Jeffrey D. Sachs

Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet

April 28, 2008

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State of the Planet 2008 Conference

March 27 - 28 , 2008

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Jeffrey D. Sachs

Sachs Student Lecture: International Peace Through Sustainable Development

November 7, 2007

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Climate Change and the Millennium Development Goals: Meeting the Development Challange

November 1, 2007

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Paul Farmer

Global Health Equity

October 30, 2007

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India's Growing Water Chrisis: Challenges and Options

September 26, 2007

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Jared Diamond

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed

April 25, 2007

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Jan Egeland

Humanitarian Relief in the Crossfire: Technological Revolution-Moral Standstill

April 10, 2007

The Earth Institute Distinguished Lecture Series presents, "Humanitarian Relief in the Crossfire: Technological Revolution- Moral Standstill," with Jan Egeland, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, United Nations. Open to the public. Event date: November 30, 2006.

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Speaker: Jeffrey D. Sachs

Jeffrey D. Sachs, director of the Earth Institute, spoke at Columbia last week with E.O. Wilson in a special event hosted by Robert Pollack, director of the Center for the Study of Science and Religion.

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Earth Institute director Jeffrey D. Sachs delivers his annual student lecture at Columbia University titled "Practical Approaches to Climate Change."

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Jeffrey D. Sachs, director of the Earth Institute, spoke at Columbia yesterday with Jonathan Ledgard, African Correspondent at The Economist, about the crisis in Darfur.

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The Earth Institute at Columbia University convened the fourth biennial State of the Planet Conference to discuss the feasibility of sustainable development for billions worldwide. Internationally renowned scholars and opinion leaders lead discussions, presented ideas, and outlined research throughout this two day forum, which sought to explore the fundamental requirements of science, economy, governance and human behavior needed to achieve sustainable development.

Dr. Daniel Hillel,
Senior Research Scientist, Center for Climate Systems Research (CCSR)

Brian Schweitzer, Governor of Montana

Cheryl A. Palm ,
Senior Research Scientist, The Earth Institute at Columbia University

Pedro Sanchez ,
Director for Tropical Agriculture, The Earth Institute
at Columbia University

Peter DeMenocal,
Associate Professor, Columbia University

Experts on demographics, economics, energy, and biodiversity discuss how to tackle the world's toughest challenges. Moderated by Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University, and John Rennie, Editor in Chief of Scientific American.

In Harlem, a call to house poor families in New York City and around the world. Homes were dedicated for six needy families this morning a gesture many hope will catch on.

A lecture by Elliott Sclar to launch the Center for Sustainable Urban Development (CSUD), which will focus on creating physically and socially sustainable cities. CSUD’s initial project will establish ongoing research and educational exchanges in three cities in developing countries to advance land use and transport planning for sustainable urban growth. This lecture elaborates on how transport and land use policies are intrinsically linked to the economic, social and physical environment and health of cities.

A press conference with Jeffrey D. Sachs, director of the Earth Institute; Art Lerner-Lam, director of the Center for Hazards and Risk Research; Maxx Dilley, director of hazards studies at the International Research Institute for Climate Prediction; Margaret Arnold, program manager in the World Bank's hazard management unit; and Maryvonne Plessis-Fraissard, director for transport and urban development at the World Bank.

Shirley Tilghman, President, Princeton University

Columbia President Lee Bollinger launched the ADVANCE Lecture Series with this lecture by Dr. Tilghman, renowned not only for her pionerring research in the field of molecular biology, but also for her national leadership on behalf of women in science.

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Professor Daniel M. Kammen, Energy and Resources Group, Goldman School of Public Policy and Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley

Professor Kammen outlines a set of future energy scenarios for Africa and explores the role of integrated forest and household energy management, which dramatically impact both illness, forest loss and greenhouse gas emissions. These findings provide an opportunity to address many of the Millennium Development Goals at exceptionally low cost and with a high degree of effectiveness, as demonstrated in several real-world pilot efforts.

Recent U.S. Government policy choices have far-reaching implications for both the U.S. and the rest of the global community. The Earth Institute at Columbia University continues its new series, Critical Lectures in American Foreign Policy, where highly distinguished scholars challenge prevailing assumptions and conventional wisdom of U.S. foreign policy actions.

Speakers include: Robert Pape, David Painter, Andrew Arato, Anne Norton, Mahmood Mamdani, Juan Cole, Rashid Khalidi, Noam Chomsky, and Michael Klare.

Part of the World Leaders Forum, an annual Columbia University event developed in conjunction with the School of International and Public Affairs, and the Earth Institute. Go to World Leaders Forum video page.

