State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

2015

  • Focusing on Ecosystems to Reduce Disaster Risks

    Focusing on Ecosystems to Reduce Disaster Risks

    Current Master of Science in Sustainability Management student Alia’a Harun was drawn to the program because of the interdisciplinary approach towards a pragmatic implementation of sustainability. Alia’a has a background in Ecology and is looking for ways to apply hard value onto the natural environment and its services.

  • All I Wanted for Christmas Was for These Pumps to Work

    All I Wanted for Christmas Was for These Pumps to Work

    We’ve just completed our first full station and are remarkably pleased with the results. We collected 8 seawater samples to measure helium isotopes; 20 to measure thorium and protactinium isotopes; 7 in-situ pump filters; 1 box core of the ocean floor; and more.

  • New App Explores Ice and Sea Level Change Through Time

    Lamont-Doherty Scientists Create ‘Polar Explorer: Sea Level’

  • Need a Good Password? Here’s Help from a Sixth-Grader

    Need a Good Password? Here’s Help from a Sixth-Grader

    It’s cheaper than a couple of subway rides, more powerful than almost any hacker (except maybe the NSA). And, if you think about it, not so hard to remember.

  • Microbeads, Marine Debris, Regulation and the Precautionary Principle

    It is clear that the hunger for economic growth and wealth pushes business and governments to ignore environmental impacts that are considered an inevitable byproduct of development. But this fails to account for the costs that will inevitably be borne when the damage must be cleaned up.

  • A Special Project, and a Chance to Double Your Impact

    A Special Project, and a Chance to Double Your Impact

    As 2015 comes to a close, we would like to express our deepest gratitude to the Earth Institute’s many partners, friends and supporters who help make our work possible. In honor of the final year of the Millennium Development Goals and the transition to the Sustainable Development Goals, we would like to highlight one partner…

  • Center on Sustainable Investment Accepting Internship Applications

    Center on Sustainable Investment Accepting Internship Applications

    The Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, a joint center of Columbia Law School and the Earth Institute, is accepting applications until Jan. 15, 2016, for internship positions for the spring 2016 semester. Interns are staffed to one or more specific research projects depending on the background and interests of the particular applicant. Unpaid and paid…

  • Doing Science When There’s No Science to Be Done

    Doing Science When There’s No Science to Be Done

    With an abundance of time and a dearth of work, we have begun to devise ways of doing science before we can actually do science at sea. Among other things, we set up an imaging system to take pictures of particle filters we bring back from the deep sea.

  • Student Profile: Danny Giddings

    Student Profile: Danny Giddings

    After two years of service with the United States Peace Corps, Danny Giddings was eager to expand his knowledge of the various environmental, economic, and social issues involved in agricultural production. For Danny, the MPA ESP program offered the perfect combination of environmental policy with education in hard sciences.

  • Focusing on Ecosystems to Reduce Disaster Risks

    Focusing on Ecosystems to Reduce Disaster Risks

    Current Master of Science in Sustainability Management student Alia’a Harun was drawn to the program because of the interdisciplinary approach towards a pragmatic implementation of sustainability. Alia’a has a background in Ecology and is looking for ways to apply hard value onto the natural environment and its services.

  • All I Wanted for Christmas Was for These Pumps to Work

    All I Wanted for Christmas Was for These Pumps to Work

    We’ve just completed our first full station and are remarkably pleased with the results. We collected 8 seawater samples to measure helium isotopes; 20 to measure thorium and protactinium isotopes; 7 in-situ pump filters; 1 box core of the ocean floor; and more.

  • New App Explores Ice and Sea Level Change Through Time

    Lamont-Doherty Scientists Create ‘Polar Explorer: Sea Level’

  • Need a Good Password? Here’s Help from a Sixth-Grader

    Need a Good Password? Here’s Help from a Sixth-Grader

    It’s cheaper than a couple of subway rides, more powerful than almost any hacker (except maybe the NSA). And, if you think about it, not so hard to remember.

  • Microbeads, Marine Debris, Regulation and the Precautionary Principle

    It is clear that the hunger for economic growth and wealth pushes business and governments to ignore environmental impacts that are considered an inevitable byproduct of development. But this fails to account for the costs that will inevitably be borne when the damage must be cleaned up.

  • A Special Project, and a Chance to Double Your Impact

    A Special Project, and a Chance to Double Your Impact

    As 2015 comes to a close, we would like to express our deepest gratitude to the Earth Institute’s many partners, friends and supporters who help make our work possible. In honor of the final year of the Millennium Development Goals and the transition to the Sustainable Development Goals, we would like to highlight one partner…

  • Center on Sustainable Investment Accepting Internship Applications

    Center on Sustainable Investment Accepting Internship Applications

    The Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, a joint center of Columbia Law School and the Earth Institute, is accepting applications until Jan. 15, 2016, for internship positions for the spring 2016 semester. Interns are staffed to one or more specific research projects depending on the background and interests of the particular applicant. Unpaid and paid…

  • Doing Science When There’s No Science to Be Done

    Doing Science When There’s No Science to Be Done

    With an abundance of time and a dearth of work, we have begun to devise ways of doing science before we can actually do science at sea. Among other things, we set up an imaging system to take pictures of particle filters we bring back from the deep sea.

  • Student Profile: Danny Giddings

    Student Profile: Danny Giddings

    After two years of service with the United States Peace Corps, Danny Giddings was eager to expand his knowledge of the various environmental, economic, and social issues involved in agricultural production. For Danny, the MPA ESP program offered the perfect combination of environmental policy with education in hard sciences.