Ecology73
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Biofuels, food security, deforestation, and loss of biodiversity
Biofuel use is one of the strategies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that has already been incorporated into policy and regulatory frameworks. However, it has become increasingly evident that biofuel production has unintended consequences that extend beyond national boundaries and beyond the energy sector. Chief among these are concerns for food security. The food…
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Supporting Conservation in Latin America
Overbrook Fellows Will Study Forests, Watersheds and Seas
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Learning How the ‘Unnatural’ Becomes Natural Through Restoration Ecology
The many natural respites in New York City — frequented by humans, migratory birds and other animals — are not natural at all, says Professor James Danoff-Burg of Columbia University, but the result of a post-industrial phenomenon called restoration ecology. “New York City is at the forefront of many restoration ecology projects and approaches,” says…
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Report #3: I’m Not Here to Eat Your Birds!
By Justin Nobel, Columbia University Earth and Environmental Sciences Journalism Student My first impressions of Africa came from reading National Geographic articles like those in 2000 and 2001 chronicling ecologist Michael Fay’s African “megatransect.” His 2,000-mile, 456-day trek across the rainforests of the Republic of the Congo, Cameroon and Gabon described an impenetrable wilderness unspoiled…
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Report #2: The Enchanting Tale of the Whydah Bird Tail
By Justin Nobel, Columbia University Earth and Environmental Sciences Journalism Student Sending a postcard home from Sauri requires four cinnamon-chested bee-eaters and one African fish eagle. Birds are popular in Kenya and their images are ubiquitous. Different species are featured on ten- and five-shilling stamps, appear in cell-phone advertisements and grace tourism posters in Nairobi’s…
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Earth: Utilities Included
by Shahid Naeem, Professor of Ecology, Columbia University The day all utilities and service providers stop sending us bills would be a day of unparalleled celebration, with ticker-tape parades for the executives of utilities companies, and the naming of national heroes. Until that day comes, we have Earth Day. Our most vital utilities and services…
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Seeing the Forest and the Trees
Study finds that loss of tree diversity affects the ability of tropical forests to sequester carbon
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