The Global Exchange, a series of lectures and panel discussions, is presented each semester to inform the public of groundbreaking programs that mobilize science and technology to advance our understanding of sustainable development around the world.

New York Climate & Health Project members gather to discuss their new scientific assessment of how a changing climate may affect people’s health in the New York metropolitan region over the coming century.

Margaret Beckett is the senior member of Tony Blair's Cabinet responsible for climate change policy. Since 2001, she has led the UK's international efforts to tackle the challenge of climate change, including the commitment to reduce carbon emissions 60% by 2050.

For two days, scientists from around the world gathered at Columbia University to examine the relationship between the human condition and the condition of the Earth. Focusing on four essential determinants of human well-being – energy, food, health and water – these leading experts assessed how science and technology can best be mobilized to achieve sustainable development.

It is a pivotal moment for arms control as many countries seek to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Join Dr. Richards for a discussion on the use of seismological methods to detect, identify, locate, and determine the size of underground nuclear explosions, and the successes and difficulties of taking this objective technical information into a charged political arena where there are deep divides on the issues of arms control.

Richards is one of the seismologists from the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory responsible for developing the methods used to distinguish between earthquakes and explosions.

Pedro Sanchez, Director for Tropical Agriculture at the Earth Institute, speaks at the New York Academy of Sciences

"We have never lived in such a world of plenty, and yet 800 million people don't know where their next meal is coming from." So begins Pedro Sanchez's lecture on the cycle of poverty and hunger as he presents the results of his groundbreaking research on tropical agriculture. Sanchez is Director of Tropical Agriculture and Senior Research Scholar at the Earth Institute of Columbia University in New York City. He serves as Co-Chair of the Hunger Task Force of the Millennium Project, an advisory body to the United Nations. Sanchez served as Director General of the World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF) headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya from 1991-2001. He was named a Macarthur Foundation Fellow in 2003, and received the World Food Prize in 2002.

Related links:
Visit the NYAS web site for a complete wrap-up of this event:
Hunger in Africa:  The UN Millennium goals, A New York Academy of Sciences eBriefing

Mark Cane, G. Unger Vetlesen Professor of Earth and Climate Sciences in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and the Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics, Columbia University

In the 1980s Mark Cane was the first scientist to accurately predict the weather phenomenon known as El Niño. Since then, his research has turned increasingly to climate’s impact on human society in areas such as agriculture, air pollution, water management and health. On Wednesday, December 3, Cane will lecture on the lessons humans can learn from El Niño about adapting to climate variability, and how these might be applied to broader climate change trends.

A talk by Retired Navy Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Ph.D., Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator.

Poul Nielson, European Union Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid
Video produced by Columbia University Digital Knowledge Ventures

Eliminating Hunger In Africa: What Needs To Be Done
Pedro Sanchez, Director of Tropical Agriculture, is noted for his path-breaking contributions to reducing hunger and malnutrition in the developing world by transforming depleted tropical soils into productive agricultural fields. Agroforestry, the practice of planting trees in crop fields to improve nitrogen-fixing in crops, has provided nearly 150,000 farmers in Africa with a way to fertilize their soils inexpensively and naturally, raising many out of hunger.

Pedro Sanchez, Director of Tropical Agriculture
Video produced by Columbia University Digital Knowledge Ventures

Millennium Development Goals Symposium

Earth Institute Presents Symposium On The United Nations Millennium Development Goals To Cut Poverty In Half By 2015

Klaus Lackner, the Ewing Worzel Professor of Geophysics

Video produced by Columbia University Digital Knowledge Ventures

Jeffrey Sachs' remarks at the Globalization and Inequality panel discussion, including presentation materials.

Four of the world's leaders in economics and development, Columbia's Joseph Stiglitz, 2001 Nobel Prize winner in Economics; Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University; George Soros, chairman, the Open Society Institute, and Mark Malloch-Brown, administrator, UN Development Program, debated open border trade-offs in "Globalization and Inequality."

To watch video archives of the entire event, click HERE.

Video Produced by Columbia University's Office of Public Affairs and Columbia University Digital Knowledge Ventures.

Wallace Broecker,Newberry Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences
http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu

A debate rages regarding the consequences of the ongoing buildup of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. Model simulations suggest that, at least for the planet's wildlife, these changes will be quite severe. MIT's Richard Lindzen, in contrast, receives enormous press attention for his contention that climate changes will be trivial. Broecker takes a third route and points to the climate record stored in Antarctic ice and sea floor sediments. To him the planetary evidence sends a clear message: the earth system responds strongly and often abruptly to nudges. This lecture will explore implications for global change in the future.

