State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Past Lecturer Now Director of NIH

Francis Collins, Director of NIH

Last February Francis Collins enchanted the CSSR with his lecture, “The Language of God: A Believer Looks at the Human Genome”. Collins was the leader of the Human Genome Project, the revolutionary program which undertook the task of reading out all of the letters of the human DNA instruction book, and has recently become the director of the National Institutes of Health. He continues to do groundbreaking work on disease genes, and has just completed a new book entitled The Language of Life: DNA and the Revolution in Personalized Medicine.

Watch his video here:

Are science and faith locked in an unavoidable battle of worldviews? Must one win and the other lose? No, says Francis Collins, a physician-geneticist who led the Human Genome Project in its historic program to read out all of the letters of the human DNA instruction book. Science is one way of knowing; faith is another. Both aim to reveal truth, but each answers different kinds of questions. Science tells us how; faith tells us why.

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

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