State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

women’s empowerment

  • Bringing Women Back to the Table (and to the Power Plant)

    Bringing Women Back to the Table (and to the Power Plant)

    Why women need to be included in energy and sustainability discussions—and how we can make that happen.

  • Reflections on Being a Woman Scientist

    Reflections on Being a Woman Scientist

    In honor of International Women’s Day, researchers from around the Earth Institute share their perspectives on the challenges and opportunities for women in STEM.

  • The Gendered Role of Climate Change

    The Gendered Role of Climate Change

    Globally, women are disproportionately affected by rising seas, too much or too little rainfall, and storm surges, all as a result of a changing climate.

  • For Women, a Search for Safety and Community in the City

    For Women, a Search for Safety and Community in the City

    For most people, home is where you feel the safest. In this post, Kaori Yoshida discusses women’s safety in cities through reflecting on topics of community building, root shock and gentrification.

  • Participatory Design and Management in Housing: by Women for Women

    Participatory Design and Management in Housing: by Women for Women

    Julia Nethero explores the shortcomings of urban low-income housing, which fall particularly on women who are responsible for the household’s well being, and how participatory design and management ameliorate those challenges.

  • Celebrating International Women’s Day: Triumphs and Challenges

    There is much to celebrate, this International Women’s Day. Three fabulously courageous women won last year’s Nobel Peace Prize, and just a year earlier the United Nations established UN Women, a new agency dedicated to gender equality worldwide and headed by another strong woman leader and role model, former President of Brazil Michelle Bachelet. School…

  • How You Can Help Earth Cope with 7 Billion

    How You Can Help Earth Cope with 7 Billion

    Earth’s population has more than doubled in the last 50 years to 7 billion. The numbers represent big challenges—feeding and providing for additional people on a planet already stressed by environmental damage and climate change. What can ordinary individuals do?

  • Reusable, Homemade Feminine Pads: A Simple Intervention to Help Keep Girls in School

    Reusable, Homemade Feminine Pads: A Simple Intervention to Help Keep Girls in School

    In many areas of sub-Saharan Africa, gender parity tends to decline at higher levels of schooling. While girls’ enrollment and completion rates for primary school are typically high, these rates decrease with secondary and tertiary education. Girls may discontinue their studies to devote more time to household chores, to earn extra income by engaging in…

  • Are Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Attainable?

    Just how pervasive is gender inequality across sub-Saharan Africa? This topic is particularly timely today, March 8, designated International Women’s Day by the United Nations. Despite the valiant efforts of many government officials, international and local non-governmental organizations and women’s advocates, in many areas of sub-Saharan Africa, women do not yet enjoy equal status with…

Colorful banner image over Earth with text "Open House Discover Science, October 19, 2024, 10am to 4pm

Join us on Saturday, October 19, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory Open House! Celebrate 75 years of science with us at our beautiful Palisades, NY campus. The event is free and open to everyone, with a suggested $5 donation. Learn More and RSVP

  • Bringing Women Back to the Table (and to the Power Plant)

    Bringing Women Back to the Table (and to the Power Plant)

    Why women need to be included in energy and sustainability discussions—and how we can make that happen.

  • Reflections on Being a Woman Scientist

    Reflections on Being a Woman Scientist

    In honor of International Women’s Day, researchers from around the Earth Institute share their perspectives on the challenges and opportunities for women in STEM.

  • The Gendered Role of Climate Change

    The Gendered Role of Climate Change

    Globally, women are disproportionately affected by rising seas, too much or too little rainfall, and storm surges, all as a result of a changing climate.

  • For Women, a Search for Safety and Community in the City

    For Women, a Search for Safety and Community in the City

    For most people, home is where you feel the safest. In this post, Kaori Yoshida discusses women’s safety in cities through reflecting on topics of community building, root shock and gentrification.

  • Participatory Design and Management in Housing: by Women for Women

    Participatory Design and Management in Housing: by Women for Women

    Julia Nethero explores the shortcomings of urban low-income housing, which fall particularly on women who are responsible for the household’s well being, and how participatory design and management ameliorate those challenges.

  • Celebrating International Women’s Day: Triumphs and Challenges

    There is much to celebrate, this International Women’s Day. Three fabulously courageous women won last year’s Nobel Peace Prize, and just a year earlier the United Nations established UN Women, a new agency dedicated to gender equality worldwide and headed by another strong woman leader and role model, former President of Brazil Michelle Bachelet. School…

  • How You Can Help Earth Cope with 7 Billion

    How You Can Help Earth Cope with 7 Billion

    Earth’s population has more than doubled in the last 50 years to 7 billion. The numbers represent big challenges—feeding and providing for additional people on a planet already stressed by environmental damage and climate change. What can ordinary individuals do?

  • Reusable, Homemade Feminine Pads: A Simple Intervention to Help Keep Girls in School

    Reusable, Homemade Feminine Pads: A Simple Intervention to Help Keep Girls in School

    In many areas of sub-Saharan Africa, gender parity tends to decline at higher levels of schooling. While girls’ enrollment and completion rates for primary school are typically high, these rates decrease with secondary and tertiary education. Girls may discontinue their studies to devote more time to household chores, to earn extra income by engaging in…

  • Are Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Attainable?

    Just how pervasive is gender inequality across sub-Saharan Africa? This topic is particularly timely today, March 8, designated International Women’s Day by the United Nations. Despite the valiant efforts of many government officials, international and local non-governmental organizations and women’s advocates, in many areas of sub-Saharan Africa, women do not yet enjoy equal status with…