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.


Bring back the wolves – but not as heroes or villains

Re-introducing wolves and other predators to landscapes does not miraculously reduce deer populations, restore degraded ecosystems or threaten livestock, according to a new study.

Smart cities workshop unites Cornell campuses, urbanism community

The Autonomy and Mobility in Engineered and Natural Environments Workshop at Cornell Tech highlighted research from the smart cities and urban technology academic communities in Ithaca, NYC and beyond.

Around Cornell

Cornell Atkinson awards $1.4 million to new sustainability projects

Cornell Atkinson has awarded seed funding to nine interdisciplinary projects that address a range of sustainability topics.

Around Cornell

To reduce carbon, colleges should target purchasing, travel

Activities beyond campus – such as business air travel, student commutes and purchases like lab equipment – account for more than 60% of Cornell’s carbon emissions, according to a new analysis.

Wild tomato genome will benefit domesticated cousins

A team of researchers has assembled a reference genome for Solanum lycopersicoides, a wild relative of the cultivated tomato, and developed web-based tools to help plant researchers and breeders improve the crop.

New assessment maps emissions in New York neighborhoods near industrial areas

New research seeks to quantify traffic emissions associated with e-commerce facilities in New York City, and wood stove and fuel oil emissions in Tompkins County.

Around Cornell

2-mile borehole to reveal viability of campus’s geothermal future

Cornell is one step closer to determining the feasibility of using deep geothermal energy to heat the Ithaca campus now that drilling has commenced for the Cornell University Borehole Observatory.

United Airlines, Dimensional Energy reach green fuel pact

United Airlines will fly greener through its friendly skies, as the airline agreed to buy at least 300 million gallons of sustainable aviation fuel from Cornell startup Dimensional Energy.

Houlton: Invest in ag research to fight climate change

Benjamin Z. Houlton, the Ronald P. Lynch Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, testified June 15 to the U.S. House Agriculture Committee on the role of climate research in supporting agricultural resiliency.