In September, the Climate and Society Program will welcome the second half of its first sibling duo to the Program. Frank Sousa graduated from C&S in 2010 and "liked Climate and Society so much [he] sent [his] brother." Daniel Sousa will be starting C&S in September of 2011.
Daniel (left) and Frank (right) Sousa in France, 2011.
Currently the climate director for ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability USA, Melissa Stults was in the first graduating class of Columbia University’s MA Program in Climate and Society in 2005. Since graduating, Melissa has worked at several organizations including as an intern at the German Bundestag working on the analysis of climate policy in Germany vs. the US, as an intern and then later as a program manager at Columbia’s Global Roundtable on Climate Change (GROCC), the Center for Climate Systems Research (CCSR), the Coalition for Rainforest Nations, and finally at ICLEI where she started out as a program manager.
"My time in the Climate and Society program gave me the skills to understand climate change from a multi-disciplinary perspective. This tool set is crucial for training the world’s future climate leaders because climate change is a highly dimensional, extremely timely and complicated issue." - Missy Stults
Spring 2011
›Two Climate and Society students have been chosen as finalists for the prestigious Presidential Management Fellowship (PMF).
The PMF program is administered by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and was established in 1977. The program brings graduate students from a wide variety of academic disciplines to the Federal service.
Megan Fleming is a current student with an undergraduate background in Biology and Spanish and is excited by the opportunity to apply the interdisciplinary skills she's learned at Columbia to Federal service. In particular, the ability to communicate knowledge of applied climate science to environmental decision makers across a variety of disciplines. Having the opportunity to tailor her coursework, Megan says, has helped her to understand climate change from unique angles while considering the perspective of different stakeholders. "I look forward to applying what I have learned from C&S in the PMF program, where having a strong background in climate science and a broad understanding of policy will surely be an asset in a government position."
The second finalist, Aaron Nutter graduated from the Climate and Society program in 2010 and has since been working as a consultant on carbon market initiatives as well as public policy for The Climate Group in DC. Aaron feels honored to have been nominated as a Finalist. "To serve the federal government would be both an incredible opportunity and privilege. I look forward to the challenges and opportunities the Presidential Management Fellowship will offer."
Fall 2010
›Featured Profile: Josh Browne, MA Climate and Society '11: link
Summer 2010
› As always, students embarked on internships across the US and abroad for their summer internships. This year, students worked at non-profits, government agencies, as well as private companies. A few examples are: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) - Region 2 Air programs, The Carbon Trust, Global Network for Climate Solutions, The Millennium Villages Project, The Energy Resources Institute (TERI), UNDP, and the New York City Mayor's Office.
Fall 2009
› Andrew Freedman, MA Climate and Society '09, is an environmental journalist and policy analyst who is reporting from Copenhagen. Read his blogs at: Climate Central
› The International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI), the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and the Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centre have produced a short video for COP 15 called Using Climate and Weather Forecasts to Improve Humanitarian Decision Making. For the past two years, students from the MA Program in Climate and Society (C&S)have done internships with the IRI/IFRC to help bridge the gap between scientific understanding of climate change and response to humanitarian disasters. Lisette Braman, a C&S alumna and currently a program officer with the Red Cross Climate Centre and staff associate at the IRI is featured in the video. Watch it here.
› Dr. Lisa Goddard, a climate scientist at the International Research Institute for Climate and Society and the professor of the Dynamics of Climate Change and Variability in the MA Program in Climate and Society, has been appointed to the National Academies of Science's prestigious Climate Research Committee.
› The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association highlights the work of Climate and Society students with the International Federation of the Red Cross/Climate Centre:
› On Thursday, September 24th, the Columbia University MA the Columbia University Master of Arts program in Climate and Society, as part of Climate Week NYC, presented "Economics and Climate Adaptation: Index Insurance and Climate Risk Management Example in Ethiopia." This event was co-sponsored by SwissRe, and the New York Committee for Oxfam America.
An article about this event was published in the NY Times Energy and Environment Section.
