Author: Brian Kateman

Brian Kateman serves as the Earth Institute Center for Environmental Sustainability’s assistant program manager. He is responsible for managing the center’s website and assortment of social media platforms to promote and market select education programs. Kateman uses his background in evolutionary biology and ecology to serve as the main contributor on the Eco Matters Blog — part of the Earth Institute’s State of the Planet Blog. Additionally, he coordinates the center’s distance learning program and internship program. Prior to arriving at the center, Kateman completed three consecutive summers of internships at Echoing Green, EICES, and the National Wildlife Refuge Association through The Jeannette K. Watson Fellowship.
Kateman holds a bachelor’s degree in biology and a minor in psychology from The Macaulay Honors College–College of Staten Island. His research interests concern the link between land alterations and changing weather patterns on species dispersal, social dynamics and population decline from both evolutionary and conservation perspectives. Building upon his previous research experiences, which address the influence of environmental uncertainty on the behavior, distribution and survivorship of rats, snakes and trees, Kateman completed his honors thesis, entitled “Avian Long Distance Dispersal — An Important Mechanism for Range Expansion.” He enrolls in the M.A. in Conservation Biology Program through the E3B Department at Columbia University in fall 2013.
Researchers at the Earth Institute’s Lenfest Center for Sustainable Energy working in collaboration with PepsiCo, Inc. have developed new software that rapidly calculates the carbon footprints of thousands of products simultaneously.
Category> Climate, Ecosystems
Tags> carbon, climate change, eco matters, Energy, greenhouse gases, pepsi, science
Human societies require a constant supply of clean water to survive and environmental guidelines are designed to protect critically important aquatic ecosystems. Register for Ecology and Sustainable Water Management, a course in the Earth Institute’s Executive Education Certificate Program in Environmental Sustainability.
Category> Ecosystems, General Earth Institute
Tags> eco matters
Join CERC for an Open House to learn more about The Earth Institute’s Certification in Conservation and Environmental Sustainability.
Category> General Earth Institute
Tags> eco matters
Join CERC’s Afternoon Discussion on: Environmental Sustainability and Corporate Decision-Making with Jeffrey Potent, Environmental Protection Specialist, Office of Water, United States Environmental Protection Agency & Adjunct Professor, Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs.
Category> Ecosystems
Tags> eco matters
In a gigantic and remote rainforest of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a team of scientists have discovered a new species of Old World monkey known as the “Lesula.”
Category> Ecosystems
Tags> biodiversity, Biology, conservation, eco, eco matters, ecology, ecosystem, evolution, green, monkey, nature, science, wildlife
CERC’s integration of web-based learning into the Certificate Program in Conservation and Environmental Sustainability allows the Center to reach an international audience, providing education to students from as far away as the United Kingdom, South Africa, and New Zealand.
Category> Ecosystems
Tags> eco matters
Are you interested in cultivating the skills necessary to implement environmental change? Do you want to learn more about conservation and environmental sustainability, including ecosystem services and function?
Category> Climate, Earth Sciences, Ecosystems, Energy, General Earth Institute, Ocean Acidification, Water
Tags> Climate, conservation, eco matters, ecosystems, sustainability, Water
Drawing upon the narrative of his new book, The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion, Dr. Jonathan Haidt gave a lecture entitled “The Rationalist Delusion in Moral Psychology,” on April 24, 2012 to members of Teachers College at Columbia University. Dr. Haidt elaborates on his own research in moral and cultural psychology to frame discussions on moral instincts—the rapid, highly emotional moral judgments we make—and their influence on contemporary politics and perspectives on natural selection.
Category> Economics, General Earth Institute
Tags> eco matters, evolution, morality, neuroscience, priming, social psychology
As students pack and prepare for, and ponder the exciting adventures that lie ahead in, the 2012 Summer Ecosystem Experiences for Undergraduates Program (SEE-U), Natalia Rossi, the Teaching Assistant for the Jordan field site, shares her enthusiasm for research, education, and conservation.
Category> Ecosystems
Tags> eco matters
Subtle stimuli in the environment exert a strong influence on the way we think about global warming. The notion that surrounding objects unconsciously influence our thoughts and behavior is of interest to individuals who are interested in developing strategies to promote sustainable behavior.
Category> Climate, Ecosystems
Tags> climate change, climate psychology, eco matters, Global Warming, social psychology