Kartik Chandran, an environmental engineer at Columbia, will discuss some of his urban wastewater treatment projects at a panel discussion Friday following the screening of a new film about Rio de Janeiro’s Guanabara Bay.

“It was so much more impactful to see and experience in-person what I had learned about in the classroom. The graphs and formulas we used were more meaningful when we had collected the data ourselves. And it was extremely interesting to learn about the issues facing the specific area that we were living in.”

Now is the time to apply by the next rolling admissions deadline for the Earth Institute Center for Environmental Sustainability’s Summer Ecosystem Experiences for Undergraduates study abroad program.

In 2005, Brazil was losing more forest each year than any other country. Today, Brazil has reduced deforestation in the Amazon by 70 percent. Seventeen countries across four continents have also shown progress in reducing tropical deforestation. But there is still a long way to go.

Rosario Costa-Cabral and her brothers harvest hundreds of fruits, oils and wood products from the stream-laced forest of the Amazon River delta. But the climate here is changing: Tides rise higher, and seasonal floods are growing worse.

As population grows and demand for food and products increase, so does our demand for water. But in the face of growing pressure on our water resources from depletion, pollution and climate change, we need to make more of what we have.

CERC is now accepting applications for the Summer Ecosystem Experiences for Undergraduates (SEE-U) field site program at Brazil. This five-week-long, 6-credit program runs from May 26 to June 30, 2012. No pre-requisite coursework is necessary and students of all majors can apply.

Summer 2012 applications for the Student Ecosystem Experiences for Undergraduate program are now being accepted. Undergraduate students of all majors can apply for the opportunity to conduct field work and study unique ecosystems abroad.

Achieving sustainable water sustainability in Brazil’s semi-arid northeast will involve more than just building pipes, pumps and water towers: it will require significant changes in the ways water is monitored, distributed and used throughout the region.

After spending two days back in the big city of Fortaleza learning about the finer points of water management in the state of Ceará, I’ve returned to the rural municipality of Milhã, ground zero for the Columbia Water Center’s project to improve water access in Brazil’s semi-arid sertão region. Our group is now just three:… read more