Aldo Cortesi

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Dickson D. Despommier. Dickson was one of the Directors of Parasites Without Borders, but most importantly, he was our friend. Here’s a little bit about Dickson. Dr. Dickson Despommier spent 38 years as a professor of microbiology and public health in environmental health sciences at Columbia University, where he won the Best Teacher Award six times. In 2003, he received the American Medical Student Association’s National Golden Apple Award for Teaching Excellence. His work on vertical farms was featured on such top national media as the BBC, French national television, CNN, The Colbert Report, and The Tonight Show, as well as full-length articles in The New York Times, Times magazine, Scientific American, and The Washington Post. He spoke at the TED Conference, PopTech, and the World Science Festival, and was invited by the governments of China, India, Mexico, Jordan, Brazil, Canada, and South Korea to work on their environmental problems. He was invited to speak at numerous national and international professional annual meetings as a keynote speaker, and at universities, including Harvard and MIT. He was one of the visionaries featured at the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago. The world lost a great mentor, friend, and scientist on February 7th, 2025.

Thank you to @nytimes for this great piece on our friend and co-founder, Dickson Despommier. Dickson Despommier, Who Championed Farming in Skyscrapers, Dies at 84. A microbiologist, he popularized “vertical farming” — raising crops in tall buildings — to remediate climate change and feed more people. nytimes.com/2025/02/18/scien…