General185
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Is There an Ethics of Climate Change? Missing Conversations, New Challenges
(A link to an MP3 audio recording of this event is located towards the middle of the article.) Last spring, the Columbia Climate Center and the M.A. in Climate and Society program co-hosted a discussion panel on climate change and ethics. Ethics is a field of philosophy that can help to resolve contradictory interests, and…
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Rock Hunting Before River Closes In
On Tuesday we drove to the Steelpoort River Valley, about a hundred kilometers away. Work on a new dam and road has begun since we were here last, in 2006 and 2007. Once it’s finished, the dam will flood much of our field area, submerging some of the rocks we are studying. It’s a good thing…
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Climate News Roundup – Week of 8/16
Last week: the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is suing the EPA, massive coral bleaching is recorded off the coast of Indonesia, the range of blue mussels is being limited by rising sea surface temperatures in the Atlantic, and scientists explore the possibility that the Pakistan floods are related to climate change.
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Geology with a Taste of Safari
We started the morning with breakfast and shopping for lunch provisions. We bought a large bag of oranges grown in the groves that surround this region for the equivalent of $1.50, along with cheese and, of course, biltong. The butcher offered many kinds of biltong, from the shaved, proscuitto-like variety to the serious cowboy jerky…
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Rock Collecting While Watching for Crocodiles, Leopards
On Saturday morning, Ed and I left Pretoria for the next phase of our trip: field work near the Loskop Dam in Mpumalanga Province where a large volcano once existed about two billion years ago. No one has been able to find where this ancient volcano stood but lava flows in the area suggest there…
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Singing, Clapping, Smiling over Geology in S. Africa
After a morning lecture about the Bushveld Complex and the processes of concentrating ores in magma bodies, Ed and I had to go to the University of Pretoria for Thursday afternoon. I was invited to give a lecture and we were able to have some very interesting conversations about Bushveld research with the people who…
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Newlyweds Direct Wedding Gifts to the Earth Institute
When John Amore and Aylin Tugberk married at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Brooklyn this past June, they were following three-generations of family who have celebrated and worshiped there. But another aspect of the couple’s wedding was anything but traditional: instead of creating a typical gift registry, John and Aylin asked guests to…
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Getting Underneath South Africa’s Mineral Wealth
Our teaching workshop continued Tuesday with a lecture about mineral resources and their economic importance. South Africa has abundant platinum and gold but also lesser-known elements like vanadium, chromium, and manganese. Vanadium and chromium, important to the steel industry, are found predominantly in the Bushveld Complex where our research is focused. Chromium gives steel much…
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New York City Rocks Spark Cultural Exchange
The workshop that we are here leading is designed to help South Africa high school teachers make geology come alive for their students. We want to share basic concepts, such as how rocks and minerals form, but also provide activities and materials that can make the concepts more accessible. In planning the workshop, we outlined…
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