New Horizons

Year in Review: Our Top Stories of 2024

High Heat Is Preferentially Killing the Young, Not the Old, New Research Finds

World Water Film Festival Makes a Splash at Columbia Climate School

Events

On January 8 12pm ET, join us for Unlocking Earth's Climate History from Geologic Records with climate scientist Gisela Winckler and paleoclimatologist William D'Andrea, hosted by Lamont 75th Anniversary Committee co-chair Arthur Lerner-Lam. This event is part of our virtual series Earth Observations: Conversations with Lamont Scientists. Learn More/RSVP

At AGU24, we caught up with our Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory scientists and other Columbia Climate School experts to learn more about their research:

PhD student Caroline Juang about her research, done in collaboration with hydroclimatologist Park Williams and climate scientist Richard Seager, on how wildfires in the western United States are affected by atmosphere-ocean dynamic processes.

Lamont climate scientist Daniel Westervelt on air quality monitoring methods to help address the substantial global health impacts of air pollution.⁠

Lamont geologist Dallas Abbott on "missing" submarine volcanoes that could be the source of past and future tsunamis.⁠

Columbia University social psychologist Valerie Purdie-Greenaway, inviting origin stories on motivation to become a geoscientist and care about the environment with the INSPIRE program's Armor Project.⁠

CIESIN scientist Fabien Cottier about his research on factors behind the recent rise in migration from Central America to the US and from West Africa to Europe, done in collaboration with Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory's Jennifer Nakamura and Richard Seager, Center for Climate Systems Research's Michael Puma, CIESIN's Alex de Sherbinin, and Oregon State University colleagues.⁠

Education

Lamont is home to a number of summer high school internship programs. Each focuses on learning and science in action with a slightly different focus, and operates for 6 weeks during the summer. All of these programs are now accepting applications for summer 2025 through the end of February. Note that all of these programs are non-residential day programs.

Secondary School Field Research Program combines field and laboratory work to explore a variety of Earth system processes through research teams composed of high school students, 2 undergraduate mentors, a teacher contact, and a Lamont researcher for science support. The program runs July 7 through August 15, 2025. The primary field site is Piermont Marsh, with Lamont as homebase, and secondary locations in NYC. The program focuses on NYC students. For more information on how to apply, email SSFRP.

Next Generation of Hudson River Educators operates out of the Lamont Hudson River Field Station on Piermont Pier. This program focuses on the Hudson River with a focus on existing and potential future climate impacts. Sampling and research teams are composed of high school students, 2 undergraduate mentors, and our science team. The program runs July 1 through August 8, 2025. The primary field site is the Piermont Pier, and the program focuses on local Rockland and New Jersey students. For more information on how to apply, email Marisa Annunziato.

The Polar CAP (Climate Ambassadors Program) operates from the main Lamont campus. This program is from youth for youth, and brings together high school students interested in learning and communicating about the importance of our polar regions in the climate change discussion. The interns meet with different scientists and develop communication skills and resources that are shared with the public through different events, including participating in one or two Science Saturdays at the Piermont Field. The program runs July 7 through August 16, 2025. For more information on how to apply, email Margie Turrin.

Explore Summer 2025 Pre-College Program at the Columbia Climate School 🌎

Columbia Climate School in the Green Mountains is a 2-week campus-based program for high school students taking place from June 29 to July 11, 2025 in Castleton, Vermont to mobilize action and drive impact in response to our warming planet. Students will complete the program feeling empowered to address a climate challenge in their own communities.

Watch the mini-documentary Empowering Youth to Lead Climate Solutions and see how we're inspiring the next generation of changemakers.

Don’t wait for change — lead it!

Ready to take action? Apply now and become a climate leader!

Climate LIVE K12 features live lectures and interactive activities with our scientists and experts for K-12 students, educators, families, and the public! FREE!

Up Next: On January 22 4-4:30pm ET, join us for Climate COP Roundtable: Experiences & Insights on Global Action, ideal for high school students and educators, undergraduates, graduate students, and the public. Columbia Climate School graduate students Haley Crim, Amy Campbell, and Kalain Hosein will share their varied experiences as a negotiator, journalist, and advocate at COP, and discuss challenges and successes of the global climate negotiation scene. RSVP today (free but registration required)!

And check out our YouTube archive of all past workshops.

Hudson River Field Station

Looking Back at Past Years!

As we begin to prepare for summer 2025, we welcome everyone to reflect on the accomplishments of our past interns over the years and see how the Next Generation of Hudson River Educators Internship program has grown. From fully remote 2020 to hybrid (2021) to in-person (2022-present), the program has changed through the years to provide new and exciting opportunities for local high school students. Check out the accomplishments of the  2024 Next-Gen Interns and find work done by 2020-2023 interns. Looking forward to mentoring our next cohort of inspiring and dedicated interns in 2025! Questions? Contact Marisa Annunziato.

Lamont in the Media (Select Stories)