Gail Reynolds Interview

By Lillian Adey

Gail Reynolds is a graduate of Yale College and the Yale School of the Environment (then called the School of Forestry). She was one of the first women to attend Yale, after the school began to accept women as undergraduate students in 1969, when Gail was in high school. Gail was in Yale’s Class of 1978 and majored in Ecology and Evolution as an undergraduate. Later, she obtained a master’s degree in Forest Science. While at Yale, Gail swam intramurals–which was novel for the time, as girls did not participate in school sports–and was involved in the political union. 

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After obtaining her Master’s, Gail immediately started working as an environmental chemist in Connecticut for about a year--though she found this incredibly boring. However, at this time, there was a shortage of research jobs due to the Reagan administration decreasing funding. Hoping to find more intellectually stimulating work, Gail then moved to Jamestown, New York, with her husband. Fortunately, during the few years that she lived there, Gail discovered her love of technology and programming and began to seek jobs in this field. She moved back to Connecticut to work in another lab on speech research, where she earned significantly more money than she had at her previous jobs. After a few years, she wanted to increase her independence by moving farther from her parents, which she was able to do with this increased money. Finally able to work in a the field she had fallen in love with while visiting Jamestown, Gail found a position farther away in Connecticut working as a traveler's insurance maintenance programmer for about two years. She continued working in other jobs in information security until 2010, where her Yale degree informed her understanding of ecosystem analysis; however, these analytical skills that she developed as a Yale student extended beyond ecology to something that she used in everyday life. 

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Outside of work, Gail has always been truly passionate about community service, and always made time for it. She served as the Director of the University of Connecticut’s Master Garden program until 2024, when she retired, and as the Chair of the Conservation Counselors on the Town Trust Board for twenty-five years, as well as a member of many other environmental and sustainability committees. It was in these roles that Gail could give back to her community while using the skills she learned through her extensive employment experience. She has also been on the Yale’s Reunion Committee for many years--and she’s gone to every one held. She also loves sports. In her free time, Gail will often be found running and has participated in numerous 5ks and sprints triathlons. 

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Gail advises the women students of Yale to advocate for themselves. She says that no one else will do it for you. Gail often found that, as a shorter woman, she was not taken seriously in the workforce, so she learned to find her own opportunities. She says, “If people are in your way, get them to move.” And as for your time at Yale, don’t be afraid to reach out to your professors. Gail was scared to do this, and she often battled with imposter syndrome while she was here. However, she realizes now that she was not making the most out of her education here. While Gail is naturally introverted, she has now trained herself to be comfortable interacting with those around her, so she could thrive in every position she held. Gail believes that you should do everything in your power to set yourself up for success. Gaining comfort interacting with people was one of the ways she did this, but she also learned to embrace serendipity because not everything will be perfect. However, you can always learn from it, or look at it in a way that benefits you, rather than letting it hold you back. Whether it was moving to a different job or a new state or city, this is something Gail always attempted to exemplify. 

If you want to have the privilege of talking to Gail yourself, you can find her on WLI’s alumnae mentor directory! Gail is one of more than 250 alumnae who have registered as mentors for Yale undergraduate women as part of a collaborative initiative between WLI and Yale Women. Access the directory on the “Mentorship Initiative” tab of WLI’s website to connect with any of our incredible mentors!