At CCNY, research and scholarship advance every day on issues of crucial importance to people throughout New York City and across the world. In this series hosted by City College President Vincent Boudreau, meet faculty, hear firsthand about their research and, in conversation with outside experts, discover how that research is forging new solutions to real-world issues like poverty, homelessness, mental health challenges, affordable housing and disparities in health care.

-Description via From City to the World’s Website.

Recent episodes have featured just some of the exciting sustainability work and research happening on our CCNY campus. See details and embedded podcast episodes below:

Sustainability in Action: Training Experts, Decarbonizing the Grid and Mobilizing Campus and Community Partners, May 21st, 2025

What does it take to both talk the talk and walk the walk toward a cleaner energy future for a college and its local community? In this episode of From City to the World, learn how sustainability pedagogy and praxis are alive, well and often working hand in hand at The City College of New York (CCNY). President Vincent Boudreau hosts a conversation with CCNY Sustainability Specialist Jake Weinberger and Katherine Gloede Silverman, assistant director of the Sustainability in the Urban Environment program. Hear about their work, where it intersects and ways it engages with community members, environmental advocates and government initiatives. Additionally, explore how a deep commitment to sustainability — from solar-powered EV chargers for campus and community to energy-efficient heat pumps and climate-adaptive infrastructure — is driving decarbonization across this historic Harlem campus.

Host: CCNY President Vincent Boudreau
Guests: Jake Weinberger, CCNY Sustainability Specialist, Department of Facilities Management; Katherine Gloede Silverman, Assistant Director of the Sustainability in the Urban Environment master’s and advanced certificate programs.

Innovation Creates Sustainable Solutions for Older Buildings and Brings Education, Engagement and Employment to Urban Communities, April 30th, 2025

Have you ever heard of a virtual power plant? Learn about innovatively integrating energy resources to benefit a community of participants while also contributing sustainably to the electrical grid. Michael Bobker of The City College of New York (CCNY) and its CUNY Building Performance Lab joins Clayton Banks, CEO and cofounder of Silicon Harlem, in conversation with CCNY President Vincent Boudreau, host of From City to the World. In this episode dedicated to Climate Change Awareness Month, these Harlem-based experts discuss the roles of education, innovation and community engagement in meeting essential needs such as infrastructure and resilient, healthier and more equitable cityscapes.

Host: CCNY President Vincent Boudreau
Guests: Michael Bobker, CCNY Earth System Science and Environmental Engineering and Founding Director of CUNY Building Performance Lab; Clayton Banks, CEO and Cofounder, Silicon Harlem

STEM Is for Everyone: How Two NYC Women in Science Are Increasing Representation and Inclusion Through Early Exposure and Advanced Research, March 26th, 2025

Transformative women-led opportunities in the sciences in New York are a model for opening doors for future scientists from all communities. Hear about the careers of a pioneering materials scientist and a science educator and learn how each is incorporating novel interdisciplinary approaches in programs driving inclusion and success in STEM, from the middle-school level to PhDs and post-docs. As From City to the World honors Women’s History Month, President Vincent Boudreau of The City College of New York hosts a conversation with CCNY Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Maria Tamargo and Science in the City, Inc., Founder and CEO Kyesha Ruffin, CCNY 2013.

Host: CCNY President Vincent Boudreau
Host: Maria Tamargo, Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Director, CREST Center for Interface Design and Engineered Assembly of Low-Dimensional Systems (IDEALS), CCNY; Kyesha Ruffin, Founder and CEO, Science in the City, Inc.

Probing Climate Change: From NYC to Global Impacts at CCNY’s UN University Hub, November 26th, 2024

Urban heat islands and flooding are closely studied in the living lab of New York City and beyond by experts at The City College of New York (CCNY). Now this knowledge base is going global to benefit a world of communities at risk, researchers, educators, and policy makers. On this episode of From City to the World, learn how the United Nations University (UNU) has established its first United States hub at CCNY.

The new UNU hub — Remote-Sensing and Sustainable Innovations for Resilient Urban Systems (R-SIRUS) — draws on CCNY’s long-standing leadership in remote sensing research (the use of satellites and sensors to collect climate data) and its application to address climate change, especially in under-resourced communities. Hear CCNY President Vincent Boudreau explore the hub and its goals with experts Reza Khanbilvardi and Kaveh Madani.

Host: CCNY President Vincent Boudreau
Guests: Reza Khanbilvardi, PhD, NOAA Chair and Professor, CCNY’s Grove School of Engineering, and Co-Executive Director, UNU Hub at CCNY; Kaveh Madani, PhD, Research Professor, CUNY-CREST Institute at CCNY, and Director, UNU Institute for Water, Environment and Health

Meeting of Minds and Mobilization: WEACT.org for Environmental Justice and NISAR, A NASA/India Collaboration, April 24th, 2024

From City to the World looks at climate change from the skies to the streets: In this episode, hosted by CCNY President Vincent Boudreau, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Prof. Kyle C. McDonald outlines his collaboration with NASA through research and the new NISAR satellite mission’s revolutionary capabilities. Since NISAR findings on climate effects will be public, how can this data be harnessed by organizations advocating on the ground for sound policy and environmental justice? Peggy Shepard, a national leader in training, mobilizing and inspiring urban communities that often suffer disproportionately from climate impacts, details the mission and achievements of WEACT.org for Environmental Justice, which she leads. Learn about Shepard’s work in Harlem and other under-resourced New York City communities as well as in the policy arena, through Shepard’s national advisory roles and WEACT’s office in Washington, D.C.

Host: CCNY President Vincent Boudreau
Guests: Kyle C. McDonald, Terry Elkes Professor of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, CCNY; Peggy Shepard, Cofounder and Executive Director, WE ACT for Environmental Justice