Home - Cloned

An Interdisciplinary Investigation

Columbia has launched the Year of Water, an interdisciplinary investigation of water in all of its social, political, cultural, economic, and environmental complexities.

 

Woman in blue dress with curly brown hair, wearing brightly colored bracelets
Watch This Video With Carol Becker, Dean of the School of the Arts, Explaining the Year of Water

More Events

Upcoming Events

A composite photo of the Earth inside a drop of water
No-Boundaries International Art Exhibit

August 2019 – January 2020

Five hundred selected artworks from children from all over the world will be shown in galleries in Beijing, Paris, Nairobi, New York, and Rio de Janeiro. “A Drop of Water” encourages exploration of the relationship between people and water through art. 

A large group of people process down a pathway holding aloft large, lanterns shaped like animals and flowers illuminated against the dark sky.
Morningside Lights: Island

Saturday, September 21
8:00 pm

The beloved neighborhood tradition returns for its eighth consecutive year. Starting September 14, Miller Theatre opens its doors for a week of free lantern-building workshops, culminating in a magical, illuminated procession through Morningside Park.

A collage of images of the ocean, glaciers, and groups of people talking
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory Open House

Saturday, October 5
10:00 am – 4:00 pm

Whether you’re an aspiring young scientist or a long-time science enthusiast, you’re sure to enjoy Lamont-Doherty’s Open House. Tour a lab, participate in hands-on earth science demonstrations, and learn from world-renowned researchers about their latest discoveries.

Open House is free and open to the public, with a $5 suggested donation.

A man in a dark suit and tie sits on a stool, looking downward slightly and smiling into the camera.
Miller Theatre Composer Portrait: Vijay Iyer

Thursday, October 24
8:00 pm

A MacArthur Fellow, a Doris Duke Performing Artist, and DownBeat Magazine’s Artist of the Year four times, Iyer is creating a modern realization of the practice of American music through his wide-ranging work. Brooklyn-based ensemble The Knights make their Miller debut in this Portrait, along with the New York premiere of his concerto Trouble, written for violinist Jennifer Koh.

See all events.

Explore our Research

Child drinking from a tap
Water and Human Health
A cone-shaped floating solar still desalinates seawater.
New Technologies
Ship on the ocean
Environmental Law
Dry cracking earth
Water Scarcity
In a mountain gorge, a dam/bridge holds back an ice-blue river. Copyright ciboulette; image courtesy of goodfreephotos.com
Water Infrastructure
A large river of melt water runs through the Venable Ice Shelf in West Antartica. Photo courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech/UC Irvine
Climate Change
See All Research

Centers on Water Research

Dozens of research centers and departments across Columbia are engaged in interdisciplinary research on water. Here are a few of them.

globe icon
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory

Seeking fundamental knowledge about the origin, evolution, and future of the natural world

snowflake icon
International Research Institute for Climate and Society

Improving the resilience of water systems worldwide

tint icon
Columbia Water Center

Our mission is to creatively tackle water challenges of a rapidly changing world where water and climate interact with food, energy, ecosystems, and urbanization.

envira icon
Kartik Chandran Lab

We develop technologies that provide clean water and sanitation to populations worldwide, while concurrently transforming wastewater into resources, including water, energy, and fertilizer.

tree icon
Gentine Lab

Investigating continental water and carbon cycles using big data

cloud icon
Environmental Tracer Group

Research on water movement in natural systems, oceanography, rivers and estuaries, and paleoclimatology