LDEO April 2025 Newsletter: Earth & Environmental Science News
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Our Power, Our Planet: Earth Day 2025
The first Earth Day in 1970 ignited a movement to stop polluting our planet. Today, our scientists and experts are tackling the most pressing challenges to achieve real-world impact. This Earth Day, with a special focus on renewable energy, join us in our commitment to realizing a just and sustainable future for our planet. Visit our Earth Day website for ideas, resources, and inspiration.
A Special Trip to Bangladesh
Lamont Research Professor Mike Steckler makes his 25th trip to Bangladesh, where a large and growing population lives in one of the most dynamic and sensitive environments on Earth, subject to multiple natural disasters and threatened by climate change.
Poets and Polders
Continuing on their journey, Lamont Research Professor Mike Steckler and his students visited the shrine and former home of Bangladeshi cultural icons, continued interviews, and boarded a boat to go to the embanked islands known as polders.
The Earth Is Getting Drier
Desertification is occurring in many parts of the world, including the western U.S., Brazil, most of Europe, Asia and central Africa. Is it too late to reverse it?
How Can We Help People Who Cannot Flee High Climate-Risk Zones?
Much research focuses on people fleeing climate risks and natural hazards. What about those who can't move?
Meet the Group Monitoring Oregon's Shrinking Glaciers
The Oregon Glaciers Institute just published a four-year report detailing their commitment to addressing glacier retreat—one of climate change's most infamous impacts.
Events
On April 9 12pm ET, join us for Volcanoes! with PhD student Ally Peccia and volcanologist Einat Lev, 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
On April 22 6-7pm ET, join us for a special Earth Day event, Shaping the Future of Clean Energy: Insights from the Climate School, highlighting the latest advancements and opportunities in the energy sector from our experts, moderated by Columbia Climate School dean Alexis Abramson. Learn More/RSVP
In our recent Public Lecture, All Rings Considered: The Life of a Tree-Ring Scientist, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory dendrochronologist Brendan Buckley shares tales from a career in the field as well as an overview of the exciting research conducted by our Tree Ring Laboratory, which will turn 50 in September 2025. Over that half-century, TRL-LDEO has been at the forefront of "dendroclimatological" studies, and our scientists have worked in every location on Earth that has trees—whether living now or at some point in the past. Watch the Recording
Education
Working with Youth to Explore Sustainable Planning Options
Rockland Planning Land Use with Students (RPLUS) is a collaborative project that works with high school students throughout Rockland County to introduce them to concepts of sustainable planning through a local lens. The program works annually with ~300 high school students in 10 high schools throughout the community to introduce planning concepts that address climate and sustainability issues. April 4th, 2025 is this year’s culminating symposium event where 120 high schoolers present their visions for planning. This represents the 20th symposium in this long-running, unique partnership with Lamont, Rockland County, local high schools, and an impressive roster of local representatives and other professionals in the community.
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!
Professional Learning workshops are for working professionals and adult learners who want to upskill and explore new topics to further job-related interests without the commitment of a degree program, developing an understanding of climate and sustainability challenges with our experts.
The spring 2025 workshop will be Decarbonization: Policies and Practices for Countries and Companies. Columbia Center for Sustainable Investment (CCSI) experts Martin Dietrich Brauch and Laura Garcia Cancino will discuss the opportunities and challenges of decarbonization, embracing different perspectives, from a global level to a country level to a company level. Learn More/Register
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 Apr 9 4-4:30pm ET, join us for Young Leaders in Action: Save Money, Reduce Emissions, ideal for students and educators grade 6 and up, undergraduates, graduate students, and the public. Columbia Climate School Pre-College Program alum Anna Panjwani will share about her commitment to empowering individuals to take advantage of the IRA's financial incentives, making going green financially appealing and accessible. RSVP today (FREE but registration required)!
And check out our YouTube archive of all past workshops.
Hudson River Field Station
Celebrate Our Earth with Us!
Lamont’s Field Station team will be celebrating Earth Day by participating in St. Thomas Aquinas College's family-friendly Earth Day Celebration on April 12 12-6pm, featuring organizations and community groups focused on protecting and learning from our beautiful Earth. Stop by our table to learn more about the Hudson River Estuary and check out local fish and crabs. Learn More
Lamont in the Media (Select Stories)
What to Know About Earthquakes Like the One that Hit Myanmar
AP
Climate Ready: Evidence in NYC Shows Rapid Glacier Melt Is Leading to Real-World Effects
ABC7 New York
X-Snow Project Fills Gap in East Coast Snow Data
NASA Earthdata
Less Mapped Than The Moon: Quest To Reveal The Seabed
AFP
Vikings Abandoned Greenland Centuries Ago in Face of Rising Seas, Says New Study
e-mc2
