Energy, Environment & Sustainability

Cornell is a global leader in sustainability and climate change research, teaching and engagement. Our campuses are living laboratories for developing, testing and implementing solutions that address these most challenging issues.


Scientists map key oceanic unknowns in climate interventions

Researchers review climate intervention strategies to cut emissions and improve oceanic health.

Around Cornell

NYC residents agree: heat pumps improve comfort

Residents of a 10-unit apartment building retrofitted with electric heat pumps preferred the pumps to their oil-fueled boiler.

AI improves flood projections under climate change

Physics-based models should be supplemented with AI hydrological models rather than relying on site-specific estimates, researchers find.

Study reveals opportunities, challenges of climate messaging

Widely cited messages tend to be effective but short-term messaging can only go so far in swaying people regarding the urgency of climate change, an international team led by a Cornell researcher has found.

Soil molecular diversity spikes as microbes decompose plants

As soil microbes break down plant residues, they produce a diverse set of molecules, but this diversity starts to fall after the initial phase of decomposition (roughly 32 days). Understanding how soils retain or emit carbon dioxide during this process may inform climate change resilience efforts.

Around Cornell

2025 Year in Review

Cornell’s impact was felt near and far, from the lacrosse fields to research labs and beyond in a turbulent 2025.

Researchers tackle AI’s energy problem with a greener fix

As researchers are racing to find greener ways to power AI, a new study explores a promising solution: analog in-memory computing, utilizing analog chips.

Historic gift endows Cornell CALS Ashley School

The Department of Global Development and the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment have been combined to establish a new school: the Cornell CALS Ashley School of Global Development and the Environment.

What’s old is new: customizable system for sustainable cooling

Researchers in Cornell’s Matter of Tech Lab have developed CeraPiper, a fabrication system that creates customized sizes and shapes of ceramic pipes that can be fitted together and filled with water for environmentally friendly evaporative cooling.