In the article, Ensia mentions Cornell University as "leading the way in [the] new [sustainability] frontier" with Carla Gomes as head of the Institute for Computational Sustainability. Among the major topics covered, the article talks about the Institute's use of machine learning to help the environment with bird species conservation, specifically by using modern technology to sort through massive amounts of data gathered in an app called eBird. The research gathered through this process has been used to influence policy changes to help protect the environment.
The full article can be found at: http://ensia.com/features/three-ways-artificial-intelligence-is-helping-to-save-the-world/