New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced an agreement with The Earth Institute at Columbia University to work with the new Office of Long-term Planning and Sustainability as scientific advisors. The Earth Institute will provide pro bono academic and scientific expertise to the Office and participate in Advisory Board discussions. The scholars of the…
It isn’t often that a new parking lot receives positive reviews from the environmental community. In keeping with Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory’s history of environmental stewardship along the Hudson River, however, the new lot currently under construction on campus is no ordinary blacktop. Intended as a replacement for the existing lot that will soon become…
Anisa Khadem Nwachuku calls herself a “world citizen.” With just a cursory glance at her curriculum vitae, it is easy to see why: she has traveled to and lived in every far-flung corner of the world, growing up around poverty and communities in crisis. Originally from Chicago, Khadem Nwachuku was raised by globally minded parents…
Richard R. Nelson, George Blumenthal Professor Emeritus of International and Public Affairs, Business and Law at Columbia University, has been award the 2006 Honda Prize for his pioneering research on technology and history. Nelson will be the 27th laureate of the prize, and is currently responsible for Center for Science Technology and Global Development of…
by John Mutter It has been one year since hurricane Katrina laid waste to New Orleans and a sizeable stretch of the Gulf Coast. What made that event a disaster, however, happened well before the storm actually came ashore. With hurricanes, the rule for survival is simple — get out! If you get out you…
On September 5, the Columbia Program on International Investment (CPII) and the Economist Intelligence Unit, a member of The Economist Group, released the World Investment Prospects to 2010: Boom or Backlash? The volume (304 pages) is dedicated to the assessment of foreign direct investment (FDI) flows during 2005-2010. It also examines various factors that suggest…
Marie Tharp, a pathbreaking oceanographic cartographer at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, co-creator of the first global map of the ocean floor and co-discoverer of the central rift valley that runs through the Mid-Atlantic Ridge died Wednesday August 23 in Nyack Hospital. She was 86. A pioneer of modern oceanography, Tharp was the first to map…
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…
by Jessie Stensland Global warming is a hot issue these days. Former Vice President Al Gore is getting rave reviews for his movie about climate change. President George Bush finally admitted last year that human activity “may” be causing global warming. While the federal government has been resistant toward taking substantial steps to curb the…