HELPING TO EXCITE STUDENTS AND TEACHERS ABOUT CUTTING-EDGE CLIMATE CHANGE RESEARCH

Most secondary school students and teachers are aware that global climates are changing and will significantly impact future societies. But how they learn can have major impacts on future actions. Readings in a book, watching commercial videos, or listening to podcasts all play a role in informing the future decisions makers now seated in classrooms and their instructors. Scientists often learn much by listening to their peers (as conference such as this demonstrate). The Earth2Class program at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University provide similar opportunities for students and teachers to learn about cutting-edge research through monthly or bimonthly zoom and/or hybrid talks from researchers. In recent years, presentations have varied from using dendrochronology as a climate proxy ("Tree-ring narratives of environmental change from the arctic to the tropics") to becoming familiar with remote sensing technologies ("Eyes in the Sky: using tools to explore the changes of the polar regions") to research that incorporates questions raised by Alaskan village Elders ("a virtual ride of discovery: exploring Earth's climate using drones"/"Ikaaqvik Sikukun: bridging the scientific and indigenous communities to study sea ice change in Arctic Alaska"), and other topics.

In a time period when it has been difficult for teachers to invite scientists into the classroom as guests, E2C serves as an effective strategy to connect researchers and the learning community, filling the desire of highly motivated students to discover what investigators do and find, and keeping teachers up-to-date about current discoveries in their field. Those who participate in all or most weekend programs develop a sense of community that has inspired college and career choices, summer and academic year internships, and other evidence of scientific excitement.