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J-Term program takes on global warming
November 09, 2007
Ever since Al Gore’s film “An Inconvenient Truth” hit the airwaves, the issue of global climate change has been a hot topic in America.
This J-Term, the topic will be the focus of the Climate Change Ambassador program. Created by Claire Todd, visiting assistant professor of geosciences and environmental studies, and Tamara Power-Drutis, a Sustainability Fellow, students in the program will explore the most recent data on climate change and devise creative ways to educate the PLU community.
Students of all majors are encouraged to join the program and no previous science experience is necessary. Todd hopes students from a wide range of backgrounds will participate. Applications can be found at the Sustainability Committee’s Web site. Completed applications should be emailed to Todd at by Friday, Nov. 30.
Todd will hold an initial meeting with program participants during the first week of December. During J-Term, the group will meet Wednesday evenings. The first task will be to review evidence for recent climate change that has been collected by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) over the past 20 years.
In 1988, the United Nations and World Meteorological Society created the IPCC, an international group of scientists who have collected and evaluated data on climate change from around the globe. The group’s most recent report was released in 2007. In it, the scientists agree that global warming is unmistakable, and they are 90 percent confident that the majority of the warming is due to human actions, Todd explained.
Unlike the scientists, much of the American public isn’t quite convinced.
“The Climate Change Ambassadors will address the fact that most of the public has a misunderstanding about climate change,” Todd said. “PLU takes pride in its global perspective and in its commitment to sustainability and service. This program is about PLU acting on those priorities and taking the lead in combating the misconceptions about climate change.
“These students will represent the first group of leaders, who have reviewed and understand the data, and who are prepared to communicate that evidence to others.”
Todd will work with the students to understand the primary evidence, recommendations and predictions collected by the IPCC. They will look at recent developments on the topic and examine why scientists are so sure humans are impacting the global climate system. Students will also talk with their friends, family and others to determine common misconceptions on the topic.
“These are misconceptions that we all have, so it’s not a witch hunt,” Todd said. “By finding the missing links, we’re identifying how to bridge that gap.”
The final step of the group’s J-Term work will be to devise creative ways to communicate the correct information and combat those misunderstandings. At the end of the term, they’ll present what they learned to Todd’s J-Term course, a class for first years that examines climate change over millions of years. The ambassadors will also be a part of PLU’s first Focus the Nation event on Jan. 31.
Focus the Nation is a national effort working to bring the issues of climate change into the spotlight. On Jan. 31, schools across the United States will host seminars, speakers and teach-ins on the topic.
Unfortunately, Jan. 31 marks the final exam day of J-Term at PLU, so the university won’t be hosting any large-scale event, Todd said. However, the ambassadors will unveil a “physical embodiment” of the things they learned during the month on that day.
The final project is still up in the air, but Todd muses it could be a mural, a sculpture, a video or a question-and-answer board. Regardless, it will be a permanent fixture that continues to inform the campus community, she said. Depending on the interests of the ambassadors, outreach to the greater community is also possible.
Climate Change Ambassadors will also be invited to participate in Earth Day activities and in environmentally-themed classes during the spring semester.
“The program will educate the next generation of leaders,” Todd said. “Whatever our vocation is, we are all affected by this.”
For more information, contact Todd at toddce@plu.edu or ext. 5163.
University Communications staff writer Megan Haley compiled this report. Comments, questions, ideas? Please contact her at ext. 8691 or at haleymk@plu.edu. Photo illustration by University Photographer Jordan Hartman.
Students of all majors are encouraged to join the program and no previous science experience is necessary. Todd hopes students from a wide range of backgrounds will participate. Applications can be found at the Sustainability Committee’s Web site. Completed applications should be emailed to Todd at by Friday, Nov. 30.
Todd will hold an initial meeting with program participants during the first week of December. During J-Term, the group will meet Wednesday evenings. The first task will be to review evidence for recent climate change that has been collected by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) over the past 20 years.
In 1988, the United Nations and World Meteorological Society created the IPCC, an international group of scientists who have collected and evaluated data on climate change from around the globe. The group’s most recent report was released in 2007. In it, the scientists agree that global warming is unmistakable, and they are 90 percent confident that the majority of the warming is due to human actions, Todd explained.
Unlike the scientists, much of the American public isn’t quite convinced.
“The Climate Change Ambassadors will address the fact that most of the public has a misunderstanding about climate change,” Todd said. “PLU takes pride in its global perspective and in its commitment to sustainability and service. This program is about PLU acting on those priorities and taking the lead in combating the misconceptions about climate change.
“These students will represent the first group of leaders, who have reviewed and understand the data, and who are prepared to communicate that evidence to others.”
Todd will work with the students to understand the primary evidence, recommendations and predictions collected by the IPCC. They will look at recent developments on the topic and examine why scientists are so sure humans are impacting the global climate system. Students will also talk with their friends, family and others to determine common misconceptions on the topic.
“These are misconceptions that we all have, so it’s not a witch hunt,” Todd said. “By finding the missing links, we’re identifying how to bridge that gap.”
The final step of the group’s J-Term work will be to devise creative ways to communicate the correct information and combat those misunderstandings. At the end of the term, they’ll present what they learned to Todd’s J-Term course, a class for first years that examines climate change over millions of years. The ambassadors will also be a part of PLU’s first Focus the Nation event on Jan. 31.
Focus the Nation is a national effort working to bring the issues of climate change into the spotlight. On Jan. 31, schools across the United States will host seminars, speakers and teach-ins on the topic.
Unfortunately, Jan. 31 marks the final exam day of J-Term at PLU, so the university won’t be hosting any large-scale event, Todd said. However, the ambassadors will unveil a “physical embodiment” of the things they learned during the month on that day.
The final project is still up in the air, but Todd muses it could be a mural, a sculpture, a video or a question-and-answer board. Regardless, it will be a permanent fixture that continues to inform the campus community, she said. Depending on the interests of the ambassadors, outreach to the greater community is also possible.
Climate Change Ambassadors will also be invited to participate in Earth Day activities and in environmentally-themed classes during the spring semester.
“The program will educate the next generation of leaders,” Todd said. “Whatever our vocation is, we are all affected by this.”
For more information, contact Todd at toddce@plu.edu or ext. 5163.
University Communications staff writer Megan Haley compiled this report. Comments, questions, ideas? Please contact her at ext. 8691 or at haleymk@plu.edu. Photo illustration by University Photographer Jordan Hartman.