Climate Change Initiatives

Gary Comer Abrupt Climate Change Fellowship

In 2001, Gary Comer and the crew of his yacht Turmoil successfully sailed the Northwest Passage, the sea route through the Arctic Ocean connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Historically, the passage was a treacherous ice-ridden journey that once turned back early explorers, but Turmoil made it through with relative ease.

Upon his return, Comer became interested in climate change and in 2004, established the Gary Comer Abrupt Climate Change Fellowship. The Fellowship supports leading scientists studying the causes and consequences of abrupt changes in climate by funding post-docs, graduate students and technicians. The program also seeds special abrupt climate change field work and projects requiring fast-track funding. In addition, CSEF hosts an annual conference for leaders in abrupt climate change research.

The Gary C. Comer Geochemistry Building

The Gary C. Comer Geochemistry Building at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, opened in 2004. The 63,000-square-foot structure was awarded LEED Silver Status in 2010. The state-of-the-art laboratories are home to world-class scientists whose research focuses on the Earth and its environment.

Global Research Technologies

CSEF supports Global Research Technologies (GRT), a research and development company dedicated to the commercialization of technology for the capture of carbon dioxide directly from ambient air. GRT offers efficient and economic solutions to CO² emissions management and global climate change.