fellow with the Yale Center for Environmental Justice, and a past Teaching Fellow for the Yale Tribal Resources and Sovereignty Clinic.
Raffaele has completed research on behalf of, and in collaboration with, several entities focused on climate and environmental justice, including the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, The Land Trust Alliance, the National Indian Carbon Coalition, Navajo Power, the Yurok Tribe, and more.
You can read some of Raffaele’s written work on Substack here.
Is a River Alive?
A Conversation at the Edge of Law and Life - November 2025
(The Yale Rights of Nature Panel)
Raffaele Sindoni, Manuela Picq, Frank Bibeau (Minnesota Chippewa), César Rodríguez Garavito
Sponsored by: Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology, Yale Center for Environmental Justice, Yale Environmental Humanities, Yale Law Environmental Protection Clinic
In November of 2025, Raffaele moderated a discussion between a few of the world’s leading activists, lawyers, and scholars on the “Rights of Nature” - a growing legal movement in more than 50 countries to enshrine rights, legal standing, or personhood to non-human actors (i.e. rivers, forests, lakes, mountains, or even entire ecosystems).
It was the first panel in Yale’s history that concerned rights for the non-human. The conversation featured Tribal lawyer and Manoomin (wild rice) advocate Frank Bibeau (Minnesota Chippewa), Scholar of Indigenous Sovereignty and Feminist Studies Manuela Picq, and Founding Director of the More-Than-Human Project at NYU law César Rodríguez Garavito,
Over 200+ people joined live, both in person and over a Zoom Webinar broadcasted to participants in over 30 countries. A recording of this talk is publicly accessible here.
Upcoming Publications
The Ruse and Reach of (Nature’s) Rights
IN REVIEW: This paper explores whether distributing “rights” to the non-human (i.e. mountains, rivers, nature broadly) truly challenges the power relationships embedded within Western law or simply extends old legal ideas into new places. Drawing on cases from Ecuador, the United States, and Aotearoa New Zealand, this paper shows how rights can both challenge and reinforce existing power structures. Ultimately, it asks whether rights are a meaningful tool for building more just and livable multispecies futures.
Indigenous Circular Economies (IndCE): The Yurok Tribe, Regenerative Forest Management, and Tribal Sovereignty
IN REVIEW: In collaboration with Yurok/Hoopa authors, this story of the Yurok Tribe (Northern California) demonstrates how Indigenous stewardship reduces wildfire risk, revitalizes ecosystems, and sustains cultural life. It makes the case that Indigenous led ecological economies are not alternatives on the margins, but living systems that point the way toward a balanced future.