Poverty / Development42
-
Restoring Sight: My Work With the Himalayan Cataract Project in Ethiopia
A guest blog from Dr. Matt Oliva, an MD with the Himalayan Cataract Project. Blindness exerts an incredible toll in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, in terms of both human suffering and adverse economic impact. Due to environmental conditions, malnutrition and vitamin deficiency, ocular infections, trauma and lack of access to care, some of the…
-
Reusable, Homemade Feminine Pads: A Simple Intervention to Help Keep Girls in School
In many areas of sub-Saharan Africa, gender parity tends to decline at higher levels of schooling. While girls’ enrollment and completion rates for primary school are typically high, these rates decrease with secondary and tertiary education. Girls may discontinue their studies to devote more time to household chores, to earn extra income by engaging in…
-
Phytoremediation: Can It Solve the Brownfield Problem?
Brownfields, born from defunct industrial facilities, are a growing problem in the world today. Current cleanup techniques are invasive, expensive, energy dependent, and restrictive. Perhaps a better and more innovative solution to the problem is a form of bioremediation called phytoremediation.
-
H2O – “Help to Others”, A Youth Inspired Water Project
Project H2O, Help to Others, is a documentary production about a group of high school students in Puerto Rico on an odyssey of learning about global water problems and how to be part of the solution, and much more.
-
Climate and the Border: Why Rising Temperatures Will Add Immigration Challenges
When experts warn of the consequences of global climate change, they usually cite impacts on natural systems. They tell us that ice caps will melt, sea levels will rise, extreme weather will become more common, droughts will increase in frequency, oceans will become more acidic and so on. In recent years, we have also come…
-
Think Globally, Act Locally: Climate Adaptation in Action
Across Indonesia, several effective climate adaptation actions on local levels are underway. These actions serve as a reminder of the important change that starts with a community of dedicated individuals.
-
Global Population Growth and Water Scarcity Q&A
Russell Sticklor with the Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Program in Washington, DC. recently contacted me requesting my thoughts on a number of issues for an article he is writing on global population growth and water scarcity for the magazine, Outdoor America. I thought some of the comments might be interesting to our blog…
-
Notes from a Gender Needs Assessment: Kisumu’s Greatest Resource
The following is a guest blog, authored by Sarah Jaffe, an MCI researcher who is carrying out a Gender Needs Assessment for Kisumu, Kenya. My mobile buzzed in my pocket, and I shifted the crate of Fanta my seatmate had rested on my lap to one side. It was my colleague, Ben: “Madame Grace is…
-
New Initiative to Fast-Track Development in Dry Areas of East Africa
Ministers from six countries in the region endorse project targeting pastoralist communities
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
