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.


Summer Session 2022 offers unique learning opportunities

Summer Session, running May 31 through August 2, 2022, is open to Cornell and visiting undergraduate and graduate students, high school students and any interested adult. Undergraduates can earn up to 15 credits in on-campus, online, and off-campus courses before the fall semester.

Around Cornell

Tear down academic silos: Take an ‘undisciplinary’ approach

Solving problems like climate change could require dismantling rigid academic boundaries, so that researchers of various backgrounds may collaborate through an “undisciplinary” approach.

Consumers embrace milk carton QR codes, may cut food waste

Milk carton “use-by” dates soon may be a quaint relic. A new Cornell study finds that consumers like QR codes, better depicting how long milk is drinkable – creating less food waste.

Target CO2 and non-carbon pollutants to slow climate change

Mitigation strategies must target carbon dioxide alongside other largely neglected climate pollutants in order to stay below catastrophic climate tipping points.

Spongy material captures carbon dioxide in cavities

Researchers developed porous, sponge-like materials that can trap carbon dioxide – a potentially low-cost approach for limiting the environmental damage of coal-fired power plants.

June launch for NASA-Cornell tool to view dust from space

Scientists soon will see Earth’s atmospheric dust in high-resolution, thanks to new spectrometer expected to launch June 7 aboard a SpaceX rocket to the International Space Station.

Inaugural Cornell RANA Prize winner tackles energy issues in Indonesia

Doctoral student Timothy Ravis earned the first RANA Prize winner at Cornell for research focused on uncovering the social, political, and economic impediments to a green energy transition in Indonesia.

Around Cornell

Harrison College Scholars tackle interdisciplinary research projects

This year’s graduating class of Robert S. Harrison College Scholars presented their final theses during a daylong event May 7 in Goldwin Smith Hall.

Around Cornell

National Zoning Atlas launched to make America's patchwork of codes accessible and comprehensible

Professor of City and Regional Planning Sara Bronin's zoning atlas initiative is a first-of-its-kind effort to translate and standardize zoning codes across the U.S. into a single, accessible online resource.

Around Cornell