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.


Researchers to explore perennial grains with $1.77M grant

A Cornell researcher is part of a multi-institution team helping upstate New York organic farmers grow and increase profitability of perennial grain crops, which can be planted once and will yield grain for multiple years.

Saving Africa’s wildlife: cattle, conservation and collaboration

Wildlife veterinarian Steven Osofsky finds ways to allow wild animals such as zebra and wild buffalo to rediscover ancient migration routes through southern Africa while helping cattle farmers to make a living.

Ault: Future droughts may ‘eclipse’ those of the past

Given that greenhouse gases still warm the atmosphere and climate change disrupts oceanic hydrology, the forecast for drought looks grim, according to a Cornell paper in Science.

Chemists create faster-degrading plastic for marine uses

To address the plastic environmental crisis, Cornell chemists have developed a new polymer for a marine setting that is poised to degrade by ultraviolet radiation.

Cornell helps forge a new field: finance sustainability

In a special climate change issue of the Review of Financial Studies, nine new research papers – including two from Cornell – have staked new territory for scholarly study: finance sustainability.

Dogs trained to detect oak wilt, invasive species

Dogs have highly sensitive noses, a trait environmental conservationists, land managers and plant disease specialists are harnessing to sniff out invasive species.

Cornell Atkinson calls for COVID-19 rapid-response proposals

Cornell Atkinson is calling for proposals for faculty research related to the global COVID-19 pandemic. The center’s Rapid Response Fund will award seed grants of up to $10,000 for projects.

Cornell joins global research university climate alliance

Cornell has a long-standing commitment to help lead the fight against climate change, and on April 2 it became a founding member of the International Universities Climate Alliance.

(Virtual) Things to Do, March 27-April 10

Virtual events and resources at Cornell include: Images of Dragon Days past; Cornell experts discuss COVID-19; “Cosmos” and spotlight on women artists at the Johnson Museum; student theater and film updates; and a citizen science project surveying breeding birds.