This week, Columbia Climate School announced the seven interdisciplinary research teams to receive grants through its 2025 Seed Funding Program. The selected projects are exploratory, mission-aligned initiatives with the goal of advancing the school’s Action Collaboratives and sustaining long-term impact. The awards range from $1,000 to $7,000.
“We are thrilled to support these teams as they pursue bold ideas and collaborative research to address some of the most urgent challenges of our time,” said Janice Savage, assistant dean for research at the Columbia Climate School. “This year’s projects reflect the School’s commitment to support transformative science, foster innovation and strengthen connections across our research community.”
Read more about the projects below.
Examining the Impact of Land Management on Ecosystem Services in The Hudson Valley Region
PI: Yushu Xia, Lamont Assistant Research Professor, Biology and Paleo Environment, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory | Co-PI: Jiaming Duan
Action Collaboratives: Built Environment, Disasters
This project aims to improve land management in the Hudson Valley by developing a data-driven modeling system tailored to the region’s diverse landscapes. The team plans to integrate local field data, surveys, remote sensing and environmental data to create a modeling framework specifically suited for the Hudson Valley. The project will deepen Columbia’s partnerships with local organizations and provide valuable insights to better support U.S. farmers, ranchers and land managers.
Living on a Landscape of Trauma: Investigating Communal Responses to Social and Environmental Changes on The West African Coast
PI: Kristina Douglass, Associate Professor of Climate, Columbia Climate School | Co-PI: Abiola Ibirogba
Action Collaboratives: Built Environment, Disasters.
This research project will integrate data across the historical and earth sciences to model how marginalized communities in the peripheries of these events adapt and survive. Specifically, they propose an inquiry into migrant coastal communities that emerged on the West African coast during the Atlantic period (the last 500 years of human history) to investigate settlement and mobility strategies, resource-use patterns and human decision-making. This research will help investigate the historical context in which mass migrations and ongoing demographic shifts emerged and provide novel data for patterns of island colonization across the West African coast.
Urban Sustainability: International Case Studies
PI: Anyi Wang, Associate Research Scholar, Research Program on Sustainability Policy and Management, Columbia Climate School
Action Collaboratives: Food, Energy, Water, Built Environment, Disasters
In an urban context, sustainability implicates meeting the needs of the current urban system without compromising on the needs of future generations within (and outside of) that system. This research seeks to evaluate and analyze six global cities on a set of five sustainability metrics domains: 1) Economic Development; 2) Social Welfare & Livelihood; 3) Environmental Resources; 4) Emissions and Consumptions; and 5) Environmental Management. By analyzing and comparing these cities, this project will contribute to the knowledge base necessary for creating more sustainable urban environments worldwide.
A Pilot Study Using Existing Fiber Optic Lines to Record NYC Hum: Towards Improving Hazard Assessments and Smart City Applications
PI: Andrew J. Lloyd, Lamont Assistant Research Professor, Seismology, Geology and Tectonophysics, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory | Co-PIs: Felix Waldhauser, Folarin Kolawole
Action Collaboratives: Disasters, Built Environment
This project will conduct a distributed acoustic sensing pilot study using a dark fiber cable running from the Manhattanville Campus to the Morningside Campus, which crosses the 125th Street fault both along Broadway and Amsterdam. Recorded data will be analyzed to identify earthquake and anthropogenic sources, evaluate spatial and temporal changes in noise, and image shallow subsurface seismic structure. Through this work, the team aims to image the subsurface structure of the 125th Street fault and explore the potential for “smart city” applications.
Exploratory Sampling and (U–Th)/He Thermochronology of the Garlock Fault, Southern California
PI: Stephen Cox, Lamont Assistant Research Professor, Geochemistry, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
Action Collaboratives: Disasters, Built Environment
The Garlock Fault is a key part of the tectonic regime of southern California. In the state, it is second only to the San Andreas Fault in length, and it poses a significant seismic hazard to several densely populated areas. This project aims to use multiple advanced geochemical dating techniques to refine the tectonic history of the fault and related structures. The ultimate aim of this work is to improve hazard models in a region that has significant exposure to major earthquakes.
Cactus Adaptation and Knowledge Exchange (CAKE)
PI: Zain Alabweh, Staff Associate II, National Center for Disaster Preparedness
Action Collaborative: Food
The project explores the potential of expanding cactus cultivation in Jordan by focusing on the edible cactus pads, known as cladodes, which are widely used in Mexico. By learning from Mexican experts, farmers and researchers experienced in growing and processing cactus, the project aims to bring valuable knowledge on the use of cactus cladode back to Jordan. The goal is to assess how these techniques could be adapted locally to improve food security, nutrition and economic opportunities. The project will explore using cactus cladodes as food, animal feed and other commercial uses.
Inclusive Climate Mitigation and Adaptation: The Case Study of Commuter Vans in New York City
PI: Jacqueline Klopp, Director and Research Scholar, Center for Sustainable Urban Development
Action Collaboratives: Energy, Built Environment
Vehicle electrification efforts have more recently extended to shared mobility systems like public and school buses and, in New York City, commuter (“dollar”) vans that serve lower-income people and communities. While studies that explore the implementation and effectiveness of public transport and school bus electrification are now emerging, these studies have not extended to the unique commuter vans in New York City, which may also offer broader lessons to other parts of the world. This research focuses on this gap and opportunity using a strong community engagement and co-production approach.
