conservation8
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A Fellow’s Story: Crossing Oceans, Breaking Boundaries
After working in tropical forests and coastal areas throughout college and graduate school, Manhattan did not seem like a natural place to migrate after completing my PhD. But pursuing an Earth Institute Postdoctoral Fellowship was was one of the best decisions I have ever made.
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Of Cow Dung, Cook Stoves and Sustainability in Practice
When the Environmental Defense Fund asked me to measure how biogas cook stoves were changing the lives of farmers in rural India, there wasn’t a word in that question with which I was comfortable. Having just graduated from the Undergraduate Program in Sustainable Development, I had never done fieldwork; and the concept of a biogas…
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New Report Examines Impacts of Environmental Indicators and Indices
A new report produced by CIESIN and Yale University examines the role of indicators in environmental policy making, and quantifies measurable impacts.
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Water Security: Finding Solutions for a World at Risk
“This is a mess, and it is a mess that we have not attended to yet,” Earth Institute Director Jeffrey Sachs said at a conference on water security held today at Columbia University. “Humanity is the driver, but we don’t have our hands on the steering wheel very much.”
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Rosario’s Farm: Rising Tides, Shrimp from the Forest
Rosario Costa-Cabral and her brothers harvest hundreds of fruits, oils and wood products from the stream-laced forest of the Amazon River delta. But the climate here is changing: Tides rise higher, and seasonal floods are growing worse.
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Wildlife: The Other High-Value Resource
As wildlife trafficking has become more lucrative, widespread and organized over the past few years, the definition of high-value natural resources should be modified to include the commercial values of wildlife and its products.
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Aquanauts Take on New York Water Issues
Working with engineering PhD candidate Rob Elliott, we imagined a green roof and blue roof system that would serve as a space for environmental education and student wellness, the culmination of a semester spent examining and taking action on stormwater management issues in New York City.
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Graduate Applies Skills Towards Wildlife Conservation
Who needs to take a break when you are out to help save the planet? This was the mindset of Isabel Ricker, who graduated from the Undergraduate Program in Sustainable Development in May 2012. After securing a prestigious summer internship at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, Isabel has landed a full-time internship with…
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Reflections on an Ecological Study Abroad Experience
“Everything is so alive in the forest. After a nice summer rain it teems with insects, birds and the famous coquis, Puerto Rico’s native frogs. The song of the coquis take a little getting used to, but they soon lull you to sleep in the humid nights,” says Jennifer Mendez, a student in the first…
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