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.


Campus labs find ways to curb water use during drought

Cornell's laboratories have jumped into the water-saving pool, as building managers and campus wet lab technicians face the drought.

Engaged Curriculum Grants support courses, curricula

Fourteen new projects funded with 2016 Engaged Curriculum Grants are underway. With an additional eight teams receiving renewal funding, the grants involve 93 faculty and staff team members, and 29 departments.

In drought, Cornell Dining serves up water savings

As the university remains at a second-stage drought level, Cornell Dining has developed a new recipe to curtail water use. The effort is paying off, while the system saves 30,000 gallons on water each day.

Campus groups pool efforts to save more water

As the drought continues, Cornell's Residential Programs and the Office of Sustainability are launching “Energy Smackdown: Every Drop Counts,” a six-week conservation competition among residence halls.

Adirondack Fishery Program establishes faculty fellowship

Cornell's new faculty fellowship in fisheries and aquatic sciences named for Dwight A. Webster, the professor of Fishery Biology who laid the groundwork for the Adirondack Fishery Research Program.

Warming oceans imperil iconic marine species

With a warming ocean along the coasts of the United States, many well-known marine species – important culturally and economically – face a uncertain future, according to a new Cornell study in Oceanography.

FSAD to host Helen Storey as its first designer-in-residence

British fashion designer Helen Storey brings some of her innovative work in art and science to campus Sept. 12-24 as the Department of Fiber Science and Apparel Design's first designer-in-residence.

Cornell researchers aim to unleash 'smart meter' potential

Striving for a future with smaller electric bills and a diminished need for more power plants, the NSF has awarded Cornell researchers $1 million to improve new residential electric storage systems.

Geothermal project could warm campus, expand energy study

Cornell is pursuing a project that has the potential to eliminate 110,000 metric tons of carbon from its annual footprint and establish one of the country's most advanced geothermal systems to heat the Ithaca campus.