On Friday, April 28, the Climate School will host its annual Student Research Showcase in partnership with Columbia’s Office of Sustainability. This event gives Columbia undergraduate, graduate, and PhD students the opportunity to present posters to share their experience on projects pertaining to sustainability, climate, and the environment. This year’s student work covers a range of topics including regenerative ecotourism, community engagement for negative emissions technology, climate education in NYC public schools, the connection between gender and climate finance, and many other interesting topics.
With a similar passion for sustainability, the 2023 participants bring a variety of unique skills to their research, including GIS modeling, economic analysis, and community engagement. They represent a large range of academic disciplines and programs such as the Undergraduate Program in Sustainable Development, the MA in Climate and Society program, the PhD in Sustainable Development, and the MS in Environmental Engineering, among others.
Iynul Rizwan, a student in the undergraduate Sustainable Development program mentored by Climate School faculty member Jacqueline Klopp, shared her thoughts on the student research showcase: “I am excited to share my findings regarding the nation’s first state-sponsored climate change education standards spearheaded by NJ.”
Several of this year’s research projects have a global focus. Students created an open-access global population grid, designed a framework for equitable community engagement for ocean carbon dioxide removal, wrote a chapter on gender and climate finance which will be published as part of a collection on sustainable finance, and conducted a literature review of wildfire research related to community loss.
Others have taken a more focused approach on NYC environmental justice issues or an individual country’s sustainability issues. One such project hones in on Columbia University and aims to create a Student Sustainability Association in partnership with the Office of Sustainability.
The showcase will open with remarks from the Columbia University Office of Sustainability, whose leadership will share updates on the state of Plan 2030, Columbia’s 10-year plan that outlines its sustainability goals, including an ambition to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. Jessica Prata, assistant vice president of the Office of Sustainability shared their vision: “Our goal is to increase awareness of Columbia’s goal to achieve net-zero emission by 2050 or sooner, and provide concrete updates on a few major areas where there has been much progress this year, including paving a pathway to an electrified campus, developing more sustainable design and construction standards, implementing creative transportation solutions and preparing for a new, data-driven way of engaging students, faculty, and staff to foster a culture of sustainability.”
Join the Climate School in supporting its student researchers by attending the showcase on April 28 from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm in Lerner Hall. RSVP on the event page.
The Climate School offers several programs through which students can engage in research, internships, and fieldwork. To learn more about the different programs, please visit our student opportunities page.
