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Sustainable Development Concentrators Celebrate Graduation at Special Breakfast Reception
Students from the undergraduate special concentration in sustainable development celebrated their graduation from Columbia College and the School of General Studies on May 18 at a special breakfast held for them in Columbia’s Faculty House. Family, friends and faculty gathered with students who reflected on the achievements of the last four years and recalled sustainable…
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MCI’s School2School Program Creates Mutually Beneficial Partnerships
Can students living continents apart learn from one another, using basic technology? The Millennium Cities School2School partnership program (S2S) is quickly proving that distance learning is not only possible, it is a wonderful way to enhance students’ academic skills and increase their knowledge of important global issues – while allowing them to learn about new…
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Moving Up a Melting Mountain
Four days ago, we flew into the lowland Papuan city of Timika, then moved up to Tembagapura, a town managed by the Freeport-McMoRan company, whose gold/copper mine near our glaciers is lending us logistical support. Tembagapura, at 1,900 meters (6,000 feet), was our first step in acclimatizing to high elevation. Now we have moved up…
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The Economist: Special Report on Water, a primer for the water crisis
The Economist has released a Special Report on Water, dated May 22nd, 2010, written by John Grimond. The 18 page report contains 9 short but substantial articles giving an overview of global water issues.
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Return to Malawi: Bringing Home Instruments and Earthquake Data
In early May, Scott Nooner and I returned to Malawi to retrieve our seismic equipment and finally lay eyes on the data recorded over the last 4 months. Picking them up was vastly easier than putting them out. In contrast to the days studying out-dated maps and driving down dirt roads looking for sites, and…
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Irrigation project success in Mali
Columbia Water Center is working in Mali, Africa, as part of its PepsiCo Foundation funded project to improve rural water use and livelihoods. The Mali component of the project aims to develop an effective irrigation system to improve agricultural productivity and food security.
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Water and Energy – an Integrated Approach
In the news, electricity and resource use seems to get the most exposure – people are looking at emissions, global warming, and oil and coal dependence. One thing that is for certain is that electricity use needs to decrease if we are to decreased our dependence on oil, our CO2 emissions, and become a greener…
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The shrinking face of Jacobshavn Isbrae (Glacier)
Jacobshavn Isbrae is one of the fastest moving and most productive glaciers in the world. Scientists estimate that close to the snout (front) its movement has accelerated in recent years from 20 to 40 meters a day. At the same time that the front has accelerated the glacier has been rapidly retreating through ‘calving’ (large sections breaking…
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LIMPET: Land Installed Marine Powered Energy Transformer
I recently posted a piece on the ‘Deep Green’ project to generate electricity from deep ocean currents. Here is another of the ocean-based generation schemes: Land Installed Marine Powered Energy Transformer, or LIMPET.

AGU25, the premier Earth and space science conference, takes place December 15-19, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. This year’s theme—Where Science Connects Us—puts in focus how science depends on connection, from the lab to the field to the ballot box. Once again, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and Columbia Climate School scientists, experts, students, and educators are playing an active role, sharing our research and helping shape the future of our planet. #AGU25 Learn More