State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

faculty profiles19

  • Faculty Profile: Benjamín Bostick

    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…

  • Faculty Profile: Jason Smerdon

    Faculty Profile: Jason Smerdon

    “Much of sustainable development is about where the world is headed in the future, anticipating the changes that are to come and evaluating the choices that we have available to address them. But understanding how natural and socioeconomic systems will change in the future, including the climate system, often requires that we look to the…

  • Faculty Profile: Ben Cook

    Faculty Profile: Ben Cook

    M.S. in Sustainability Management (MSSM) professor Benjamin Cook is an Adjunct Research Scientist at the Earth Institute’s Lamont-Dougherty Earth Observatory. In addition to his position at Lamont, Ben also serves as a Research Physical Scientist at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York where he researches drought, hydroclimate, and interactions between the…

  • Faculty Profile: Judy Sandford

    Faculty Profile: Judy Sandford

    M.S. in Sustainability Management (MSSM) professor Judy Sandford is Senior Strategist of Sustainability Communications, at Addison – a brand strategy and communications design firm. She founded Addison’s sustainability practice in 2007, and consults with some of the world’s largest corporations on best practices in sustainability reporting and related communications. This semester, Judy will be teaching…

  • Faculty Profile: Travis Bradford

    Faculty Profile: Travis Bradford

    MS in Sustainability Management professor Travis Bradford is the president and founder of the Prometheus Institute for Sustainable Development, a nonprofit organization focused on developing cost-effective and sustainable solutions in technologies including energy, water, food, and recycling. Bradford is also the managing partner at Atlas Capital Investments, LP, a global hedge fund dedicated to investing…

  • Glenn Denning’s Road to Bali, and the Earth Institute

    Glenn Denning’s Road to Bali, and the Earth Institute

    Glenn Denning grew up in Brisbane, Australia, loved the outdoors and hated the idea of working in an office. And, he really didn’t have any urge to go to other countries. Then he happened to overhear a conversation in a hallway between two students. That bit of serendipity sent him on a road to a…

  • Faculty Profile: Lynnette Widder

    Faculty Profile: Lynnette Widder

    Master of Science in Sustainability Management (MSSM) professor Lynnette Widder has over fifteen years of experience teaching design, conducting seminars, and organizing architectural excursions for architecture students at the undergraduate and graduate levels. She is the Principal and Co-founder of aardvarchitecture, a small architectural practice that specializes in residential work with an emphasis on high-quality…

  • Faculty Profile: Jeffrey Shaman

    Faculty Profile: Jeffrey Shaman

    Jeffrey Shaman has never been one to study or do anything in isolation, but has always chosen to focus on the intersection of how things work. Given this trait, it is no surprise that his interdisciplinary research looks to reveal how meteorology and hydrology affect the propagation of infectious diseases.

  • Faculty Profile: Donna Shillington

    Faculty Profile: Donna Shillington

    Shillington’s research at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory has led her to a deeper appreciation of the societal impacts on populations concentrated around the boundaries of plate tectonic hazards. “There is very much a need to understand fundamental processes at plate boundaries in order to better assess possible hazards and resources in these areas,” says Shillington.

Composite banner with modern building at night and portrait of Dean Alexis Abramson that reads "Science for the Planet"

By studying thousands of buildings and analyzing their electricity use, Columbia Climate School Dean Alexis Abramson has been able to uncover ways to significantly cut energy consumption and emissions. Watch the Video: “Engineering a Cooler Future Through Smarter Buildings

  • Faculty Profile: Benjamín Bostick

    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…

  • Faculty Profile: Jason Smerdon

    Faculty Profile: Jason Smerdon

    “Much of sustainable development is about where the world is headed in the future, anticipating the changes that are to come and evaluating the choices that we have available to address them. But understanding how natural and socioeconomic systems will change in the future, including the climate system, often requires that we look to the…

  • Faculty Profile: Ben Cook

    Faculty Profile: Ben Cook

    M.S. in Sustainability Management (MSSM) professor Benjamin Cook is an Adjunct Research Scientist at the Earth Institute’s Lamont-Dougherty Earth Observatory. In addition to his position at Lamont, Ben also serves as a Research Physical Scientist at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York where he researches drought, hydroclimate, and interactions between the…

  • Faculty Profile: Judy Sandford

    Faculty Profile: Judy Sandford

    M.S. in Sustainability Management (MSSM) professor Judy Sandford is Senior Strategist of Sustainability Communications, at Addison – a brand strategy and communications design firm. She founded Addison’s sustainability practice in 2007, and consults with some of the world’s largest corporations on best practices in sustainability reporting and related communications. This semester, Judy will be teaching…

  • Faculty Profile: Travis Bradford

    Faculty Profile: Travis Bradford

    MS in Sustainability Management professor Travis Bradford is the president and founder of the Prometheus Institute for Sustainable Development, a nonprofit organization focused on developing cost-effective and sustainable solutions in technologies including energy, water, food, and recycling. Bradford is also the managing partner at Atlas Capital Investments, LP, a global hedge fund dedicated to investing…

  • Glenn Denning’s Road to Bali, and the Earth Institute

    Glenn Denning’s Road to Bali, and the Earth Institute

    Glenn Denning grew up in Brisbane, Australia, loved the outdoors and hated the idea of working in an office. And, he really didn’t have any urge to go to other countries. Then he happened to overhear a conversation in a hallway between two students. That bit of serendipity sent him on a road to a…

  • Faculty Profile: Lynnette Widder

    Faculty Profile: Lynnette Widder

    Master of Science in Sustainability Management (MSSM) professor Lynnette Widder has over fifteen years of experience teaching design, conducting seminars, and organizing architectural excursions for architecture students at the undergraduate and graduate levels. She is the Principal and Co-founder of aardvarchitecture, a small architectural practice that specializes in residential work with an emphasis on high-quality…

  • Faculty Profile: Jeffrey Shaman

    Faculty Profile: Jeffrey Shaman

    Jeffrey Shaman has never been one to study or do anything in isolation, but has always chosen to focus on the intersection of how things work. Given this trait, it is no surprise that his interdisciplinary research looks to reveal how meteorology and hydrology affect the propagation of infectious diseases.

  • Faculty Profile: Donna Shillington

    Faculty Profile: Donna Shillington

    Shillington’s research at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory has led her to a deeper appreciation of the societal impacts on populations concentrated around the boundaries of plate tectonic hazards. “There is very much a need to understand fundamental processes at plate boundaries in order to better assess possible hazards and resources in these areas,” says Shillington.