Ruth DeFries examines human transformation of the landscape and its consequences for climate, biogeochemical cycling, biodiversity, and other ecosystem services that make our planet habitable. The ...

The Millennium Villages project offers a bold, innovative model for helping rural African communities lift themselves out of extreme poverty. The Millennium Villages themselves are proving that by ...

The Earth Institute was established in 1995 to advance our understanding of Earth science and apply that knowledge to decisions made by governments and businesses around the world. A world leader in ...

Columbia University offers a series of multidisciplinary Ph.D. program options that tap the extensive resources of our science departments and institutes, as well as those of our partners. Sustainable ...

To view the original story with images on the IRI website, please click here. Millions of people in the tropics depend on coconuts for food, raw materials and livelihood. Coconuts are also a high ...

Mark Cane has never been one to follow the status quo. After studying pure mathematics and what is now known as computer science at Harvard in the 60s, he took a hiatus from academia to work in New ...

For twenty years, Robin Elizabeth Bell has worked alongside a team of Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory geophysics senior scientists and engineers to coordinate nine major aero-geophysical expeditions ...

The Earth Institute at Columbia University aims to create a rich educational environment for study in the earth and environmental sciences. One way that it accomplishes this objective is by providing ...

Shahid Naeem and his team are unwavering when it comes to the need for preserving biodiversity; their motto is “Ecology with no apology.” The planet is facing its sixth mass extinction, which means ...

Pedro Sanchez attributes the roots of his life’s work in soil sciences to the fact that he always liked to “play with dirt.” That boyhood pastime was nurtured by the fact that his family owned a ...

These are busy and exciting times for the Bamboo Bike Project (BBP). Established in 2007 with seed funding from the Earth Institute, the BBP has been working alongside the Earth Institute’s Millennium ...

As the deputy director and director of research at the Earth Institute, Columbia University, Peter Schlosser plays an active role in developing interdisciplinary research on sustainable development—in ...