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.


Getting warmer: Slower forest growth means less carbon storage

A new ecological discovery – that global warming is slowing tree growth – means current climate predictions could overestimate forests’ potential for carbon storage by as much as 30%.

Sustainable ag finance leadership training connects industry leaders

Cornell Atkinson hosted its first executive education program – the Resilient Futures Leadership Program: Financing Sustainable Agriculture – with partner Field to Market. The successful program will be offered twice more over the next two years. 

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Researchers find ‘trap’ hindering performance of hybrid perovskites

A new study from Cornell researchers has revealed an obstacle to improving charge transport in hybrid perovskites, a promising class of semiconductor materials used in energy conversion and electronic devices.

‘Double the damage’: Warming climate reduces milk quality and quantity

Heat stress on dairy cows not only decreases the amount of milk produced but also the fat and protein content, doubling the economic losses.

Student, Indigenous partners use eDNA to aid biodiversity in Ecuador

A Cornell graduate student and indigenous Ecuadorian partners are sampling eDNA in Amazonian riverways to understand how gold mining and other human disturbances impact aquatic biodiversity and ecosystem health. 

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Patrick Webb, renowned international scholar, to lead Ashley School

Patrick Webb will join Cornell as the inaugural executive director of the Ashley School of Global Development and the Environment in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

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Strengthening key health measures in national climate plans

The majority of national climate adaptation plans fail to fully integrate health needs or engage populations most at risk from climate change, according to a new study.

Cornell Atkinson awards drive progress in tech, ag, sustainability

Cornell Atkinson has awarded $900k to support six new research projects that seek to protect coral reefs, improve greenhouse agriculture and understand whether wildfires affect disease spread.

Farmed oysters may boost New York’s dwindling wild populations

A new study offers genetic evidence and proof that farmed eastern oysters are adding to and breeding with wild eastern oyster populations in the western and central Long Island Sound.