Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability

05/14/2026

As David Lodge retires as director of the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability on May 22, we celebrate his extraordinary contributions to sustainability science and practice at Cornell University 🎉

Since joining Cornell in 2016, David helped shape Cornell Atkinson into a hub for science-driven collaboration — expanding support for faculty, students, and postdoctoral researchers while strengthening partnerships that connect research with real-world impact. Under his leadership, Cornell Atkinson grew its network of collaborators across academia, NGOs, industry, and government to advance work on climate risk, food systems, energy transitions, and One Health.

Throughout his career, David has been guided by a belief that research should not sit on a shelf. From his early work studying invasive species in freshwater ecosystems to groundbreaking advances in eDNA monitoring, his research has helped inform policy, improve environmental management, and protect ecosystems at scale.

Equally important has been his ability to bring people together across disciplines, institutions, and perspectives in pursuit of solutions that benefit people and the planet — in his own research and in leading Cornell Atkinson.

We are deeply grateful for David’s leadership, mentorship, and enduring commitment to sustainability science for the public good.

Congratulations on your retirement, and thank you, David!

📌 Read more about David’s career and impact:

David Lodge, ecologist and director of the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability, will retire May 22, 2026.

04/24/2026

Cornell University students are helping tackle one of the more complex challenges in climate science: understanding methane emissions from waterbodies and mangrove ecosystems.

Through a collaboration brought together by the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability, students worked with Cornell researchers to design a low-cost, portable device to measure methane emissions.

Then, the device was deployed in mangrove ecosystems in Colombia with partners at Environmental Defense Fund. Working alongside local community partners in Punta Soldado, this effort is expanding access to critical data needed to better understand these ecosystems and support long-term restoration and climate resilience.

This is what it looks like to connect student innovation with real-world impact—where hands-on learning, cross-sector partnerships, and community collaboration come together to advance solutions.

🎥 Watch the video below to learn more.
📌 And read more about the research: https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2026/04/student-built-methane-sensor-aids-mangrove-restoration-efforts

A big thank you to our collaborators: faculty and students in Cornell Engineering, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University, Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Coastal Solutions Fellows Program| Environmental Defense Fund | Cornell Research & Innovation | and the community of Punta Soldado, Colombia 🇨🇴🤝

04/16/2026

Nutrients recovered from animal and human waste could drastically reduce synthetic fertilizer use in the U.S., according to a new College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University study that takes into account implementation challenges like processing and transport.

In the study, published April 15 in Nature Sustainability, researchers found that animal and human waste in the U.S. could theoretically meet 102% of nitrogen and 50% of phosphorus needs for the nation’s agriculture, a value of more than $5.7 billion annually.

But they also identified a major hurdle: a frequent mismatch between the location of the waste – often in areas densely populated with people or livestock – and agricultural regions with the highest fertilizer needs.

Still, by mapping and analyzing the sources of waste and of agricultural need, the research team found that large percentages of recoverable nutrients – 37% of nitrogen and 46% of phosphorus – can be used locally, and more than half of the surplus nutrients can be redistributed to nearby regions with low economic and environmental costs.

The research provides a blueprint for harnessing the vast, untapped potential of animal and human waste to reduce the U.S.’s reliance on synthetic fertilizers, which are energy-intensive to produce, harmful to the environment and often made overseas.

Funding for the study came from the National Science Foundation and the USDA, with seed funding from the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability.

03/18/2026

We are thrilled to announce Emily Bernhardt, Ph.D. ‘01 as the next Francis J. DiSalvo Director of the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability, effective September 1!

Emily is a freshwater ecologist and biogeochemist – a scientist who studies how chemical elements and energy cycle through ecosystems. Her research aims to document the extent to which the structure and function of aquatic ecosystems is being altered by land use change, global change and chemical pollution, and examines the efficacy of efforts to protect and restore streams and wetlands.

Emily joins us from Duke University, where she is James B. Duke Professor of Biogeochemistry. She has chaired the Department of Biology for six years, and has been a key contributor to Duke’s Climate Commitment.

