Research Partners

Bringing together high-impact centers, institutes, and initiatives, we support a continuum of research, from basic discovery to societal solutions.

Research Units

Community garden in Altavista, Medellin, Colombia
Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict, and Complexity (AC4)

AC4 works to enable and support integrative research and practice on sustainable peace, constructive conflict engagement, and sustainable development.

Earth from space. Credit: NASA
Center for Climate Systems Research (CCSR)

CCSR performs cutting-edge research in the earth, climate, and sustainability sciences to lead efforts with diverse stakeholders to mitigate and adapt to a changing climate.

Heat map of high-water rescue calls in Houston TX during 2017’s Hurricane Harvey
Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN)

CIESIN specializes in data/information management, spatial data integration/training, and interdisciplinary research on human interactions in the environment.

Paraguay Itaipu
Center for Sustainable Development (CSD)

CSD helps countries and communities achieve sustainable development by translating the Sustainable Development Goals into meaningful policies and solutions.

Traffic in Nairobi
Center for Sustainable Urban Development (CSUD)

CUSD addresses critical urban sustainability, equity, and planning issues through a humanistic, multi-disciplinary, collaborative approach based on strategic systems thinking.

Citizen's Climate Lobby
Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions (CSAS)

CSAS is working to “connect the dots” from advancing basic climate science to promoting public awareness to advocating policy actions.

Oroville dam spillway in February 2017
Columbia Water Center (CWC)

CWC aims to design sustainable water management and development models that can be implemented on local, regional, and global levels.

The Earth Institute
The Earth Institute

The Earth Institute is a multi-disciplinary community working to address the complex issues facing the planet and its inhabitants, with a focus on the knowledge required to achieve sustainability.

Rice terraces. Credit: Jacquelyn Turner
International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI)

IRI enhances capability to anticipate and manage the impacts of climate to improve human welfare and the environment through applied research, education, and capacity building.

Fieldwork on Long Island, Bahamas with Billy D'Andrea, Blake Dyer, Roger Creel June 2019. Credit: Jacky Austermann
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO)

LDEO seeks fundamental knowledge about the origin, evolution, and future of the natural world.

Martin Stute and Edda Sif Arradotir of Reykjavik Energy in front of a piping system that pumps CO2 emissions underground at the Hellisheidi power plant. Credit: Kevin Krajick
Lenfest Center for Sustainable Energy (LCSE)

LCSE develops innovative technology to ensure a sufficient supply of environmentally sustainable energy for all humanity.

Wildfire destroyed homes in Yorba Linda, CA in 2008. Credit: Michael Mancino
National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP)

NCDP works to understand and improve the nation’s capacity to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters.

Fossil fuel peak ratio map
Quadracci Sustainable Engineering Lab

Using engineering to help address development issues, the lab utilizes software solutions to help make development planning smarter and to improve the delivery of critical services.

Wind farm
Research Program on Sustainability Policy and Management

The program’s research informs sustainability decision-making, helps overcome barriers, and hastens the adoption of supportive policy.

Affiliates and Consortia

Center for Earth Ethics
Center for Earth Ethics

The center envisions a world where value is measured according to the sustained well-being of all people and our planet.

US corn yields 2012
Center for Environmental Economics and Policy (CEEP)

CEEP researches the causes, consequences, and policies that can prevent and reverse environmental change to ensure sustainable development.

Land surface temperature in Los Angeles
Center for Resilient Cities and Landscapes (CRCL)

CRCL uses planning and design to help communities and ecosystems adapt to the pressures of urbanization, inequality, and climate uncertainty.

Center for Science and Society
Center for Science and Society

The center explores the intersection of science and society through innovative interdisciplinary methods.

Water splashing
Center for Sustainable Futures (CSF)

CSF envisions a regenerative world in which we achieve a balance between planet, people, and prosperity.

Row of women
Center for the Study of Social Difference (CSSD)

CSSD supports collaborative projects that address gender, race, sexuality, and other forms of inequality to foster ethical and progressive social change.

A large Tesla battery stores energy from the Hornsdale Wind Farm in Australia. Credit: David Clarke
Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP)

CGEP advances smart, actionable, and evidence-based energy and climate solutions through research, education, and dialogue.

A field of wheat at sunrise. Credit: Tim Hüfner/Unsplash
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI)

CCSI aligns investment with sustainable development to improve human well-being, reduce inequality, and operate within safe planetary boundaries.

Ionic flux graph
Columbia Electrochemical Energy Center (CEEC)

CEEC focuses on strategies to address energy storage and conversion using batteries, fuel cells, and electrolyzers in transformative ways.

LEAP community at the January 2023 Annual Meeting.
Learning the Earth with Artificial Intelligence and Physics (LEAP)

LEAP is an NSF Science and Technology Center (STC) that aims to revolutionize climate projections by integrating climate and data science through innovation, diversity, legacy, and impact.

Satellite image of fires and hurricanes across the U.S. on September 15, 2020. Credit: NASA Worldview, Earth Observing System Data and Information System
NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (NASA GISS)

A key objective of NASA GISS research is prediction of atmospheric and climate changes in the 21st century.

Renewable energy montage
Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

The center develops legal techniques to fight climate change, trains students and lawyers in their use, and provides resources on key topics in climate change law and regulation.

Earth Networks

Our Earth Networks provide a framework for interdisciplinary collaboration across Columbia University, promoting fresh approaches to research, education, and impact on themes related to climate, sustainability, and the future of planet Earth. Learn More