State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Ecology48

  • A Forest Reserve Is Not an Island

    A Forest Reserve Is Not an Island

    Biologist Marina Cords has been studying monkey social behavior in western Kenya’s protected Kakamega Forest since 1979. Her work has led to insights about how primates manage conflicts, mate and carry out other social functions closely related to human behavior.

  • Ecology and Sustainable Water Management

    Ecology and Sustainable Water Management

    Human societies require a constant supply of clean water to survive and environmental guidelines are designed to protect critically important aquatic ecosystems. Register for Ecology and Sustainable Water Management, a course in the Earth Institute’s Executive Education Certificate Program in Environmental Sustainability.

  • Partnering for Impact

    Partnering for Impact

    Our highly interconnected and interdependent world has given rise to an extraordinary collaborative effort to design a future that is sustainable, prosperous and empowering. The recently concluded Clinton Global Initiative 2012 annual meeting’s theme, “Designing for Impact,” focused on designing our lives, environments and the global systems that can create more opportunity and equality.

  • A Discussion: Environmental Sustainability and Corporate Decisions

    A Discussion: Environmental Sustainability and Corporate Decisions

    Join CERC’s Afternoon Discussion on: Environmental Sustainability and Corporate Decision-Making with Jeffrey Potent, Environmental Protection Specialist, Office of Water, United States Environmental Protection Agency & Adjunct Professor, Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs.

  • Biotherapy: Technology Assisted Wetland Revival

    Biotherapy: Technology Assisted Wetland Revival

    Coastal Wetlands provide homes for migrating and native birds, protected areas for hatcheries, flood mitigation and an unrivaled biodiversity of microorganisims that serves as the basis of the marine food chain. Nature here works hard to compensate for an increasingly heavy human footprint.

  • Scientists Discover New Species of Monkey

    Scientists Discover New Species of Monkey

    In a gigantic and remote rainforest of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a team of scientists have discovered a new species of Old World monkey known as the “Lesula.”

  • Dipping your feet in the water (A first year’s experience with fieldwork)

    Dipping your feet in the water (A first year’s experience with fieldwork)

    My feet are soaking wet and I’m playing a game of Marco Polo, but I’m nowhere near a pool. It’s my second day on the job. It’s my second week of college. I have no idea what to expect.

  • Conservation and Environmental Sustainability Education Goes International

    Conservation and Environmental Sustainability Education Goes International

    CERC’s integration of web-based learning into the Certificate Program in Conservation and Environmental Sustainability allows the Center to reach an international audience, providing education to students from as far away as the United Kingdom, South Africa, and New Zealand.

  • Nature’s Toxic Crusaders

    Nature’s Toxic Crusaders

    Can mushrooms help clean up oil spills? Can oysters filter sewage pollution? Industrial waste is being injected into the planet’s soil and water as a result of human activity. Pioneers in the field of conservation and sustainability are employing nature’s own biological task force to help clean up.

Blue banner with kids and Earth photos. Text: "Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory Open House, Saturday, October 17, 2026, 10am-4pm.

On Saturday, October 17, 2026 from 10am to 4pm, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory Open House—our biggest, best science fun and discovery event of the year—will take place on our beautiful campus in Palisades, NY. Mark your calendar and join us for this free, family-friendly celebration of science! RSVP Today!

  • A Forest Reserve Is Not an Island

    A Forest Reserve Is Not an Island

    Biologist Marina Cords has been studying monkey social behavior in western Kenya’s protected Kakamega Forest since 1979. Her work has led to insights about how primates manage conflicts, mate and carry out other social functions closely related to human behavior.

  • Ecology and Sustainable Water Management

    Ecology and Sustainable Water Management

    Human societies require a constant supply of clean water to survive and environmental guidelines are designed to protect critically important aquatic ecosystems. Register for Ecology and Sustainable Water Management, a course in the Earth Institute’s Executive Education Certificate Program in Environmental Sustainability.

  • Partnering for Impact

    Partnering for Impact

    Our highly interconnected and interdependent world has given rise to an extraordinary collaborative effort to design a future that is sustainable, prosperous and empowering. The recently concluded Clinton Global Initiative 2012 annual meeting’s theme, “Designing for Impact,” focused on designing our lives, environments and the global systems that can create more opportunity and equality.

  • A Discussion: Environmental Sustainability and Corporate Decisions

    A Discussion: Environmental Sustainability and Corporate Decisions

    Join CERC’s Afternoon Discussion on: Environmental Sustainability and Corporate Decision-Making with Jeffrey Potent, Environmental Protection Specialist, Office of Water, United States Environmental Protection Agency & Adjunct Professor, Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs.

  • Biotherapy: Technology Assisted Wetland Revival

    Biotherapy: Technology Assisted Wetland Revival

    Coastal Wetlands provide homes for migrating and native birds, protected areas for hatcheries, flood mitigation and an unrivaled biodiversity of microorganisims that serves as the basis of the marine food chain. Nature here works hard to compensate for an increasingly heavy human footprint.

  • Scientists Discover New Species of Monkey

    Scientists Discover New Species of Monkey

    In a gigantic and remote rainforest of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a team of scientists have discovered a new species of Old World monkey known as the “Lesula.”

  • Dipping your feet in the water (A first year’s experience with fieldwork)

    Dipping your feet in the water (A first year’s experience with fieldwork)

    My feet are soaking wet and I’m playing a game of Marco Polo, but I’m nowhere near a pool. It’s my second day on the job. It’s my second week of college. I have no idea what to expect.

  • Conservation and Environmental Sustainability Education Goes International

    Conservation and Environmental Sustainability Education Goes International

    CERC’s integration of web-based learning into the Certificate Program in Conservation and Environmental Sustainability allows the Center to reach an international audience, providing education to students from as far away as the United Kingdom, South Africa, and New Zealand.

  • Nature’s Toxic Crusaders

    Nature’s Toxic Crusaders

    Can mushrooms help clean up oil spills? Can oysters filter sewage pollution? Industrial waste is being injected into the planet’s soil and water as a result of human activity. Pioneers in the field of conservation and sustainability are employing nature’s own biological task force to help clean up.