State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

MS in Sustainability Management News59

  • Sustainability Management Alum Works to Implement Rio+20 Promises

    Sustainability Management Alum Works to Implement Rio+20 Promises

    “We are hoping to gain recognition for the need to re-think traditional UN approaches for global action toward addressing the challenges of climate change and sustainable development. It is quite an ambitious undertaking, but NRDC’s work in this realm involves a wide range of campaigns and projects that are making huge strides, and it’s an…

  • MS Alum Banks on Sustainability Management Skills

    MS Alum Banks on Sustainability Management Skills

    While a part-time student in the program, M.S. in Sustainability Management alum Lizzette Butkiewicz (’12), was working full-time at a boutique trade finance firm with the hope of merging her interest in sustainability with her background in finance. Now, as the Manager of Community Investments in the Corporate Sustainability team at HSBC, Lizzette is doing…

  • Students Explore Sustainable Agriculture at McEnroe Farm

    The McEnroe Farm opened in the late 1980s, with the help of the McEnroe and Durst families of Duchess County, who had a shared vision for the future of sustainable agriculture. Over time, their endeavor has grown from a small farm with a roadside stand to one of the largest organic farms in the Northeast,…

  • MS Students Implement Energy Management Initiatives as EDF Climate Corps Fellows

    MS Students Implement Energy Management Initiatives as EDF Climate Corps Fellows

    14 M.S. in Sustainability Management (MSSM) students were selected to be a part of the Environmental Defense Fund’s (EDF) Climate Corps Fellowship program this summer. Through this 10-week fellowship, over 100 graduate students from around the country are placed within leading organizations including companies, cities, and universities to serve as organizational change agents for energy…

  • Columbia Aquanauts Hope Passion for Water Issues Has Ripple Effect

    Columbia Aquanauts Hope Passion for Water Issues Has Ripple Effect

    Last spring, the pressing issue of water prompted a passionate group of Columbia graduate students across a variety of disciplines to band together and form the Columbia Aquanauts. As the only club on campus focusing on water management, the Aquanauts aim to build a space where students can not only discuss their views and knowledge…

  • M.S. Students Develop Communication Platform for Sustainability and Life Cycle Assessment

    M.S. Students Develop Communication Platform for Sustainability and Life Cycle Assessment

    Prior to completing the M.S. in Sustainability Management program in spring 2013, MSSM alum Nick Turchak and current MSSM student Sally Paridis developed a corporate communication platform for sustainability and life cycle assessment (LCA) data as part of their independent project. Both students drew on skills learned from the Industrial Ecology course, taught by adjunct…

  • Q&A: Climate Change, Drought and the Future

    Q&A: Climate Change, Drought and the Future

    “One of the ways that climate change is going to manifest is through warmer temperatures. … What we are seeing, in line with our projections, is that even if you assume constant precipitation, the temperature effects are so large that it is going to dry things out. This is going to have really big impacts…

  • From Consulting to Cycling: MSSM Alumni Join Climate Ride

    From Consulting to Cycling: MSSM Alumni Join Climate Ride

    MSSM alums JD Capuano, Eileen Quigley, and Ryan Meinke have gone on to make businesses more sustainable, adaptive and innovative through their work as consultants. This September, the group will take their passion for sustainability one step further when they ride 320 miles from New York City to Washington, D.C. to raise awareness and support…

  • Faculty Profile: Phil LaRocco

    Faculty Profile: Phil LaRocco

    MS in Sustainability Management faculty member Phil LaRocco spent twenty years with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, ending his career there as the Director of World Trade and Economic Development. In 1990, he founded E+Co, a non-profit investor in over two hundred energy enterprises in over twenty developing countries, with offices…

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

  • Sustainability Management Alum Works to Implement Rio+20 Promises

    Sustainability Management Alum Works to Implement Rio+20 Promises

    “We are hoping to gain recognition for the need to re-think traditional UN approaches for global action toward addressing the challenges of climate change and sustainable development. It is quite an ambitious undertaking, but NRDC’s work in this realm involves a wide range of campaigns and projects that are making huge strides, and it’s an…

  • MS Alum Banks on Sustainability Management Skills

    MS Alum Banks on Sustainability Management Skills

    While a part-time student in the program, M.S. in Sustainability Management alum Lizzette Butkiewicz (’12), was working full-time at a boutique trade finance firm with the hope of merging her interest in sustainability with her background in finance. Now, as the Manager of Community Investments in the Corporate Sustainability team at HSBC, Lizzette is doing…

  • Students Explore Sustainable Agriculture at McEnroe Farm

    The McEnroe Farm opened in the late 1980s, with the help of the McEnroe and Durst families of Duchess County, who had a shared vision for the future of sustainable agriculture. Over time, their endeavor has grown from a small farm with a roadside stand to one of the largest organic farms in the Northeast,…

  • MS Students Implement Energy Management Initiatives as EDF Climate Corps Fellows

    MS Students Implement Energy Management Initiatives as EDF Climate Corps Fellows

    14 M.S. in Sustainability Management (MSSM) students were selected to be a part of the Environmental Defense Fund’s (EDF) Climate Corps Fellowship program this summer. Through this 10-week fellowship, over 100 graduate students from around the country are placed within leading organizations including companies, cities, and universities to serve as organizational change agents for energy…

  • Columbia Aquanauts Hope Passion for Water Issues Has Ripple Effect

    Columbia Aquanauts Hope Passion for Water Issues Has Ripple Effect

    Last spring, the pressing issue of water prompted a passionate group of Columbia graduate students across a variety of disciplines to band together and form the Columbia Aquanauts. As the only club on campus focusing on water management, the Aquanauts aim to build a space where students can not only discuss their views and knowledge…

  • M.S. Students Develop Communication Platform for Sustainability and Life Cycle Assessment

    M.S. Students Develop Communication Platform for Sustainability and Life Cycle Assessment

    Prior to completing the M.S. in Sustainability Management program in spring 2013, MSSM alum Nick Turchak and current MSSM student Sally Paridis developed a corporate communication platform for sustainability and life cycle assessment (LCA) data as part of their independent project. Both students drew on skills learned from the Industrial Ecology course, taught by adjunct…

  • Q&A: Climate Change, Drought and the Future

    Q&A: Climate Change, Drought and the Future

    “One of the ways that climate change is going to manifest is through warmer temperatures. … What we are seeing, in line with our projections, is that even if you assume constant precipitation, the temperature effects are so large that it is going to dry things out. This is going to have really big impacts…

  • From Consulting to Cycling: MSSM Alumni Join Climate Ride

    From Consulting to Cycling: MSSM Alumni Join Climate Ride

    MSSM alums JD Capuano, Eileen Quigley, and Ryan Meinke have gone on to make businesses more sustainable, adaptive and innovative through their work as consultants. This September, the group will take their passion for sustainability one step further when they ride 320 miles from New York City to Washington, D.C. to raise awareness and support…

  • Faculty Profile: Phil LaRocco

    Faculty Profile: Phil LaRocco

    MS in Sustainability Management faculty member Phil LaRocco spent twenty years with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, ending his career there as the Director of World Trade and Economic Development. In 1990, he founded E+Co, a non-profit investor in over two hundred energy enterprises in over twenty developing countries, with offices…