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.


Field biology changes student perspectives

Instructors Marc Goebel and Kira Treibergs work to ensure that students in Introductory Field Biology (NTRES 2100) have a collaborative learning experience. Student teams build confidence through collaborating on field research and learning to read the landscape.

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Students’ tool forecasts manganese in Ithaca water supply

To help the Ithaca Water Treatment Plant, engineering students have created a way to help predict concentrations of manganese in the city’s reservoir.

New course explores making fashion more sustainable

A new course on global textile and apparel sustainability attracts students from across the university and immerses students in the real-life, contemporary challenges of sustainability in the fashion industry. The course was structured to address the connection of fashion to the 17 sustainability goals outlined by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

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Sustainable Cornell book club launches this Spring

A newly launched book club will explore resources and dialogue in small campus discussion groups to explore issues like climate change, environmental injustice, consumerism, and sustainability.

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AI enables strategic hydropower planning across Amazon basin

Biologist Alex Flecker and computer scientist Carla Gomes co-led a project that employed AI and around 40 researchers in an attempt to determine optimal placement of around 350 hydropower dams in the Amazon river basin.

Climate and agricultural economist Ariel Ortiz-Bobea will advise USDA on research priorities

Ariel Ortiz-Bobea says there is no greater threat to our food supply than climate change. He has been appointed to a USDA advisory panel where he will get to shape policy that leads to solutions.  

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Cornell, startup receive $7M for novel clean energy tech

Cornell researchers and a startup have received more than $7 million in federal grants to advance novel clean energy research that includes wirelessly charging electric vehicles, low-carbon jet fuel and construction materials made from waste.

Unbuild better: a Collegetown case study in deconstruction

A project led by Felix Heisel and community partners is investigating deconstruction’s potential as a more sustainable alternative to building demolition, a source of significant waste that contributes to climate change.

Students honored with entrepreneurial fellowships

Twenty-six students with businesses ranging from drinking water treatment to alternative medicine to kitchen robots, received fellowships to work on their businesses this summer.

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