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.


How human behavior is reshaping the world

As an environmental sociologist and professor of global development, Jack Zinda is analyzing global challenges surrounding relationships between human groups and environments from rural communities in China to metropolitan areas straddling the Hudson River in New York State. 

Around Cornell

Author to speak on African Americans’ relationship with the outdoors

Carolyn Finney, author of “Black Faces White Spaces: Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors,” will give the Class of 1945 Lecture, part of the Cornell Botanic Gardens Lecture Series, on Feb. 25.

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Seminar series addresses grand challenge of climate change

University-wide seminar provides important views on the critical issue of climate change, drawing from many perspectives and disciplines.

Around Cornell

Cornell, WWF to co-host event on preventing pandemics

Cornell and WWF will host a virtual conference Feb. 23 focused on the link between humans and wildlife, and the subsequent prevention of future pandemics.

$1.5M grant to explore integrated reuse of industrial waste, CO2

A new research project will seek an integrated approach to turning sludge, dust and slag into valuable materials by improving the recovery and quality of waste products using carbon dioxide.

Around Cornell

Migration not seen as solution by those in flood zones

In coastal regions of the Philippines, ties to the community motivate most people to stay in their homes despite the risks of frequent, severe floods, Cornell research finds.

Dimensional Energy emerges as $20M Carbon X Prize finalist

Dimensional Energy – a McGovern Center startup that converts carbon dioxide via sunshine into eco-friendly aviation fuel – is a finalist for the $20 million Carbon X Prize.

Global ‘wind atlas’ propels sustainable energy

Cornell wind energy scientists have released a new global wind atlas – a digital compendium filled with documented extreme wind speeds – to improve turbine placement.

Hochul sees brighter days ahead for upstate economy

As New Yorkers emerge from the pandemic’s economic morass, New York Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul acknowledged a tough path ahead, but shared hope for the state’s future at Cornell’s annual town-gown regional meeting.