Andrew Revkin, Author at State of the Planet

Andrew Revkin is the founding director of the new Initiative on Communication and Sustainability at Columbia University's Earth Institute. There he is building programs, courses, tools and collaborations aimed at bridging gaps between science and society to cut climate risk and spread social and ecological resilience. Revkin has written on climate change for more than 30 years, reporting from the North Pole to the White House, the Amazon rain forest to the Vatican - mostly for The New York Times. He has won the top awards in science journalism multiple times and has written acclaimed books on the history of humanity’s relationship with weather, the changing Arctic, global warming and the assault on the Amazon rain forest, as well as three book chapters on science communication. His 1992 proposition that we’ve entered a “geological age of our own making” got him invited onto the Anthropocene Working Group, the expert team assessing evidence that Earth’s fate is being markedly reshaped by humans. The Golden-Globe-winning HBO film “The Burning Season” was based on Revkin’s biography of slain rain forest defender Chico Mendes. A lifelong musician, he was a frequent accompanist of Pete Seeger and is a performing songwriter. He lives in the Hudson River Valley.

Recent Posts

Tidal Communities Make Their Case for Shaping Resilient Coastal Futures

A recent conversation focused on three coastlines where Indigenous and Black communities are caught between rising seas and societal and development threats on land.

by |March 29, 2021

To Build Climate Progress on Time Scales That Matter, Biden Should be Biden

The path forward requires negotiation, compromise, and open lines of communication with Republicans in Congress and elsewhere who have made climate change a focus.

by |January 14, 2021

The Communication Climate After 2020: Stormy but Hopeful

A global community, including the Earth Institute’s Initiative on Communication and Sustainability, is working hard to make information and connectivity matter a little more each day.

by |December 31, 2020

Sustain What Webcast Invites Student and Faculty Takeovers

The webcast offers a platform for global conversations around sustainability and resilient human progress.

by |December 2, 2020
people wearing face masks

Letter from Bhopal: Facing COVID-19, Citizens Spread Masks, Food and Hope

On Monday at 9:00 a.m. EDT, join a live video conversation with people in India who are helping to sew masks for front-line workers and distribute food to those in need.

by |April 3, 2020
screengrab from ask a scientist conversation

Lessons from Skyping Scientists as the Coronavirus Pandemic Drives Learning Online

Online learning can be effective and engaging with practice, but the abruptness of the transition now has caught thousands of teachers and institutions off guard.

by |March 12, 2020
brainstorming session

Join the Earth Institute’s Climate and Sustainability Communications Network

The network, open to all members of the Columbia community, will explore communications solutions to the challenges of climate change and sustainability.

by |October 18, 2019
newspapers burned and waterlogged

Burning Headlines Kick off a Climate-Coverage Campaign

As part of the Covering Climate Now initiative, an art exhibit transforms climate-related newspaper pages to reflect what’s coming on a human-heated planet.

by |September 17, 2019