[Last updated: Dec. 13, 2012] Journalists may join Earth Institute research field expeditions, which take place on every continent and every ocean. Below: selected projects, in rough chronological order. (Work in and around New York listed separately at bottom.) While in the field, researchers may be available by phone or email, depending on site. Some expeditions [...]
Recently ranked highest in biological diversity and as one of the “last great places on Earth”, the Shawangunk Mountains are being actively reintroduced to forest fires in an attempt to preserve biodiversity.
During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, a host of naturalist-explorers traveled around the globe in a quest to identify new species. We interview science writer Richard Conniff, who evokes this grand age of discovery in The Species Seekers: Heroes, Fools, and the Mad Pursuit of Life on Earth, just released in paperback.
African-born, Oxford-trained biologist Lucy King recently won an award for a promising solution to a longstanding problem in Africa—elephants raiding crops.
When researchers observed activity in the brains of plain-tailed wrens while singing, they discovered something striking: In both sexes, the neurons reacted more strongly to the duet song than individual contributions — they are seemingly wired to enhance cooperation.
Scientists report in a recently published article in Nature that the fungus Geomyces destructans found on bats afflicted with White Nose Syndrome is the primary cause of the disease. However, amidst all the muck of doom and gloom, researchers report in the July issue of the Journal of Wildlife Diseases that affected bats can be nursed back to health with constant medical attention, food, warmth, and water. With no signs of the infection slowing and more than one million bats succumbing to white nose syndrome in the past five years, the conservation community should be on high alert.
The Center for Environmental Research and Conservation at Columbia University provides professionals with the knowledge and tools to be effective environmental leaders and decision makers in the 21st century. It is an evening program in which environmental issues are discussed, debated and examined, where participants develop an in-depth understanding of conservation science and practice through case studies and a focus on Environmental Policy, Management and Finance.
A robotic bug’s attempts to fly were no match for gravity – the critter was unable to soar above the ground. The findings shed light on a longstanding debate about the evolutionary origins of flight, as scientists have long debated whether birds first evolved flight as ground dwellers or tree jumpers.
Utilizing innovative technology to transform physical impact into electricity, PaveGen is literally, as the company tagline describes, “Generating Energy from footsteps.”
Resilience science has been evolving over the past decade, expanding beyond ecology to reflect systems of thinking in fields such as economics and political science. And, as more and more people move into densely populated cities, using massive amounts of water, energy, and other resources, the need to combine these disciplines to consider the resilience of urban ecosystems and cities is of paramount importance.
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.
