CIESIN conducts a range of basic and applied research. CIESIN’s basic research aims at better understanding and predicting the behavior of socio-ecological systems and developing data to support research by others. CIESIN staff have served as principal investigators and senior research personnel on research projects supported by a range of funders (see Programs & Projects) in areas such as environmental security, climate migration, natural hazards, indicator development from remote sensing data, experimental uses of device location and nighttime lights data, and population-environment interactions.
CIESIN’s research has resulted in peer-reviewed publications and a range of reports.
Prioritizing involuntary immobility in climate policy and disaster planning
Suitability of NASA’s Black Marble daily nighttime lights for population studies at varying spatial and temporal scales.
Martinez, J. F., K. MacManus, E.C. Stokes, Z. Wang, and A. de Sherbinin. 2023. Suitability of NASA’s Black Marble daily nighttime lights for population studies at varying spatial and temporal scales. Remote Sensing 15(10): 2611. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15102611.
High-resolution population estimation using household survey data and building footprints.
Boo, G., E. Darin, D.R. Leasure, C.A. Dooley, H.R. Chamberlain, A.N. Lázár, K. Tschirhart et al. 2022. High-resolution population estimation using household survey data and building footprints. Nature Communication 13:1330. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-29094-x.
A comparison of social vulnerability indices specific to flooding in Ecuador: principal component analysis (PCA) and expert knowledge
Bucherie, A., C. Hultquist, S.B. Adamo, C. Neely, F. Ayala, J. Bazo, and A. Kruczkiewicz. A comparison of social vulnerability indices specific to flooding in Ecuador: principal component analysis (PCA) and expert knowledge. 2022. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 73: 102897. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2022.102897.
Migration theory in climate mobility research
de Sherbinin, A., K. Grace, S. McDermid, K. Van der Geest, M. Puma, and A. Bell. 2022. Migration theory in climate mobility research, Section Climate Mobility (4). https://doi.org/10.3389/fclim.2022.882343.
A Solar Energy desalination analysis tool, Sedat, with data and models for selecting technologies and regions
Fthenakis, V., G. Yetman, Z. Zhang, et al. 2022. A Solar Energy desalination analysis tool, Sedat, with data and models for selecting technologies and regions. Scientific Data 9 (233). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01331-4.
Towards an improved large-scale gridded population dataset: A pan-European study on the integration of 3D settlement data into population modelling
Palacios-Lopez, D., T. Esch, K. MacManus, M. Marconcini, A. Sorichetta, G. Yetman, J. Zeidler, S. Dech, A.J. Tatem and P. Reinartz. 2022. Towards an improved large-scale gridded population dataset: A pan-European study on the integration of 3D settlement data into population modelling. Remote Sensing 14(2): 325. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14020325.
Global community guidelines for documenting, sharing, and reusing quality information of individual digital datasets.
Peng, G., C. Lacagnina, R.R. Downs, A. Ganske, H.K. Ramapdriyan, I. Ivánová, L.Wyborn et al. 2022. Global community guidelines for documenting, sharing, and reusing quality information of individual digital datasets. Data Science Journal 21(1): 8. https://doi.org/10.5334/dsj-2022-008.
The agency of cities as climate migration destinations.
Rosengärtner , S.K., A. De Sherbinin, and R. Stojanov. 2022. In Special Issue, International Migration. The agency of cities as climate migration destinations. https://doi.org/10.1111/imig.13024.
Examining the distribution of green roofs in New York City through a lens of social, ecological, and technological filters
Treglia, M. L., T. McPhearson, E. W. Sanderson, G. Yetman and E. Nobel Maxwell. 2022. Examining the distribution of green roofs in New York City through a lens of social, ecological, and technological filters. Ecology and Society, 27(3):20. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-13303-270320
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Clear filtersCIESIN’s applied research efforts are aligned with Columbia’s Fourth Purpose, which leverages the university’s scholarly knowledge to create societal and global impact, in close partnership with organizations outside academia. The goal of this research is to advance human welfare and environmental sustainability by applying the university’s distinct intellectual capacities to practical problem solving and policy development, thereby bringing about meaningful changes. Examples include helping to identify locations for solar desalination, policy-relevant research on climate-related migration, and scientifically robust environmental indicator development for policy audiences. Clients have included USAID, The World Bank, and state agencies.