› On Thursday, September 17th, the Columbia University Master of Arts program in Climate and Society, as part of Climate Week NYC, presented "Climate Change, Human Rights and Forced Migration," with Ursula Rakova, CEO, Tulele Peisa, Inc.; Paige West, Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, Barnard College; Jennifer Redfearn and Tim Metzger, Documentary Filmmakers.
Summer 2009
› Students in the MA Program in Climate and Society embarked on internships around the world to complete the requirements of their degree. Reflecting the diversity of their backgrounds and interests, students chose internships at a wide range of organizations. From the HSBC Climate Change Centre of Excellence in London, to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory in Princeton, New Jersey, students in the program used their skills and knowledge to further their careers in the climate field.
› With funding from NOAA, ten of the students worked in developing countries with the International Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) and the Climate Centre of the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC). To learn more about these internships visit the Climate Centre's website at: http://www.climatecentre.org/site/young-scholars
› Join the MA Program in Climate and Society for an Information Session at Columbia University on February 5th from 6:30 - 8:00pm. Meet with the Associate Director, Dr. Mingfang Ting, current students, and alumni. For more information or to RSVP please email arezou@ei.columbia.edu
Fall 2008
Climate and Society NY Library Tour: As part of their Dynamics of Climate Variability and Change course, students in the CS program presented at local Libraries to educate the public about climate change. Topics included:
Title: "Breaking the Ice: Carbon, Climate, and Change"
Description: Four Columbia University graduate students facilitate workshop about understanding climate change. Find out how scientists know the story of Earth's climate. Also learn some skills for interpreting and discussing the science behind climate change.
Title: "How Certain Can We Be About Climate Change?"
Description: The presentation will address greenhouse gases and aerosols, their relative impacts on the climate system, the uncertainties in estimating these impacts, and how much we can attribute to human activities.
Title: What's the Big Deal about One Degree?
Description: Climate change over the 21st century will not be the same everywhere. This presentation will discuss how a small change in global average temperature can result in differing, sometimes dramatic, regional effects, particularly in the case of precipitation changes.
Title: Did 'we' do that? Natural and man-made causes of climate change
Description: One common "myth" about climate change is that natural variations in the climate system explain the changes we are seeing today, and that human contributions are minor or nonexistent. This presentation will discuss major sources of natural climate variability and explain how we know that anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases are contributing to current changes in the climate.
Summer 2008
Final Presentations Mark Graduation of Master Program in Climate and Society Class of 2008
Join the Climate and Society Class of 2008 for the first annual “Change for Climate” fundraising event this April 25th. The students of the MA Program in Climate and Society (CS) at Columbia University are on a mission to spread awareness about the impacts of climate change on poverty, while at the same time raising funds for the Millennium Village in Dertu, Kenya.
Climate and Society Assistant Professor, Dr. Casey Brown, was awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). PECASE is the highest honor given by the U.S. government that recognizes outstanding scientists and engineers in the early stages of their career. Dr. Brown teaches the core seminar Managing and Adapting to Climate which teaches students policymaking to manage climate variability and climate change.
Climate and Society Alumn, Eric Holthous '06, speaks about his experience in the program. Coming from a science background in the atmospheric sciences, Eric wanted to learn more about how he could apply his skills to work towards solutions to some of the world's most pressing problems, like poverty, hunger, and social justice.
The Earth Institute at Columbia University features a story about Akong (Charles) Ndika, M.A. Climate and Society '05. Akong says, "None of my academic experiences rivals that of the Climate and Society program. The multidisciplinary focus of the program empowered me to think horizontally, looking at climate variability and change as cross-cutting problems, that transcend environment, economy, politics and culture."
Local Paper features story that highlights some of the important work Eun Soo Lim (Climate and Society '06) has been doing as part of her summer internship.
Kareff May Rafisura of the Philippines has spent this year studying the development policy implications of climate impacts in the M.A. Program in Climate and Society, and this summer she will get hands-on experience through her internship at the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI), working on projects related to water resources management in the Philippines and the use of climate information.
