Nature-based solutions (NbS), such as mangrove and marsh restoration for coastal resilience and green spaces to reduce urban heat island effects, play a vital role in climate change adaptation and mitigation. They can be low-cost options with multiple co-benefits that bring environmental and socioeconomic advantages to a range of stakeholders, including women and low-income and marginalized groups with high vulnerability. At the same time, substantial impacts of high global warming levels on biodiversity can limit the effectiveness of NbS. The best available science, combined with a robust evaluation framework, could help identify and test the most effective solutions tailored to specific local and climatic contexts. Implementation of NbS around the world is growing rapidly with major global funders. For example, the Green Climate Fund has invested over $1.4 billion in more than 100 projects focusing on ecosystems.
Many researchers at the Columbia Climate School and the wider University work on a range of NbS areas. The Nature-based Solutions (NbS) Earth Network, Columbia Climate School’s newest addition to the Earth Networks cohort, aims to bring together faculty and staff working on NbS across Columbia to form a coordinated, interdisciplinary network. By centralizing this work, the Network elevates its visibility and impact in response to the growing importance of NbS in global climate change discourse. The Network serves as a cross-cutting institutional hub that convenes faculty, researchers, and practitioners from across the university to coordinate, catalyze, and amplify work on NbS and biodiversity. By enabling interdisciplinary collaboration and strategic partnerships, the network supports the integration of NbS across The Climate School’s five Focus Areas and provides a university-wide foundation for advancing research, practice, and education on NbS globally.
Members of the NbS Earth Network bring a diverse range of expertise and research interests.
Current areas of work include the following:
Wetland Ecosystems
Wetland ecosystems are important for both biodiversity and climate adaptation and mitigation. Research on the human impact of local New York City wetlands is ongoing through the measurement of sediments and carbon storage. Additionally, research has supported coastal management of wetlands across the Mesoamerican Reef (MAR) region through integrating climate projections into planning and risk assessments to guide resilience activities.
Urban Nature-based Solutions
This focus area assesses the ways that urban NbS, such as reforestation, urban parks, street trees, sustainable urban drainage systems, and community gardens, can enhance the capacity of cities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance resilience to climate stresses. An ongoing financial analysis of funded urban NbS projects of four major global climate donors is also being conducted.
Tropical Forests
Network research addresses tropical deforestation, forest degradation, and their cascading impacts on ecosystems, hydrology, and climate. Research explores how land use and climate change are reshaping tropical landscapes, most notably in the Brazilian Amazon and Cerrado biomes, and translates this information for operational use by decision-makers.
Technology and Biodiversity
Members are exploring how technology, such as artificial intelligence, can support and advance Nature-based Solutions and biodiversity conservation. Current work includes development of a concept note on how digital-twin technology may overcome barriers for coastal wetland conservation and management in New York City.
Columbia Centers and Departments Represented in Network
| Name | Title | |
| Subramaniam, Ajit | Lamont Research Professor | ajit@ldeo.columbia.edu |
| Wannebo, Antoinette | Technical Manager | avw3@columbia.edu |
| Chadwick, Austin | Paros Assistant Professor of Geohazards and Climate Mitigation in the Faculty of Climate | ac5415@columbia.edu |
| Dinh, Dannie | Program Manager | dbd2109@columbia.edu |
| Peteet, Dorothy | Adjunct Professor | peteet@ldeo.columbia.edu |
| Cook, Elizabeth | Assistant Professor in Environmental Science | ecook@barnard.edu |
| Amini, Erfan | Postdoctoral Rsch Scientist | ea3246@columbia.edu |
| Yetman, Greg | Associate Director for Geospatial Applications, Senior Staff Associate III | gyetman@ciesin.columbia.edu |
| Lovecchio, Johanna | Director, Impact Programs | jrl2205@columbia.edu |
| Hickman, Jonathan | Research Scientist | jeh2179@columbia.edu |
| Chandran, Kartik | Professor, Earth & Environmental Engineering | kc2288@columbia.edu |
| Orff, Kate | Prof of Arch, Planning & Preservation and of Climate; Dir of the MS Arch & Urban Design Prog in the Faculty of Arch Planning & Preservation & of Climate | ko2111@columbia.edu |
| Douglass, Kristina | Associate Professor of Climate | kmd2242@columbia.edu |
| Fornabaio, Lara | Associate Research Scholar; Lead Researcher | lf2804@columbia.edu |
| Pistolesi, Linda | Senior Geographic Information Specialist (Senior Staff Associate) | lpistole@ciesin.columbia.edu |
| Sachs, Lisa | Associate Professor of Professional Practice in the Faculty of Climate; Director, CCSI | les2116@columbia.edu |
| Brenner, Logan | Adjunct Associate Research Scientist | ldb2139@columbia.edu |
| Madajewicz, Malgosia | Associate Research Scientist | mm1174@columbia.edu |
| Macedo, Marcia | Assistant Professor of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology and of Climate | mnm2115@columbia.edu |
| Palmer, Matthew | Senior Lecturer | mp2434@columbia.edu |
| Walter, Matthew | Senior Staff Associate I/HIS Programmer | msw2198@columbia.edu |
| Chasin, Noah | Adjunct Associate Professor of Art History and Archeology | nbc3@columbia.edu |
| Horton, Radley | Professor of Climate; Provost's Senior Faculty Teaching Scholar | rh142@columbia.edu |
| Webb, Romany | Research Scholar | rwebb@law.columbia.edu |
| DeFries, Ruth | University Professor; Denning Family Professor of Sustainable Development in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology; Chief Academic Officer for the Climate School; Co-Founding Dean Emerita of the Climate School | rd2402@columbia.edu |
| Pawlowski, Thaddeus | Research Scholar | t.pawlowski@columbia.edu |
| Xia, Yushu | Lamont Assistant Research Professor | yx2885@columbia.edu |
| Zhou, Zoey Yiyuan | Title: Assistant Professor of Climate | yz2851@columbia.edu |
