State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

General91

  • A Spatial Analysis of the 2008 Itajaí River Valley Disaster

    A Spatial Analysis of the 2008 Itajaí River Valley Disaster

    Biophysical and socioeconomic risk factors—such as terrain, population distribution, settlement patterns, poverty, and governance—can combine to produce high levels of vulnerability to heavy rainfall, flooding, and landslides.

  • Alums Recruit Students at All-Ivy Fair

    Alums Recruit Students at All-Ivy Fair

    On Feb. 28, the All-Ivy Environmental and Sustainable Development Career Fair marked its 11th year. The eight Ivy League schools – Brown, Cornell, Columbia, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania and Yale – teamed up once again to host the fair at Columbia University in New York City. This year’s event attracted 69 recruiting…

  • Bricks, an Archeological Site and Home

    Bricks, an Archeological Site and Home

    It was time to pack up and leave. Shofiq, who is from Sylhet, was dropped off near his home and the fellowship of the rocks was broken. We settled in for another long drive. We made an impromptu stop at one of the numerous brick factories scattered across Bangladesh. Here, the workers immediately started snapping…

  • Field School: Sylhet Tectonics

    Field School: Sylhet Tectonics

    Most field trips have a “death march” hiking a long way through forest, swamps, hills or deserts to get to a remote outcrop. We have a “death bus ride” instead.

  • MS Student Takes Sustainability to the Skies

    MS Student Takes Sustainability to the Skies

    As head of sustainability for JetBlue Airways, current Master of Science in Sustainability Management student Sophia Mendelsohn is responsible for reducing the environmental impact of one of the largest airlines in North America. While this can be a challenge, the financial and scientific skills she has gained through the program provide her with a solid…

  • Mekong Delta and Three Gorges Dam: World’s First Climate Change Resettlements?

    Mekong Delta and Three Gorges Dam: World’s First Climate Change Resettlements?

    Many resettlers are economically better off, but the dislocations remain significant, especially for older resettlers, who have a harder time getting work in the newly developed industrial sector. Although the plight of some resettlers has been quite difficult (one older man competed fiercely to serve as a porter for us for the royal sum of…

  • A Life Well Mapped

    A Life Well Mapped

    Mark Becker believed in the power of geospatial data and analysis to motivate our stewardship of the environment and guide development of sustainable approaches that balance human and environmental needs.

  • Field School: The Brahmaputra River

    Field School: The Brahmaputra River

    The first day was very light for the jet-lagged students, just a short introduction to the field school and some background, and then introductions all around as we started to get to know each other. The final group of nine students finally arrived around 9 p.m. They were the most worn-out, bedraggled bunch of travelers…

  • Students Design Energy Retrofit Program for Montenegro

    Students Design Energy Retrofit Program for Montenegro

    When four Master of Science in Sustainability Management students landed in Podgorica, Montenegro in January, they were carrying an energy efficiency plan that promised to save the country money and energy, and to create jobs. These benefits would come from the energy retrofitting of some 100,000 buildings that have sprouted without permits in the last…

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

  • A Spatial Analysis of the 2008 Itajaí River Valley Disaster

    A Spatial Analysis of the 2008 Itajaí River Valley Disaster

    Biophysical and socioeconomic risk factors—such as terrain, population distribution, settlement patterns, poverty, and governance—can combine to produce high levels of vulnerability to heavy rainfall, flooding, and landslides.

  • Alums Recruit Students at All-Ivy Fair

    Alums Recruit Students at All-Ivy Fair

    On Feb. 28, the All-Ivy Environmental and Sustainable Development Career Fair marked its 11th year. The eight Ivy League schools – Brown, Cornell, Columbia, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania and Yale – teamed up once again to host the fair at Columbia University in New York City. This year’s event attracted 69 recruiting…

  • Bricks, an Archeological Site and Home

    Bricks, an Archeological Site and Home

    It was time to pack up and leave. Shofiq, who is from Sylhet, was dropped off near his home and the fellowship of the rocks was broken. We settled in for another long drive. We made an impromptu stop at one of the numerous brick factories scattered across Bangladesh. Here, the workers immediately started snapping…

  • Field School: Sylhet Tectonics

    Field School: Sylhet Tectonics

    Most field trips have a “death march” hiking a long way through forest, swamps, hills or deserts to get to a remote outcrop. We have a “death bus ride” instead.

  • MS Student Takes Sustainability to the Skies

    MS Student Takes Sustainability to the Skies

    As head of sustainability for JetBlue Airways, current Master of Science in Sustainability Management student Sophia Mendelsohn is responsible for reducing the environmental impact of one of the largest airlines in North America. While this can be a challenge, the financial and scientific skills she has gained through the program provide her with a solid…

  • Mekong Delta and Three Gorges Dam: World’s First Climate Change Resettlements?

    Mekong Delta and Three Gorges Dam: World’s First Climate Change Resettlements?

    Many resettlers are economically better off, but the dislocations remain significant, especially for older resettlers, who have a harder time getting work in the newly developed industrial sector. Although the plight of some resettlers has been quite difficult (one older man competed fiercely to serve as a porter for us for the royal sum of…

  • A Life Well Mapped

    A Life Well Mapped

    Mark Becker believed in the power of geospatial data and analysis to motivate our stewardship of the environment and guide development of sustainable approaches that balance human and environmental needs.

  • Field School: The Brahmaputra River

    Field School: The Brahmaputra River

    The first day was very light for the jet-lagged students, just a short introduction to the field school and some background, and then introductions all around as we started to get to know each other. The final group of nine students finally arrived around 9 p.m. They were the most worn-out, bedraggled bunch of travelers…

  • Students Design Energy Retrofit Program for Montenegro

    Students Design Energy Retrofit Program for Montenegro

    When four Master of Science in Sustainability Management students landed in Podgorica, Montenegro in January, they were carrying an energy efficiency plan that promised to save the country money and energy, and to create jobs. These benefits would come from the energy retrofitting of some 100,000 buildings that have sprouted without permits in the last…