The 1,000-day milestone to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) gathered professors Jeffrey Sachs, Prabhjot Singh, and Vijay Modi on April 4 for the Sustainable Development Seminar Series to take a critical look at how far the Millennium Villages Project (MVP) has come in the eight years since its founding and analyze what still needs to be accomplished.
“You can do math on excel?” I ask. I immediately imagine a face-palm response, but Dario, one of my advisors, is nice enough to hide it. I’ve collected tree core samples, I’ve prepared them and cross-dated them. Now what? Oh, right. The Science.
This spring, sustainable development seniors worked with clients on a range of projects aimed at combatting local and international challenges to sustainability, as part of the Capstone Workshop in Sustainable Development. Spring 2013 projects include the Department of Defense’s Net Zero Energy Initiative, Bike New York, the City as a Living Laboratory, and a Storm Damage, Climate Change, and Adaptation Planning for the Rockland County Commissioner of Planning.
Ever since I’ve started learning to cross-date tree core samples, I’ve learned I have a type. I prefer my tree cores to be black oaks, middle-aged, with some nice big rings to show me. Alright, fine, I can deal with some smaller rings every now and then. As long as they’re some nice marker rings. Unfortunately, the trees don’t seem to be trying to impress me.
On March 27 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, PositiveFeedback and the Met will host The Art and Science Dating Game: How Artists and Scientists Find Each Other…And What Happens Next? This event will feature a dialogue between three pairs of collaborators—scientists and artists focused on climate change—and is meant to inspire and motivate individuals from both communities, and even simply those who are curious about climate change and the intersection of the two fields.
Student Scott Miller, who raised $3,000 for the Earth Institute last year on a 300-mile bike ride from New York to Washington, plans to do it again, and he’s inviting you to join him.
The residential home sector is the third largest contributor to GHG emissions when energy use is included. As the housing market is showing signs of recovery and new home construction is beginning to increase, there is opportunity to address the emissions from residential homes with green building techniques that will have the added benefit of reduced energy costs and increased comfort.
Poor weather conditions don’t stop Columbia undergraduates from learning about career prospects in sustainability. Rebecca Schnall, Senior Associate Director of the Columbia’s Center for Career Education, talks to students about what to do with a degree in sustainable development.
Living in New York City where everything is accessible, it is easy to take things for granted. However, the proper treatment of wastewater is necessary for maintaining a healthy society and is something every NYC resident should be grateful for.
Interdisciplinary collaboration, rather than polarized efforts, are needed to promote environmental sustainability.
State of the Planet is a forum for discussion on varying viewpoints. The opinions expressed by the authors and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Earth Institute or Columbia University.
