The Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) is a center within the Earth Institute at Columbia University. CIESIN works at the intersection of the social, natural, and information sciences, and specializes in on-line data and information management, spatial data integration and training, and interdisciplinary research related to human interactions in the environment.

Annual Message from the Director: CIESIN's Role in Practice

Clockwise from upper left, CIESIN staff and interns at different phases of the educational spectrum: lecturing; learning; presenting student research findings; and leading an internationally-hosted workshop.

A unique aspect of the Earth Institute at Columbia University is its commitment to engage directly in problem solving, namely the development and implementation of sustainable solutions to the many interlinked environmental and development challenges facing society. As a center within the Earth Institute, CIESIN has the opportunity to work at the interfaces between science and policy, basic and applied disciplines, and research and “practice.” When complex environmental and socioeconomic systems intersect, for example, we must often meld diverse sources and types of data into integrated data and information systems and products that meet the needs not only of researchers, but also of applied users and decision makers. And for these efforts to be effective and sustainable in the long run, we need to engage with such users on an ongoing basis to improve the utility of these systems and products and to incorporate new data, knowledge, and technology as they become available.

The Earth Institute has long recognized that its deep involvement in policy and practice needs to be reconciled with the academic traditions and standards of a major research University such as Columbia. With this in mind, the Earth Institute Faculty established a Practice Committee, led by Professor Edward Lloyd of the Columbia Law School, which has endeavored to address a range of important practice-related issues faced by faculty, staff, and students, and by centers like CIESIN. This committee, on which I continue to serve, has discovered that different fields—e.g., law, public health, engineering, architecture and urban planning, and the arts and sciences—often have quite different approaches to recognizing the value of practice and to ensuring that high standards of quality in practice are met.
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