She received her Ph.D. from Cornell University in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Emily is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the Ecological Society of America, the Society for Freshwater Science and the American Geophysical Union (AGU). She will hold a joint academic appointment in the new Ashley School of Global Development and the Environment in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University.

Welcome back to Cornell, Emily! 🎉
📌 Read more: https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2026/03/ecologist-biogeochemist-emily-bernhardt-lead-cornell-atkinson

03/12/2026

Cornell Giving Day is HERE! 🎉
Show your support for Cornell University with a gift to the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability.

Today, your gift *no matter the size* fuels our mission to address the planet’s most urgent climate and sustainability challenges through student and faculty research.

🌳 Give today and your support goes further: https://givingday.cornell.edu/organizations/cornell-atkinson-center-for-sustainability

03/11/2026

Financing the future of U.S. agriculture 🌾
Farmers today face growing risks—from climate change and extreme weather to volatile markets and rising costs. Meeting these challenges will require stronger connections between research, finance, and the agricultural sector.

At Cornell Atkinson, we are working with partners across academia, industry, and the nonprofit sector to help develop financial tools that support resilient farming. For example:
🔴 Together with Environmental Defense Fund and the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research, we’re supporting research at land-grant universities focused on financing and insurance solutions that help farmers adopt practices that strengthen soil health and climate resilience.
🔴 In parallel, a leadership initiative with Field to Market: The Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture is bringing together professionals from agriculture and finance to build partnerships and strategies that advance sustainable agriculture across the United States.

Read the full story: 📌 https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2026/03/cornell-atkinson-financing-future-agriculture

Cornell Research Cornell Dyson College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University Cornell SC Johnson College of Business

03/06/2026

Save the date, Cornellians! 🎉

Cornell Giving Day is March 12! Together, we can support student and faculty research tackling urgent climate and sustainability challenges and help Cornell University continue to do the greatest good. Mark your calendars and let’s make a difference together! 🗓️

02/12/2026

We’re pleased to announce the awardees of the 2026 Cornell Atkinson + The Nature Conservancy collaborative research awards. Together researchers will advance solutions for biodiversity, resilient coasts, flood risk management and climate-smart agriculture.

For 13 years, the Cornell Atkinson-TNC partnership has supported applied, policy-relevant research designed to inform decisions and drive measurable environmental impact. We look forward to seeing that impact continue to grow through this collaborative research.

📌 Read more about the awardees: https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2026/02/grants-fund-oyster-restoration-cattlevoltaics

Cornell Research College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University Cornell Engineering Cornell Dyson Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Five new projects from the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability and The Nature Conservancy seek to protect pollinators, restore oyster habitats, manage flood risk and support “cattlevoltaics.”

02/11/2026

🚀 New public tool to track progress in Direct Air Capture (DAC) industry

The Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability, in collaboration with RMI and the Direct Air Capture Coalition, is pleased to launch the Direct Air Capture Database at Cornell University, a new dashboard that tracks the advancement of DAC technologies: http://atkinson.cornell.edu/cdr

Built using milestones from RMI’s Applied Innovation Roadmap for CDR (2023), this tool helps clarify where the field stands, what methods and companies are involved, current deployments, and where more innovation is needed to speed near-term deployment.

This database is designed for:
🔎 Startups positioning their technology
⚙️Industry leaders assessing readiness and gaps
📊 Investors and partners looking for opportunities or signals of technical progress

By making development milestones more visible, the dashboard helps the DAC ecosystem see where momentum is building, and where collaboration could accelerate impact. Stay tuned this summer as the dashboard continues to expand.

Cornell University College of Arts and Sciences | Cornell Research

01/06/2026

Atkinson Hall, looking quite picturesque. ❄

12/19/2025

Environmental photographer and filmmaker James Balog has spent over four decades documenting humanity’s connection with nature — and the ways our actions reshape Earth’s climate and landscapes.

In his recent lecture at Cornell, part of the Climate Impact Series hosted by The 2030 Project and Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability, in partnership with the A.D. White Professors-at-Large Program, Balog shared the stories behind his striking visuals and explored the delicate balance between earth, air, fire, water, and the tectonic forces of humanity.