Mitigating and adapting to climate change requires research to limit negative impact, inform decisions and build resiliency. At Queen’s University, researchers are working to advance efforts in climate action and imagine low carbon futures with a focus on societal issues, environmental science, and present and future solutions. The goal of this website is to provide information about climate research at Queen’s and highlight our leaders in the fields of society, science and solutions. At Queen’s, we value interdisciplinary collaborations as a way to enhance research about climate change and its impacts.
Our researchers are committed to advancing climate action.
Read their stories.
The threat of thaw
Élise Devoie (Civil Engineering) investigates permafrost thaw – the loss of areas where the ground soil, sediment, or rocks are at or below zero degrees Celsius for two or more consecutive years. With higher global temperatures, the frozen water in the soil thaws, impacting both the environment and the communities that live on these lands.
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Partnership for a sustainable economy
Queen's Smith School of Business is home to the Institute for Sustainable Finance (ISF), the first-ever multi-disciplinary and collaborative hub in Canada that brings together academia, the private sector, and government with the singular focus of increasing Canada’s sustainable finance capacity.
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Using carbon dioxide to build a green future
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is critical to how we live our lives, but it is also one of the world’s main pollutants. For decades, both researchers and climate activists have been warning about the damage it can cause to the planet. Chemical engineering researcher Cao Thang Dinh is attempting to turn CO2 into sustainable fuels and chemicals.
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Our lakes tell a story
The study of paleolimnology – that is, investigating the history of ecosystems through aquatic sediments – helps us understand the difference between natural and human changes to the environment. John Smol (Biology) researches changes in lakes and how they affect fish populations and alter the ecology of these environments.
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Advancing research from lab to market
How can we connect knowledge built in academia to people that need knowledge-based solutions for real-world challenges? In a word: innovation. Praveen Jain (Electrical and Computer Engineering) works on how to improve solar energy technology and achieve the broader goal of a low-carbon future.
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Institutional and public support for climate policies
Climate scientists are in consensus over the urgent need for action on climate change, but the public are not as convinced. Cherie Metcalf (Law) aims to shed light on how our institutions can best be harnessed to enable the implementation of effective climate change policies, with broad and sustainable public support.
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How to reduce concrete’s carbon footprint
Reinforced concrete infrastructure accounts for almost 10 per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions – far ahead of the two per cent of carbon dioxide produced by the airline industry. Queen’s civil engineering experts Neil Hoult and Josh Woods are part of an international collaboration that aims to make the concrete industry more sustainable.
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