Posts
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MPA Students Present Mid-Semester Briefings
On Wednesday, June 26, the MPA in Environmental Science and Policy students presented their Midterm Briefings for their class: Workshop in Applied Earth Systems Policy Analysis. A continental breakfast was provided before the presentations began and the students and faculty had a chance to mingle and discuss informally what they had been working on for…
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In Ethiopian Desert, a Window into Rifting of Africa
A new study in the journal Nature provides fresh insight into deep-earth processes driving apart huge sections of the earth’s crust. This rifting mostly takes place on seabeds, but can be seen in a few places on land—nowhere more visibly than in the Afar region of northern Ethiopia.
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What’s the Real Story With Clean Coal?
The Obama administration will propose new rules to limit carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants. But is “clean coal” technology up to the job?
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New Forensic Technique May Help Track Illegal Ivory
Epic Elephant Slaughter Leads Scientists to Develop Dating Tool
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Faculty Profile: Benjamín Bostick
MPA in Environmental Science and Policy (MPA-ESP) professor Benjamín Bostick began his Columbia career as a researcher at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, specializing in geochemistry. His research centers on the coupled biogeochemical cycling of carbon, iron, and sulfur. He now teaches the Environmental Chemistry course in the ESP program, where he examines the delicate balance…
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Strange Bedfellows in the Climate Change Saga: Taiga to Tundra
In the nine-hour drive on the great Dalton Highway to Toolik Field Station one starts out in the boreal forest, which is also called the “taiga,” but the forest eventually disappears. More accurately, trees disappear. Leaving Fairbanks, one drives through beautiful stands of spruce, birch, and aspen trees, but as one gets closer and closer…
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Science in the Streets
What motivates artists may be different than what motivates scientists, but they can investigate similar ideas. Artists interested in sustainability issues might team up with scientists to make sure their work is accurate. Scientists benefit from art projects that communicate their research to a broader audience than would normally read a journal article. However, the…
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Designing the Future at the Brooklyn Navy Yard Industrial Park
Two Sustainability Management projects offer solutions that reinforce the business and development goals of the yard’s Development Corporation while also creating positive interactions with the environment and neighboring community.
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Chasing Tornadoes: A Close Call with a Deadly Storm
Tornadoes are rare at any one location, but out of anywhere in the United States, the central Oklahoma area has the greatest risk—and this day would prove no exception.
