Can you protect a rainforest by empowering those who live there?
Brazilian researchers are on the front lines of protecting the Amazon rainforest, one of the world’s most vital ecosystems. But their work is often isolated, underfunded, and disconnected from global support.
The Rio Climate Hub, launched by Columbia Global Center Rio, is bringing Brazilian scientists into conversation with Columbia faculty and global climate thinkers, fostering partnerships on land use, energy transitions, and equity. Through scholarships and educational programs, the hub unites Brazilians on global climate challenges.
Does smarter tech mean safer cities?
Floods are not new to Rio de Janeiro, but the speed and intensity of today’s disasters are. For years, emergency alerts struggled to reach residents of low-income communities where the risk is often highest. Columbia Professor Suzana Camargo saw an opportunity not just to improve the tech, but to rethink who shapes it. "Making accurate predictions, measurements, and simulations of how a climate event might occur is a complex scientific problem,” Camargo said.
Partnering with the Rio Climate Hub, city officials, local students, and community leaders, Camargo is building an AI-driven emergency tool through WhatsApp — the city’s most widely used app.
Still curious?
See how these projects connect to our global work. Read the full story.
