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.


Climate scientist Ram Ramanathan joins Cornell

Climate scientist Veerabhadran Ramanathan, who first discovered in the 1970s the climate-altering impacts of certain carbon chemicals in the atmosphere and who has been a driving force to enact policies to curb global warming for…

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Moonshadow joins ‘galaxy’ of colorful tomatoes

Moonshadow, a new variety of grape tomato, is a high-flavor, traditionally bred tomato derived from crosses with heirloom varieties. It’s aimed at organic growers, small farms and home gardeners.     

Cornell earns second platinum sustainability rating, tops national rankings in 2021

Cornell has earned a second platinum sustainability rating – the highest possible– from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. Cornell is the only Ivy league institution to have achieved a…

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Cornell’s first Laidlaw scholars research, lead

The Laidlaw scholars at Cornell are diving into a world of research. Over the first summer of the program, 24 Cornellians selected for the prestigious international program completed research projects on topics ranging from migration and big data to entomology, engineering communications and animal science.

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Art and exhibits illustrate hope for climate resilience

Art, sculpture, photos, and prints bring research on climate adaptation and resiliency to life at Cornell Botanic Gardens' Nevin Welcome Center. The exhibits illustrate the value and impact of a collaborative project with faculty and indigenous farmers, fishers, herders, hunters, and orchardists across the globe. 

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Recycling of tectonic plates a key driver of Earth’s oxygen budget

A new study co-led by a Cornell researcher has identified serpentinite – a green rock that looks a bit like snakeskin and holds fluids in its mineral structures – as a key driver of the oxygen recycling process.

Revealing climate change inequities, redress, and environmental justice

CRP Assistant Professor Linda Shi discusses her timely research on populations vulnerable to climate change injustices and the planning discipline's critical contributions to the global discussion on adaptation and the future of cities. 

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Study digs up roles bacteria play in global carbon cycle

Cornell researchers have developed an innovative technique to track microbes and understand the various ways they process soil carbon, findings that add to our knowledge of how bacteria contribute to the global carbon cycle.

Twenty years: Cornellians at the forefront of climate action

Students are at the heart of Cornell’s sustainability story, and they were the spark behind the university’s first formal climate commitment in 2001.

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