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.


New metabolic discovery may inform heart disease, diabetes solutions

Science may be inching closer to thwarting obesity, heart disease and Type 2 diabetes, as Cornell biochemists have uncovered a key step in how the human body metabolizes sugar.

Online tool helps guide wildlife repopulation efforts

A multidisciplinary team with the Cornell Wildlife Health Lab has created StaPOPd, an online tool that tells users how many plants or animals they need to introduce into a habitat in order to establish a stable population.

Curbing diesel emission could reduce big city mortality

U.S. cities could see a decline in mortality rates and an improved economy through midcentury if the federal government maintain strong air pollution policies to diminish diesel freight truck exhaust.

‘Migrations’ is theme of Cornell’s first Global Grand Challenge

After an eight-month study, a task force of 16 faculty members has chosen “Migrations” as the theme of the first Cornell Global Grand Challenge, which will tackle the issue with resources from across the university.

Staff News

Ripple effect: Cornell helps restore Long Island's shellfish

Cornell Cooperative Extension is leading the largest effort ever to restore native shellfish populations to Long Island, rejuvenating its waters and improving its maritime ecosystem and economy.

Nearly 30% of birds in U.S., Canada have vanished since 1970

A team of scientists from seven institutions has published research that shows a massive loss of nearly 3 billion breeding adult birds since 1970, with devastating losses among birds in every biome.

AI helps shrink Amazon dams’ greenhouse gas emissions

A Cornell-led team has developed a computational model that uses artificial intelligence to find the most sustainable configurations of hydropower dam sites in the Amazon basin.

Professor delivers sustainability report to UN secretary-general

The U.N.’s Global Sustainable Development Goals report – prepared by independent scientists, including Cornell’s Parfait M. Eloundou-Enyegue – was delivered Sept. 10 to the U.N. Secretary-General.

Cooling tech company heats up with NSF small-business award

Thanks to a Small Business Innovation Research award funded by the National Science Foundation, cooling technology startup Heat Inverse is set to scale up and pilot its product with customers.