This event will convene climate scientists, technologists, policymakers, and humanities and societal experts to examine one of the defining intersections of our era: the role of artificial intelligence in understanding, communicating, and responding to climate change. We will explore how AI reshapes our relationship to climate data, risk, equity, and collective action as well as the impact—ethical and environmental—of the growth of data centers. The event is not merely an academic event but a catalyst, designed to forge lasting ties within Columbia's research community and with industry partners and the City of New York.
Welcoming Remarks:
Barbara Faedda (Interim Director, Italian Academy; Columbia University)
Organizer:
Marco Tedesco (Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia; Columbia Business School; NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies)
Check back soon for updated starting time, complete program, and registration link.
ABOUT THE PARTICIPANTS
Marco Tedesco is a Lamont Research Professor at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University. He is also affiliated with the Data Science Institute and has been the Resident Scientist at the Columbia Business School for the past two years. He is a fellow of the Explorers Club and a member of the New York City Panel on Climate Change. Dr. Tedesco received his bachelors and PhD in Italy, from the University of Naples and the Italian National Research Council. He then spent five years as a postdoc and research scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. He moved to The City College of New York in 2008 as an Assistant Professor, and he was promoted to Associate Professor in 2012. During his time at CCNY, he founded and directed the Cryosphere Processes Laboratory and was a rotating Program Manager at the National Science Foundation from 2013 to 2015. In January 2016, he joined Columbia University. Dr. Tedesco’s research focuses on the dynamics of seasonal snowpack, ice sheet surface properties, high latitude fieldwork, dendrochronology, global climate change and its implications for the economy, real estate, climate justice, and artificial intelligence. Dr. Tedesco led more than 10 expeditions to Greenland and to Antarctica, along with fieldwork in many other places, including Iceland, Northern US, Canada, the Italian Alps, and more. He is the editor of the book Remote Sensing of the Cryosphere, published by Wiley in 2015. He is the author of the book The Hidden Life of Ice, originally published in 2018. This book has been translated into seven languages and was selected by the Washington Post and by National Geographic Traveler as one of the best 10 books of the year. In 2025, he founded the Laboratory on AI, Climate and Society at Columbia.
