i m pa c t o n s u s ta i n a b i l i t y
S
ustainability is sometimes defined as the capacity to endure. In our last issue that featured faculty
research, we concentrated on the many ways that our professors are working in the field of health to
help the human body endure. This issue features many of our faculty who are working to help the
planet endure. Their efforts span the areas that are of concern to all—water, climate, and energy.
One of our alumni, Mike Massimino ’84, has had the opportunity to view Earth from a unique perspective.
As a NASA astronaut, and the first person to Twitter from outer space, he has shared his observations
with the world: “viewing the Earth is a study of contrasts, beautiful colors of the planet, thin blue line of
atmosphere, pure blackness of space.” Earth is truly beautiful when viewed from space, and we know that
its health and its future are in our hands.
Our School’s history is inextricably linked to our planet. Indeed, we were founded in 1864 as the Columbia
School of Mines. In the early years of our School, we, like others at that time, were more concerned about
what the planet could yield for us—precious gems, minerals, and fossil fuels.
But even before the current emphasis on the importance of sustainability in all its forms, the School’s first
dean realized that, for humans to endure, the resources upon which their lives depended also needed to
be of a quality that would support life. Charles Frederick Chandler worked to bring clean water into New
York City and instituted measures to keep the water supply potable.
In 1866, Chandler was approached by the Metropolitan Board of Health to investigate sanitary concerns
that impacted the health of New York City. He continued his work for the Board of Health, becoming
its first chemist, and, in 1873, he was appointed its president. In this capacity, he provided laws that
protected both the health of New Yorkers and the health of the environment in which they lived, promoting
laws and regulations that would curb the discharge of toxic gases and acids into sludge.
“From orbit: Viewing
the Earth is a study of
contrasts, beautiful
colors of the planet,
thin blue line of
atmosphere, pure
blackness of space”
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Photo courtesy of NASA
—NASA Astronaut Michael J. Massimino ’84,
in a Tweet May 19, 2009
During the entire time he was monitoring the health and environment of New Yorkers, Chandler was making his mark as dean of the Columbia School of Mines, creating and leading a distinguished faculty from
the School’s inception to 1897. Over the years, the School has been a leader in mining and metallurgy
research and education, including pioneering work in mineral beneficiation, chemical thermodynamics,
kinetics, and transport phenomena in mineral extraction and processing.
Today we recognize our obligation to help our planet endure, and that obligation has become part of the
mission of the School as we seek to educate socially responsible engineering and applied science leaders
whose work results in the betterment of the human condition, locally, nationally, and globally.
In the late 1990s, the School’s traditional programs in mining and mineral engineering were transformed
to include environmental concerns for land and water resources. The Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering resulted and, as such, its faculty became an integral part of the new University-wide
major initiative in Earth studies, the Columbia Earth Institute.
Today, faculty in many different departments are tackling sustainability as a research focus, each working
in his or her specialized area to help solve some of the most intractable problems that face our world
today. I hope you will enjoy reading about them and their research, and are proud of the great impact that
Columbia Engineering is making on the lives of many people around the world today.
Feniosky Peña-Mora
Dean
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