State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

MPA in Development Practice3

  • Connecting Development Practitioners and Students Online

    Connecting Development Practitioners and Students Online

    Imagine an online community that provides development practitioners in the field opportunities to communicate with one another and share best practices in real-time. Now imagine that same community enabling aspiring practitioners the chance to learn from these exchanges right in the classroom. An exciting partnership between DAI (Development Alternatives, Inc.) and our Master of Public…

  • Agriculture in Ruhiira MVP (Uganda)

    Agriculture in Ruhiira MVP (Uganda)

    Partnering up with Millennium Promise MVP has provided larger South African Boa goats to 150 farmers who meet certain criteria. This improved variety of goats is larger, grow faster and sell for more; a local goat for slaughter sells at USH 80 000 to 150 000 while the improved variety sells at USH 300 000…

  • Relocation Brings Opportunities to Participate in a Historical Event in Kenya

    Relocation Brings Opportunities to Participate in a Historical Event in Kenya

    On Monday, the Masters in Development Practice interns at the Millennium Village Project in Sauri, Kenya were relocated to Nairobi as a precaution for the constitutional referendum taking place August 4th. Although this put a damper on our projects, it did enable Steph, Denise and I to participate in a historical event and join 55+…

  • Mapping Peace, Protests, and Violence in Kenya

    Mapping Peace, Protests, and Violence in Kenya

    You may have heard that on Wednesday, August 4, a historic event will be taking place: a referendum deciding the acceptance or rejection of a new constitution for Kenya. The Green side (aka ‘Yes camp’) is headed by President Mwai Kibaki and supported by Kenya prime minister Raila Odinga and much of the parliament. The…

  • Agriculture and Environment in Mbola MVP

    Agriculture and Environment in Mbola MVP

    For my third week of rotations for MDP fieldwork in the Mbola Millennium Village, I I shadowed Agriculture and Environment Facilitator, Francis Missana, as he conducted trainings in post harvest practices and encouraged famers to pay back the input subsidy loans given out by the project in the 2008/2009 season. I was impressed that the…

  • Resources for health in Ruhiira, Uganda

    By Anjali Chowfla This past week the Uganda MDP team completed our health sector rotation, which proved to be a sobering experience. Despite the many successes the project has made in improving health outcomes in the community ( a decrease in maternal and child mortality and malaria deaths and an increase

  • My Day with a Community Health Worker

    Originally posted at karibusauri.wordpress.com The other week I walked the footpaths of Nyaminia, a sub-location of the Millennium Village Project in Sauri, Kenya, to visit households with Richard*, a Community Health Worker (CHW). Going around with a CHW was eye-opening. It’s one thing to read about nutrition screenings and the use of mobile phones for health…

  • Engaging Change: The Challenges of Governing MVP Initiatives

    For my second week of rotations in the Mbola Millennium Village, I was with the Community Development and Education Team. The way the project engages the local government and village structures, as well as what it does to bolster up the educational systems means everything in terms of sustainability and community acceptance of MVP initiatives.

  • Gender based training in Ruhiira

    The community sector carries out training workshops addressing gender issues two to three times per year. As part of our community sector rotation last week, we visited the homes of two couples, one of which had attended the training, one of which had not. Based on the day’s discussions with the field facilitators and visited…

Photo of the Earth from space with the text "Lamont at AGU25" on top.

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

  • Connecting Development Practitioners and Students Online

    Connecting Development Practitioners and Students Online

    Imagine an online community that provides development practitioners in the field opportunities to communicate with one another and share best practices in real-time. Now imagine that same community enabling aspiring practitioners the chance to learn from these exchanges right in the classroom. An exciting partnership between DAI (Development Alternatives, Inc.) and our Master of Public…

  • Agriculture in Ruhiira MVP (Uganda)

    Agriculture in Ruhiira MVP (Uganda)

    Partnering up with Millennium Promise MVP has provided larger South African Boa goats to 150 farmers who meet certain criteria. This improved variety of goats is larger, grow faster and sell for more; a local goat for slaughter sells at USH 80 000 to 150 000 while the improved variety sells at USH 300 000…

  • Relocation Brings Opportunities to Participate in a Historical Event in Kenya

    Relocation Brings Opportunities to Participate in a Historical Event in Kenya

    On Monday, the Masters in Development Practice interns at the Millennium Village Project in Sauri, Kenya were relocated to Nairobi as a precaution for the constitutional referendum taking place August 4th. Although this put a damper on our projects, it did enable Steph, Denise and I to participate in a historical event and join 55+…

  • Mapping Peace, Protests, and Violence in Kenya

    Mapping Peace, Protests, and Violence in Kenya

    You may have heard that on Wednesday, August 4, a historic event will be taking place: a referendum deciding the acceptance or rejection of a new constitution for Kenya. The Green side (aka ‘Yes camp’) is headed by President Mwai Kibaki and supported by Kenya prime minister Raila Odinga and much of the parliament. The…

  • Agriculture and Environment in Mbola MVP

    Agriculture and Environment in Mbola MVP

    For my third week of rotations for MDP fieldwork in the Mbola Millennium Village, I I shadowed Agriculture and Environment Facilitator, Francis Missana, as he conducted trainings in post harvest practices and encouraged famers to pay back the input subsidy loans given out by the project in the 2008/2009 season. I was impressed that the…

  • Resources for health in Ruhiira, Uganda

    By Anjali Chowfla This past week the Uganda MDP team completed our health sector rotation, which proved to be a sobering experience. Despite the many successes the project has made in improving health outcomes in the community ( a decrease in maternal and child mortality and malaria deaths and an increase

  • My Day with a Community Health Worker

    Originally posted at karibusauri.wordpress.com The other week I walked the footpaths of Nyaminia, a sub-location of the Millennium Village Project in Sauri, Kenya, to visit households with Richard*, a Community Health Worker (CHW). Going around with a CHW was eye-opening. It’s one thing to read about nutrition screenings and the use of mobile phones for health…

  • Engaging Change: The Challenges of Governing MVP Initiatives

    For my second week of rotations in the Mbola Millennium Village, I was with the Community Development and Education Team. The way the project engages the local government and village structures, as well as what it does to bolster up the educational systems means everything in terms of sustainability and community acceptance of MVP initiatives.

  • Gender based training in Ruhiira

    The community sector carries out training workshops addressing gender issues two to three times per year. As part of our community sector rotation last week, we visited the homes of two couples, one of which had attended the training, one of which had not. Based on the day’s discussions with the field facilitators and visited…