State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

201238

  • MS Student Transitions from Financial Services to Sustainability Management

    MS Student Transitions from Financial Services to Sustainability Management

    “After years of working in numerous facets of the financial services industry, late 2008 drove me to re-evaluate my life purpose and realize at my core was an unwavering dedication to promoting sustainable practices.” Scott Miller joined the MS in Sustainability Management program as a part-time student in fall 2011 to align his career goals…

  • Did Climate Change Shape Human Evolution?

    Did Climate Change Shape Human Evolution?

    “The use of stone to make stone that can cut flesh is important,” Richard Leakey said. “We’re not empirical things, we’re thinkers. … What was it that triggered that response?”

  • Midgard Glaciers hold the mark of Thor

    Midgard Glaciers hold the mark of Thor

    To Norse mythology Midgard is a place that is impassable, surrounded by a world of ocean. Thor, the hammer-wielding warrior god often traveled across to Midgard, and one imagines evidence of his fiery power remains in the highly charged rocks that are left behind. Magnetized rocks containing Thor’s energy and the fiery touch of his…

  • Student Researcher Helps Promote Trade and Investment in Sub-Saharan Africa

    Student Researcher Helps Promote Trade and Investment in Sub-Saharan Africa

    by Kaci Fowler Originally from Germany, Philipp Petermann comes to the Earth Institute through an exchange program between Columbia University and the Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris, or Sciences Po, a public research and higher education institution in Paris, France. In May, Philipp will graduate with a dual Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science…

  • Paleomagnetism Researcher Elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences

    Paleomagnetism Researcher Elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences

    Dennis Kent, a leading expert in the history of earth’s magnetic field, has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Other members of the 2012 class include U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, playwright Neil Simon, Hollywood director Clint Eastwood and Amazon founder Jeffrey Bezos.

  • Clouding our Image

    Clouding our Image

    Even in idyllic Greenland some days start to feel like the movie “Groundhog Day”, however the turn of events today broke that thread. Over our two weeks in Kangerlussuaq we have ended our evenings with a science and weather report, and the hope of flying the program over both coasts. Each morning we wake up,…

  • MPA Student Explores Relationship between Social Justice and Environmental Sustainability: Part II

    MPA Student Explores Relationship between Social Justice and Environmental Sustainability: Part II

    At the Institute for Conscious Global Change (ICGC), Andi Broffman has been working specifically on Goal #7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability of the Millennium Earth Project, focusing specifically on Haiti and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). As a researcher, Andi compiles data for a geographic information systems (GIS) team that puts the data into…

  • Spring Sprang Early: Should We Worry?

    Spring Sprang Early: Should We Worry?

    While studies do show that flowers and other plants are blooming earlier on average because of warming trends, this year’s early fireworks were “certainly well within the realm of experience for the species native to this area,” says Robert Naczi of the New York Botanical Garden.

  • Training Development Leaders in Amman, Jordan

    Training Development Leaders in Amman, Jordan

    “If you coordinate action by means of developing mutual trust- not only interpersonal but also between organizations- then the linkages between those that design the policy and those that implement policy are much more effective”. – André Corrêa d’Almeida, Coordinator of Executive Education at the Center on Globalization and Sustainable Development (CGSD) What is the…

Photo of the Earth from space with the text "Lamont at AGU25" on top.

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

  • MS Student Transitions from Financial Services to Sustainability Management

    MS Student Transitions from Financial Services to Sustainability Management

    “After years of working in numerous facets of the financial services industry, late 2008 drove me to re-evaluate my life purpose and realize at my core was an unwavering dedication to promoting sustainable practices.” Scott Miller joined the MS in Sustainability Management program as a part-time student in fall 2011 to align his career goals…

  • Did Climate Change Shape Human Evolution?

    Did Climate Change Shape Human Evolution?

    “The use of stone to make stone that can cut flesh is important,” Richard Leakey said. “We’re not empirical things, we’re thinkers. … What was it that triggered that response?”

  • Midgard Glaciers hold the mark of Thor

    Midgard Glaciers hold the mark of Thor

    To Norse mythology Midgard is a place that is impassable, surrounded by a world of ocean. Thor, the hammer-wielding warrior god often traveled across to Midgard, and one imagines evidence of his fiery power remains in the highly charged rocks that are left behind. Magnetized rocks containing Thor’s energy and the fiery touch of his…

  • Student Researcher Helps Promote Trade and Investment in Sub-Saharan Africa

    Student Researcher Helps Promote Trade and Investment in Sub-Saharan Africa

    by Kaci Fowler Originally from Germany, Philipp Petermann comes to the Earth Institute through an exchange program between Columbia University and the Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris, or Sciences Po, a public research and higher education institution in Paris, France. In May, Philipp will graduate with a dual Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science…

  • Paleomagnetism Researcher Elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences

    Paleomagnetism Researcher Elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences

    Dennis Kent, a leading expert in the history of earth’s magnetic field, has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Other members of the 2012 class include U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, playwright Neil Simon, Hollywood director Clint Eastwood and Amazon founder Jeffrey Bezos.

  • Clouding our Image

    Clouding our Image

    Even in idyllic Greenland some days start to feel like the movie “Groundhog Day”, however the turn of events today broke that thread. Over our two weeks in Kangerlussuaq we have ended our evenings with a science and weather report, and the hope of flying the program over both coasts. Each morning we wake up,…

  • MPA Student Explores Relationship between Social Justice and Environmental Sustainability: Part II

    MPA Student Explores Relationship between Social Justice and Environmental Sustainability: Part II

    At the Institute for Conscious Global Change (ICGC), Andi Broffman has been working specifically on Goal #7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability of the Millennium Earth Project, focusing specifically on Haiti and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). As a researcher, Andi compiles data for a geographic information systems (GIS) team that puts the data into…

  • Spring Sprang Early: Should We Worry?

    Spring Sprang Early: Should We Worry?

    While studies do show that flowers and other plants are blooming earlier on average because of warming trends, this year’s early fireworks were “certainly well within the realm of experience for the species native to this area,” says Robert Naczi of the New York Botanical Garden.

  • Training Development Leaders in Amman, Jordan

    Training Development Leaders in Amman, Jordan

    “If you coordinate action by means of developing mutual trust- not only interpersonal but also between organizations- then the linkages between those that design the policy and those that implement policy are much more effective”. – André Corrêa d’Almeida, Coordinator of Executive Education at the Center on Globalization and Sustainable Development (CGSD) What is the…