Stories from Medill Comer Scholars at 2025 Comer Climate Conference

What ancient sediments at the bottom of the ocean can teach us about climate change
Scientists use ocean drilling to understand Earth’s past, but the future is uncertain.
By Rachel Duckett

Climate scientist Zander Roman reads the rocks
Hunting rocks reveals clues about the Little Ice Age, the cause of infamous famines from the 1300s to the mid-1800s. The research helps scientists understand natural climate shifts of the past and better predict how current human activities are accelerating climate change.
By Kimberly Henrickson

Inside Climate Justice Now: A New Blueprint for Collaborative Climate Action – Book Review
Searching for climate justice solutions from multiple disciplines and perspectives.
By Jack Austin

Scientists decode Earth’s climate past from the glaciers across hemispheres
In the steep, ice-carved valleys of southwestern Norway, two researchers from the University of Maine are studying ancient glaciers to answer modern questions: How did climate change take hold in the past and how fast is it accelerating now due to human activities?
By Sheryl Zhang

Listening to Antarctica: Seismic Thunder Beneath Thwaites Glacier Reveal Clues to Potential Collapse
Seismic waves released by earthquakes beneath the bed of the Thwaites Glacier aims to show how fast the glacier could disappear, contributing some 10 feet to global sea level rise.
By Jack Austin

Oceanographer Lynne Talley sounds alarm on rising seas
At the annual Comer Climate Conference, scientists presented research on receding ice sheets, ocean circulation and climate shifts linked to more extreme weather.
By Jack Austin and Kimberly Henrickson

From Wall Street to climate modeling: MIT scientist applies market economics and math to predict accelerating climate change
Vince Cooper uses climate sensitivity metrics to study how the Earth responded to past changes. This helps scientists understand the current acceleration of climate change.
By Emma Conkle and Kimberly Henrickson

Scientists weigh AI’s promise and challenges at the Comer Climate Conference
How artificial intelligence impacted research in Antarctica.
By Sheryl Zhang

How drilling into Norwegian boulders reveals the story of climate change
Tricia Hall Collins' research could change the way paleoclimatologists think about critical warming and cooling periods in the Earth's past, which could give scientists clues about the Earth's current period of warming.
By Emma Conkle

Teens Take On Climate brainstorms proposals for STEM Next challenge
TTOC connects high school students to opportunities, education and employment through community activities addressing climate change.
By Emma Henry, Video by Rachel Duckett

Northwestern University synthetic biology researchers give farmers new tools for more sustainable agriculture
Nearly 20 to 40% of global crop production is lost each year to pests and disease, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. An easy-to-use synthetic biology sensor tested in Kenya can help farmers detect disease and take action before visible damage appears.
By Sheryl Zhang

Former White House climate adviser promotes climate optimism to Northwestern community
Ali Zaidi, former White House national climate adviser to President Joe Biden, stressed solutions in his lecture “Reimagining Climate Policy at the Intersection of Technology, Law and Economics” presented at Northwestern University.