Lamont-Doherty is a unique research enterprise, bringing together courageous, entrepreneurial thinkers dedicated to bold exploration and discoveries that illuminate our understanding of Earth’s processes and the myriad ways our planet is changing as our climate warms.
Since its founding in 1949, Lamont has been a leader in the Earth sciences, and is now the scientific research heart of the Columbia Climate School founded in 2020. We are a dynamic community of 500 scientists, students, and staff, with nearly 300 PhD-level researchers, and 80-90 graduate students involved in research.
Our scientists study the planet from its deepest interior to the outer reaches of its atmosphere, on every continent and in every ocean, providing a rational basis for the difficult choices facing humanity.
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By sharing their day-to-day experiences and deep knowledge of the local environment, fishermen and residents of the Long Island Sound provide crucial information for researchers studying coastal ecosystems health.

Researchers at Columbia Climate School discuss the benefits and challenges of working with carbon from ocean and coastal ecosystems.

Using sophisticated equipment, David Kohlstedt has recreated the pressure, temperature and chemical conditions in the Earth’s mantle, which humans cannot observe directly. His findings have laid the basis for understanding many of the processes that drive the planet’s dynamics.
Lamont researchers are in the field studying the dynamics of the planet on every continent and every ocean. Journalists may join and cover expeditions when possible. Learn more about this essential fieldwork.