Lamont and the EI host a wide collection of regular seminars and events. Follow the below links to our various seminar, colloquia and events pages. The most recent news and events related to our group are also provided in the regularly updated list of links on this page.
News
The Columbia Climate School’s Office of Undergraduate Programs, previously known as the Undergraduate Program in Sustainable Development (SDEV), is undergoing changes that reflect the Climate School’s growing multidisciplinary and collaborative approach to sustainability.
The new Office of Undergraduate Programs will encompass all undergraduate programs administered through the Climate School, which now include a new major in Climate and Sustainability—jointly offered with the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences—and a minor in Sustainable Development. These expanded offerings…
The Columbia Climate School announces the launch of a new dual degree program with the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP). Commencing in September 2025, students enrolled in this dual degree program will receive both a Master of Science in Climate and a Master of Science in Architecture and Urban Design upon successful completion of their studies.
Addressing the climate crisis requires leaders who can synthesize knowledge and skills across different fields, and bring those perspectives together to create interdisciplinary climate solutions…
Just in time for New York City’s Climate Week, the Columbia Climate School is proud to announce a new master’s degree program: the M.S. in Climate. This is a two-year, 50-credit degree that will prepare young and mid-career professionals and future academics to be climate leaders at community, state, national and international levels. The first cohort will begin classes in fall 2025.
The new degree program expands the scope of what the Climate School can offer students, while allowing them to explore important new opportunities within the climate sector.
“The M.S. in Climate…
We hosted our second annual lab potluck (thanks for organizing Aandishah!) with an expanded group of members from the Smerdon and Seager labs. It was a nice chance to welcome the new semester and Shane with good food and some excellent frisbee skills! There was even a cameo appearance from Aandishah's kitten. We are already hungry for next year's event!
The Smerdon Climate Lab is excited to welcome Shane Russett as a new graduate student in the group! Shane joined Columbia in fall 2024 as a first-year graduate student in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences. He has interests in paleoclimate, hydroclimate variability and human history and will be working in collaboration with Rhiannon Stephens in the Columbia History Department.
Shane earned a B.A. in Atmospheric Science from the University of California, Berkeley in 2022. His senior honors thesis, advised by Whendee Silver, investigated soil carbon stocks…
Group members Aandishah and Ibuki are attending the 2024 CESM Tutorial at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado this week. But it hasn't been all tutorializing! They are also getting the chance to enjoy a little outdoor time and even had the chance to connect with Ari Varuolo-Clarke, a recent group alumna. It's nice to see them all in the same grid cell!
On May 6, 2024, while Columbia’s Morningside Campus was still closed due to student protests, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences held its annual awards ceremony to honor our treasured students and alumni. In his opening remarks, GSAS Dean Carlos Alonso noted, “this ceremony is a celebration of the very elements about Columbia that will allow us to regain our equilibrium when the current dismal situation abates: superlative teaching and mentoring, world-class research, and the training of graduates who will change the world through their contributions.”
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The winners of the Faculty…
Known for its glowing swaths of yellow, orange and red, the U.S. Drought Monitorhas warned farmers, residents and officials throughout the nation of impending water scarcity every week since 1999.
Backed by data on soil moisture, temperature, snow cover, meltwater runoff, reservoir levels and more, the map has become an essential instrument for determining the outlook of water supplies, declaring drought emergencies and deciding where and when government aid should be distributed, among other things.
But this critical diagnostic tool is also struggling to keep pace with climate…
Reconstructions of summer temperatures across western North America spanning the past 500 years suggest that concurrent heat and drought conditions, known as “hot drought,” have been unprecedented in frequency and severity over the past century. The findings are derived from tree-ring chronologies that show how changing temperatures relate to changes in soil moisture. They add to growing evidence that human-influenced warming has exacerbated climate extremes across the region.
The study, by researchers at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and other institutions, …
Third graders at Public School 103 in the north Bronx sat on a rug last month while their teacher, Kristy Neumeister, led a book discussion.
The book, “Rain School,” is about children who live in a rural region of Chad, a country in central Africa. Every year, their school must be rebuilt because storms wash it away.
“And what’s causing all these rains and storms and floods?” asked Ms. Neumeister.
“Carbon,” said Aiden, a serious-looking 8-year-old.
From a climate perspective, 2024 is beginning in uncharted territory. Temperatures last year broke records not by small intervals but by big leaps; 2023 was the hottest year ever recorded, and each month in the second half of the year was the hottest—the hottest June, the hottest July, all the way through to December. July was in fact the hottest month in recorded history. Already, experts predict that 2024 is likely to be even hotter. But these heat records, although important milestones, won’t hold their title for long. “Getting too excited about any given year…
Check out all of our lab presentations at AGU this year. They are listed below in chronological order. Come by and say hi!
PP32B-03 The Increasing Prevalence of Hot Drought Across Western North America Since the 16th Century
Karen King, Edward R Cook, Kevin J Anchukaitis, Benjamin Cook, Jason E Smerdon, Richard Seager, Grant L. Harley and Benjamin Spei
3022 - West (Level 3, West, MC)
Wednesday, 13 December 2023: 13:42 - 13:52
PP33E-1569 Simultaneous megadroughts in the southwestern regions of North America and South America in last-millennium climate model simulations
Anson…