During the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, Don J. Melnick, reflected on why so little has been accomplished in biodiversity conservation since the 1992 Rio Summit. Among the reasons he cites is while the scientific theories, methods, and technologies are in place to do a much better job, the resources to apply them on a scale that can make a difference are just not there.

Part 1:

Candid words from Dr. Melnick about how preserving the world's ecosystems is crucial to preserving the health -- and evolutionary future -- of the human species.

Part 2:

An assessment from Dr. Melnick of the progress the world has made in preserving ecosystems since the first sustainable development summit in Rio de Janeiro ten years ago.

Shot: Sep 01, 2002
Published: Oct 09, 2002
Last modified:Oct 10, 2002

Klaus Lackner, the Ewing Worzel Professor of Geophysics, urges the Bush Administration to confront climate change, but says science can still find a way to top off everyone's gas tank.

Video produced by David Marks, Office of Public Affairs

Part 1:

Lackner advocates capturing carbon dioxide from the air in order to control emissions.

Part 2:

Lackner contends a transition to hydrogen-based fuels by itself does not solve the greenhouse gas problem.

At the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002, Columbia University researchers presented scientific advances in critical areas where immediate investment is required to relieve extreme poverty and get ahead of global climate change risks. These researchers represented the fields of sustainable development, water, energy, health, agricultural productivity, climate, and biodiversity and ecosystem management.

USC Prize Carries $200,000 Award

Two scientists who study geological clues from the past for insight into the environmental problems of the present have been selected to share the 2002 Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement.

The award, which includes a $200,000 cash prize and gold medallions, will go to Wallace S. Broecker of Columbia University and Tungsheng Liu of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Wallace S. Broecker,
Newberry Professor of Earth and Environmental Science

A new study by scientists at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) found that the sun has had more of an impact on the earth's climate than previously thought. Traditionally, the scientific community has rejected the idea that the small amount of energy emanating from the sun could have a major impact on climate change. In this video Gerard Bond, senior scholar at LDEO, shares his findings and explains the impact of this research on our understanding of the earth's climate systems.

Gerard Bond , Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
Video produced by David Marks, Office of Public Affairs

Michael Purdy, director of Columbia's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, describes some key research topics important for the future, including looking at natural hazards from a new global perspective. Since all the Earth's inhabitants are more at risk from floods, hurricanes and other natural disasters because more people are living in those areas of potential disaster, Purdy contends that scientists need to be able to quantify the risk from natural disasters and to learn to communicate the level of risk to the general public. Purdy also spoke to science's mission in serving society. He said, "The academic community has been unable to effectively relay its results and the significance of its research to society as a whole." In discussing the education of today's scientists, Purdy cited the need for both training in specialty areas and the need for an "overall vision of the system, so that a chemist can interact with a ecologist who can interact with a biologist [and so on]."

Michael Purdy, director of Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
Video produced by David Marks, Office of Public Affairs

At a press conference on Tuesday, July 10, Columbia's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory announced a collaborative research effort with Greek, Turkish, and Italian scientists to investigate making the Northern Aegean region, along the North Anatolian fault, more resilient against earthquake destruction.

Art Lerner-Lam, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
press briefing
Video produced by David Marks, Office of Public Affairs

One of the issues examined at The International Conference on Biodiversity and Society, held in Low Library, was whether mega-cities, such as New York and Rome, can receive the UNESCO designation of being a biosphere reserve, which would lead to research funding on environmental issues. Such designation may be necessary if these cities are to remain viable in the 21st century.
-- Cynthia Rosenzweig, Columbia University/NASA/Goddard Institute for Space Studies

How do humans live with and shape the environment? Can New York be the first mega-city-biosphere reserve?
-- Christine Alfsen-Norodom, conference coordinator, International Conference on Biodiversity and Society

Video produced by David Marks, Office of Public Affairs

related story:
The International Conference on Biodiversity and Society -- 5/18/01

Since 1980, the consumption of electricity has been increasing at 5 to 6 percent a year. Almost all of that can be traced to computer usage.
-- Roger Anderson, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory

Video produced by David Marks, Office of Public Affairs

A Columbia team is studying the technical and policy issues concerning how New York City will dispose of its trash after the Fresh Kills landfill closes -- Steven Cohen, Public Policy
For information on related Columbia Earth Institute lectures click here

Video produced by David Marks, Office of Public Affairs

Ten thousand years ago the Hudson River looked like a Scandinavian fjord, but global climate change and human activity have changed the depth and flow of the river. Robin Bell, Lamont Doherty
Click here for more information.

Video produced by David Marks, Office of Public Affairs

Brazil contains much of the world's plant and animal life, and plays a key role in the ecology of the planet -- Don Melnick