State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Ecology53

  • Environmental Economics and Conservation

    Environmental Economics and Conservation

    This course provides an introduction to environmental economics, discussing the basic principles of microeconomics as they apply to environmental issues and analyzing case studies that illustrate how economics can guide conservation practice and policy.

  • From Sendai to Rio: A Call for Action

    From Sendai to Rio: A Call for Action

    The people living on the northeast coast of Japan had learned to expect large earthquakes. But despite being one of the best-prepared nations, they were caught off-guard by the force of the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami that devastated their coastline and led to the meltdown of reactors at the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

  • Save those Acorns for the Apocalypse

    Save those Acorns for the Apocalypse

    As biodiversity takes a hit from climate change, forward thinking groups store seed samples in gene banks. The idea: if an entire species is wiped out, scientists can repopulate from the samples. Hello, plant versions of Adam and Eve.

  • Around the Broadleaf World in 180 Days

    Around the Broadleaf World in 180 Days

    I have been very fortunate lately. In the last 6 months I visited forests I have longed dreamed about and visited forests I had never dreamed of before. I have been so fortunate that it is hard to believe. And, it is only going to get better in the next two weeks. Early in my…

  • Sustainable Buildings: Design and Construction in the 21st Century

    Sustainable Buildings: Design and Construction in the 21st Century

    The built environment has a vast impact on the natural environment, human health, and the economy. By adopting green building strategies, we can maximize both economic and environmental performance.

  • Growing Food, Protecting the Land in Africa

    Growing Food, Protecting the Land in Africa

    The new Africa Monitoring System aims to help land managers and policy makers identify and tackle tradeoffs between intensified food production on the African continent and the vital services provided by healthy ecosystems.

  • Upcoming Courses in Sustainability, Conservation

    Upcoming Courses in Sustainability, Conservation

    The Center for Environmental Research and Conservation at Columbia University provides professionals with the knowledge and tools to be effective environmental leaders and decision makers in the 21st century. It is an evening program in which environmental issues are discussed, debated and examined, where participants develop an in-depth understanding of conservation science and practice through…

  • Expanding Overseas Study Opportunities

    Expanding Overseas Study Opportunities

    A golf-ball-sized rhinoceros beetle flies through the open-air pavilion and lands on my table. I look up from my notes, an attempt at reworking my African wild dog study methods, and realize I haven’t seen one of these mighty beasts since my junior year in South Africa. The beetle is a welcome companion on this…

  • The Sea of Green

    The Sea of Green

    What we call forest—addressing it simply as an object in space—is in fact an ever-shifting process, a living and breathing colony possessed of a body, a purpose, and a lifespan—at once noun, a verb, an adjective. In these budding, bristling eons of development, the forests came to be the lungs of the organic Earth, an…

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!

  • Environmental Economics and Conservation

    Environmental Economics and Conservation

    This course provides an introduction to environmental economics, discussing the basic principles of microeconomics as they apply to environmental issues and analyzing case studies that illustrate how economics can guide conservation practice and policy.

  • From Sendai to Rio: A Call for Action

    From Sendai to Rio: A Call for Action

    The people living on the northeast coast of Japan had learned to expect large earthquakes. But despite being one of the best-prepared nations, they were caught off-guard by the force of the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami that devastated their coastline and led to the meltdown of reactors at the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

  • Save those Acorns for the Apocalypse

    Save those Acorns for the Apocalypse

    As biodiversity takes a hit from climate change, forward thinking groups store seed samples in gene banks. The idea: if an entire species is wiped out, scientists can repopulate from the samples. Hello, plant versions of Adam and Eve.

  • Around the Broadleaf World in 180 Days

    Around the Broadleaf World in 180 Days

    I have been very fortunate lately. In the last 6 months I visited forests I have longed dreamed about and visited forests I had never dreamed of before. I have been so fortunate that it is hard to believe. And, it is only going to get better in the next two weeks. Early in my…

  • Sustainable Buildings: Design and Construction in the 21st Century

    Sustainable Buildings: Design and Construction in the 21st Century

    The built environment has a vast impact on the natural environment, human health, and the economy. By adopting green building strategies, we can maximize both economic and environmental performance.

  • Growing Food, Protecting the Land in Africa

    Growing Food, Protecting the Land in Africa

    The new Africa Monitoring System aims to help land managers and policy makers identify and tackle tradeoffs between intensified food production on the African continent and the vital services provided by healthy ecosystems.

  • Upcoming Courses in Sustainability, Conservation

    Upcoming Courses in Sustainability, Conservation

    The Center for Environmental Research and Conservation at Columbia University provides professionals with the knowledge and tools to be effective environmental leaders and decision makers in the 21st century. It is an evening program in which environmental issues are discussed, debated and examined, where participants develop an in-depth understanding of conservation science and practice through…

  • Expanding Overseas Study Opportunities

    Expanding Overseas Study Opportunities

    A golf-ball-sized rhinoceros beetle flies through the open-air pavilion and lands on my table. I look up from my notes, an attempt at reworking my African wild dog study methods, and realize I haven’t seen one of these mighty beasts since my junior year in South Africa. The beetle is a welcome companion on this…

  • The Sea of Green

    The Sea of Green

    What we call forest—addressing it simply as an object in space—is in fact an ever-shifting process, a living and breathing colony possessed of a body, a purpose, and a lifespan—at once noun, a verb, an adjective. In these budding, bristling eons of development, the forests came to be the lungs of the organic Earth, an…