The Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) will distribute $1.24 million to 12 projects co-led by Cornell and EDF scientists for research addressing topics including strategies to protect ocean ecosystems, improve urban air quality and incentivize electric vehicle battery recycling.
Cornell and EDF scientists, economists and engineers have collaborated since Cornell Atkinson's founding 16 years ago. With a shared research-to-impact mission, their joint work has protected baby food, supported agricultural financing, empowered young scientists, aided mangrove restoration efforts, among many projects.
"EDF is a leader in environmental advocacy, strategy, implementation, and policy engagement," said Cindy Qiao, strategic partnerships relationship manager for Cornell Atkinson. "And Cornell's role is to provide sound and solid science to empower EDF in that work."
This year, Qiao said, Cornell Atkinson and EDF have restructured their awards process to support three project tracks: research; impact; and "fast track" awards for time-sensitive policy engagement or defense-of-science opportunities such as congressional hearings.
"We are excited that we have expanded the types of grants awarded this year, including the new fast track grants that will enable us to rapidly provide targeted expertise for policy and other advocacy efforts. This collaboration takes advantage of the strengths of both our institutions for the greatest impact on the ground," said Doria Gordon, lead senior scientist with EDF.
The joint research program is funded by Cornell Atkinson and EDF, with support from the David and Patricia Atkinson Foundation.
Here are five of the 12 projects funded this year:
Electric vehicle battery recycling
Spent electric vehicle batteries pose significant environmental risks, and they contain valuable minerals that could be reused. The European Union and China have developed frameworks to require battery recycling, which enables recovery and reuse of critical minerals like lithium, cobalt and nickel while minimizing pollution from hazardous PFAS chemicals.
In the U.S., spent batteries are still largely managed under general hazardous waste regulations. This project will develop engineering and policy systems for the U.S. to trace batteries throughout their lifecycle and enable material recovery.
Cornell: Charlle Sy, professor of practice in systems engineering, and H. Oliver Gao, Howard Simpson Professor of Engineering, both in Cornell Duffield Engineering.
EDF: Maria Doa, senior director of chemicals policy, and Abhinand Krishnashankar, manager of economics and policy.
Improving urban air quality
Urban communities experience air-pollution hotspots that can vary dramatically from one block to the next, depending on building geometry, traffic routes, industrial activities and wildfire smoke. This project will deploy physics-informed AI to model wind movement and graphics processing simulations to model street-scale airflow and pollution transport in West Oakland, California.
EDF will guide the work toward practical use through its Air Tracker and Healthy Communities programs. If successful, this project will give communities and local governments a practical way to identify and address the most likely sources of neighborhood-scale pollution.
Cornell: Jian-Xun Wang, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering in Cornell Duffield Engineering.
EDF: Tammy M. Thompson, senior air quality scientist.
Tracking values-based municipal food procurement
Municipalities are increasingly adopting values-based food procurement policies to leverage public spending for public goods, such as purchasing from local farms or buying sustainable products. However, the data needed to assess market response, forecast costs and ensure fairness is contained in a chaotic array of inconsistent spreadsheets and handwritten notes.
This project will build a free automated smart tool that uses AI to read and standardize millions of records. EDF's partnerships with agencies such as the New York City Mayor's Office of Food Policy will help ensure impactful deployment.
Cornell: Houtian (Frank) Ge, senior research associate in the SC Johnson College of Business.
EDF: Daniel Kaiser, director of agriculture innovation, climate-smart agriculture.
Protecting oceans
Mesopelagic organisms (found at around 200 to 1,000 meters in depth) play a critical role in ocean ecosystems by linking surface and deep-ocean food webs, but this zone is neglected in most conservation frameworks. This oversight is increasingly problematic as emerging industrial interests, such as mesopelagic fisheries and deep-sea mining, increase pressure on these ecosystems.
This project will leverage a global high-resolution marine species distribution model to identify priority areas for mesopelagic protection, and develop guidance for incorporating mesopelagic ecosystems into international and national biodiversity conservation commitments.
Cornell: Gary Tabor, B.S. '81, professor of practice in natural resources and the environment in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS).
EDF: Julia Mason, social-ecological systems scientist.
Promoting environmental justice
Communities that struggle with the greatest climate, health and environmental burdens also face the greatest barriers to involvement in decision-making about interventions that could ease those burdens. The result is that those most impacted by both the climate crisis and by environmental interventions are often left out of solutions.
This project will synthesize research on inclusive and equitable technology, policy and market-based approaches to climate and energy transitions. The team will translate key findings into practical criteria and actions for organizations like EDF to advance effective, inclusive and lasting climate interventions in U.S. and global contexts.
Cornell: Reem Hajjar, associate professor of natural resources and the environment (CALS).
EDF: Allison Cobb, associate vice president for equity and justice.
For a complete list of this year's awarded projects, visit the Cornell Atkinson website.
Krisy Gashler is a writer for Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability.