Rafisura is also going to Bangkok to attend a workshop jointly led by the IRI and the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center.
Rafisura is part of the first group of students in the year-long master’s program in Climate and Society to begin their summer internships this week. Internships are part of the program’s core practical training that prepares students to solve problems using interdisciplinary concepts and methods.
Students were selected for prestigious internships in the policy, academic, and private sector communities. These include:
- Pew Center on Global Climate Change
- Environmental Defense — Climate Science office
- United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) — Global Environmental Facility
- University of Miami, Division of Marine Affairs and Policy
- NOAA’s South Carolina Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments (RISA) Center
- German Bundestag (Parliament) – Office of the Head of Environment Committee
- Memphis Light, Gas, and Water Utility Company
- Columbia University’s International Research Institute for Climate and Society
- Columbia University’s Center for Research in Environmental Decisions
- Columbia University’s Earth Engineering Center
- Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Global Research Office
The Climate and Society curriculum is focused on adapting to and managing climate variability and climate change, with a focus on the developing world, where people are most vulnerable to climate impacts. Climate influences crucial development issues, including drought, vector-borne diseases, and water supplies. Recent advances in understanding of climate science and climate forecasting led to the creation of this cutting-edge education program, with the intention of bringing these scientific advances to those who can use the information to aid development.
Students in the M.A. Climate and Society follow a unique core curriculum in climate science and climate impacts taught by expert researchers at the International Research Institute of Climate and Society(IRI) at Columbia University. In the Spring Semester, students have a choice of three general electives ranging across the offerings of the university, from Atmospheric Chemistry to the International Relations of the Environment. The summer internship or thesis requirement is complemented by an intensive summer seminar to prepare students to bring their unique interdisciplinary education to diverse environments in the public and private sectors.
Students who opted instead to write a master’s thesis are pursuing a range of topics, from an improved forecasting model for Ethiopia to creating an integrative climate curriculum for secondary school education.
The Earth Institute at Columbia University is the world's leading academic center for the integrated study of Earth, its environment and society. The Earth Institute builds upon excellence in the core disciplines — earth sciences, biological sciences, engineering sciences, social sciences and health sciences — and stresses cross-disciplinary approaches tocomplex problems. Through research, training and global partnerships, it mobilizes science and technology to advance sustainable development, while placing special emphasis on the needs of the world's poor. For more information, visitwww.earth.columbia.edu.
Carbon dioxide levels today are nearly 30% more
than they were prior to the industrial revolution. What is
truly unprecedented about current carbon dioxide levels is
the speed in which they have risen. In the millions of
years of known geological history, the Earth has never experienced
such a rapid rise. The signature of human influence is unequivocal.There
is no doubt that we have caused this change to the atmosphere
from burning fossil fuels.
The Earth Institute at Columbia, whose members
include many of the world's leading experts in earth, biological,
social, and health sciences, work on a broad body of research
related to climate and climate change.
Earth Institute scientists are working to enhance the sophistication
and specificity of climate forecasting and to create new social,
political, and economic mechanisms for using scientific data
to build resilience to climate variability and change on the
world's most vulnerable regions.
What Causes Abrupt Climate Change?
What causes abrupt climate change? How can we tell that it
has happened before and what could cause it to happen again?
Scientists from the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
of Columbia University answer some of the most frequently
asked questions about climate: http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/res/pi/arch/
Winter 2003
Use climate prediction science to mitigate
disaster; political will is as important as predictive capability
"The Earth Institute Science Lectures:
Climate and Society"
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 lectured 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.
El Niño 2002-03 When climatologists from the Earth
Institute at Columbia University identified the beginnings
of a moderate-strength El Niño forming in the tropical
Pacific, they reacted by reaching out to those who might be
able to prevent damage or disasters related to the weather
phenomenon from occurring this time around.
"It is our goal to make the best climatological lessons
available to the policymaking community before vulnerable
countries face humanitarian crises," said Earth Institute
Director Jeffrey Sachs.
