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.


Study: A species' risk of extinction is in the eye of the beholder

The way conservation biologists describe a species' risk of extinction, and how the public interprets that description, can be strikingly different, according to a new study by Cornell communication scholars.

Colorado River's dead clams tell tales of carbon emission

Scientists have begun to account for the topsy-turvy carbon cycle of the Colorado River delta – once a massive green estuary of grassland, marshes and cottonwood, now desiccated dead land.

When animals share, conservation is affordable

Researchers at Cornell, Georgia Tech and the U.S. Forest Service have found that when an animal preserve corridor includes areas that are hospitable to two species, the cost is far less than it would be to create separate corridors for each one.

After sunflower sea star demise, marine tragedy mounts

Cornell and UC Davis researchers have begun to reckon the marine ecosystem devastation of the Salish Sea – north of Seattle – caused by a disease that led to the disappearance of once-abundant sunflower sea stars.

New model suggests scrubbing CO2 from the atmosphere

New Cornell research suggests an economically viable model to scrub carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to thwart runaway, point-of-no-return global warming.

Steen, Louge to launch NSF-funded space experiments

Engineering professors Paul Steen and Michel Louge have both received funding from the National Science Foundation and NASA's CASIS program to send experiments to the International Space Station.

Howarth outlines carbon neutrality report options at UA

Robert Howarth spoke to the University Assembly Oct. 18 about the recently released Senior Leaders Climate Action Group report on options and their associated costs for achieving a carbon-neutral campus by 2035.

By nixing coal, Iceland grabs green with geothermal heat

As Cornell considers geothermal heat to warm campus, an Icelandic engineer told a green backstory for how his country abandoned coal and then set standards to achieve blue-ribbon blue skies.

Coalition taps private sector to help nature pay for itself

Cornell has co-founded a global coalition to help preserve the world's most important ecosystems. The coalition will create new opportunities for private investment in conservation and sustainable development.