State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

wildlife4

  • Critter Corner: News Roundup on Biodiversity – Week of 9/26

    Critter Corner: News Roundup on Biodiversity – Week of 9/26

    Read more about flies that are sexually aroused by food, tool use among fish, controversial bacteria that may use arsenic in place of phosphorus as the backbone of its DNA, and the nanostructures of ancient bugs in this week’s edition of The Critter Corner.

  • Scaly Anteaters are Threatened by Illegal Trafficking

    Scaly Anteaters are Threatened by Illegal Trafficking

    Endangered pangolins are among the most heavily trafficked wildlife. They are hunted and eaten in many parts of Africa and Asia but are particularly prized in China because their keratin scales are thought to cure a plethora of ailments and enhance sexual prowess. Claims that the protective armor reduces swelling, promotes blood circulation or helps…

  • Evolution Supports a Rainbow of Biodiversity

    Evolution Supports a Rainbow of Biodiversity

    Same-sex-relationships among animals seem to be in opposition to our understanding of Darwinian evolution—an organism who fails to secure a counterpart to mate with will not pass on its genes to the next generation. One could then infer that such costly behaviors would slowly be removed from the population through natural selection. However, same-sex bonds…

  • Executive Education in Environmental Economics

    Executive Education in Environmental Economics

    The Center for Environmental Research and Conservation (CERC) presents a course in Environmental Economics.

  • Your Nose Knows Evolution – Do You?

    Your Nose Knows Evolution – Do You?

    Olfaction is one of the least understood senses but has played a vital role in the evolution of vertebrates. Basic survival behaviors such as foraging, communicating, recalling memory, and reproduction are often dependent on a protruding-facial structure that we too often ignore.

  • Summer Ecosystem Experiences for Undergraduates

    Summer Ecosystem Experiences for Undergraduates

    CERC is now accepting applications for the Summer Ecosystem Experiences for Undergraduates.

  • Conservation of Biodiversity in Orquídeas National Park

    Conservation of Biodiversity in Orquídeas National Park

    Researchers from The New York Botanical Garden are working to document the plant life in Las Orquídeas National Park, one of the last remaining prized and unexplored rainforests that borders Columbia’s Pacific coast.

  • Ecosystem Services and Corporate Planning

    Ecosystem Services and Corporate Planning

    Learn more about CERC’s new course, Ecosystem Services and Corporate Planning, which examines the impacts and dependencies of corporations on our ecosystems.

  • Extinction Exposed – The Giant Panda

    Extinction Exposed – The Giant Panda

    Captive breeding and species protection are helping the panda recover, but fewer than two thousand still remain.

  • Critter Corner: News Roundup on Biodiversity – Week of 9/26

    Critter Corner: News Roundup on Biodiversity – Week of 9/26

    Read more about flies that are sexually aroused by food, tool use among fish, controversial bacteria that may use arsenic in place of phosphorus as the backbone of its DNA, and the nanostructures of ancient bugs in this week’s edition of The Critter Corner.

  • Scaly Anteaters are Threatened by Illegal Trafficking

    Scaly Anteaters are Threatened by Illegal Trafficking

    Endangered pangolins are among the most heavily trafficked wildlife. They are hunted and eaten in many parts of Africa and Asia but are particularly prized in China because their keratin scales are thought to cure a plethora of ailments and enhance sexual prowess. Claims that the protective armor reduces swelling, promotes blood circulation or helps…

  • Evolution Supports a Rainbow of Biodiversity

    Evolution Supports a Rainbow of Biodiversity

    Same-sex-relationships among animals seem to be in opposition to our understanding of Darwinian evolution—an organism who fails to secure a counterpart to mate with will not pass on its genes to the next generation. One could then infer that such costly behaviors would slowly be removed from the population through natural selection. However, same-sex bonds…

  • Executive Education in Environmental Economics

    Executive Education in Environmental Economics

    The Center for Environmental Research and Conservation (CERC) presents a course in Environmental Economics.

  • Your Nose Knows Evolution – Do You?

    Your Nose Knows Evolution – Do You?

    Olfaction is one of the least understood senses but has played a vital role in the evolution of vertebrates. Basic survival behaviors such as foraging, communicating, recalling memory, and reproduction are often dependent on a protruding-facial structure that we too often ignore.

  • Summer Ecosystem Experiences for Undergraduates

    Summer Ecosystem Experiences for Undergraduates

    CERC is now accepting applications for the Summer Ecosystem Experiences for Undergraduates.

  • Conservation of Biodiversity in Orquídeas National Park

    Conservation of Biodiversity in Orquídeas National Park

    Researchers from The New York Botanical Garden are working to document the plant life in Las Orquídeas National Park, one of the last remaining prized and unexplored rainforests that borders Columbia’s Pacific coast.

  • Ecosystem Services and Corporate Planning

    Ecosystem Services and Corporate Planning

    Learn more about CERC’s new course, Ecosystem Services and Corporate Planning, which examines the impacts and dependencies of corporations on our ecosystems.

  • Extinction Exposed – The Giant Panda

    Extinction Exposed – The Giant Panda

    Captive breeding and species protection are helping the panda recover, but fewer than two thousand still remain.