Elizabeth Dorokhina's Three Semester Review
The Topic:
Provide an example of a news-related item that you encountered outside of the SGC colloquium dealing specifically with global climate change that has struck your attention during the last three semesters. Indicate how (or whether) your SGC experience enhanced your understanding of it. A news-related item that I have encountered outside of SGC is that AI has a large negative impact on the environment. The materials used to create machinery are often scarce, difficult to acquire or harmful for the environment. Also, it uses a lot of water and the energy used to power AI is often from fossil fuels. My SGC experience enhanced my understanding of this issue because SGC has shown a lot of information about energy usage, especially the breakdown of what kind of energy sources are used in Maryland and the US as a whole. As we use more AI in our daily lives, it is also important to change where we acquire most of our energy to prioritize solar, wind and nuclear over non-renewable sources. Then, the use of AI could be less environmentally harmful, which would be helpful because we have also been able to use AI to track important climate changes and data. SGC has broadly given me the toolset to understand environmental issues–particularly the solutions and the greater scheme of the effects of climate change.
Indicate which topic or set of material in the SGC colloquium has been most effective in helping you choose a major, in connecting you to your major, or enhancing your attitude and approach toward your major. The set of material in the SGC colloquium that has been most effective in helping me feel sure in my choice for my major is primarily a small presentation that was a little different than what we usually discuss. I am planning to get a BA in Chemistry and English because I want to go to law school and eventually pursue a career in environmental law. Although the presentation on the intersection of science and law was later in the colloquium process, it did confirm that I was really interested in majors that created a mix of the humanities and sciences, and that laws and policies pertaining to the environment absolutely make a difference in our fight to preserve it and limit the harms of climate change. Also, a lot of things in chemistry can be kind of abstract, and environmental applications are a really cool way to see molecules in action. Climate change itself, for example, is the result of certain molecules trapping heat in the atmosphere, and seeing the molecules we discuss in organic chemistry be involved in a large process helped to put the information from my major into perspective. It took me a really long time to choose my major, but SGC helped me understand that I was committed to making science a part of it. As a chem major, it is also required for me to take some biology classes, and SGC helped to frame a lot of what we discussed in those classes and provide interesting background information on environmental science. The specific class is BSCI160, and we learned about habitat destruction and deforestation currently which was supported by a lot of information from scholars. Also, I took CHEM131 which was a scholars required supporting course and it really introduced me to the major and grew my love for chemistry.
My learning has improved and enhanced through my interactions with other SGC students because being surrounded by like minded people with similar interests sparked conversations about educational material. For example, last year I roomed with Kate and she was taking a really cool animal science class, which she told me a lot about which also taught me a lot about animals and their interactions with the environment. Being in close proximity to other students in SGC helped to create the community I was around, especially because you usually become friends with people because you are around them a lot. Then, attending colloquium together meant we were both gaining the same knowledge and could talk about it.
I think I have been an active participant in scholars to a large extent because I really tried to take advantage of the community and the resources available. I applied to an internship I found through the scholars newsletter, I participated in the NY field trip and several other excursions (and had a great time), I represent SGC on the Student Advisory Board for scholars, and I joined Lakeland Stars for a semester, which is also a part of scholars. I wish I had been more of an active participant or contributed more to SGC in class and colloquium, especially my first semester, but I am still really happy that I got the chance to be a part of the program. Furthermore, discuss to what degree (if any) did being in Scholars brought you in contact with people or concepts that challenged previous beliefs or opinions you had (either concerning the academic material of the program or other personal issues in your life). [Please note: a challenge is not necessarily a contradiction! Consider a "challenge" as any situation that caused you to examine or reflect on a belief or opinion that you already had.] How have these beliefs and opinions changed as a result of your experiences over your first three semesters?
I think that being in Scholars put me in contact with people or concepts that challenged previous beliefs to a small extent. Because Science and Global Change is inherently political and very clearly a program dedicated to spreading awareness about climate change as a legitimate threat, other people in my program held similar values and beliefs. By learning more about the climate crisis, I have become more set in my political beliefs about protecting the environment. But, my thoughts about pursuing a STEM education changed as a result of the scholars community because, with SGC being a STEM focused program, most of the people around me were studying STEM disciplines and changed my mind about how interesting it could be.
Scholars might inform my future in many ways. I think that scholars has really grown my interest in environmental science which will probably inform my courseload in the coming semesters. Also, scholars, especially the lesson on environmental law and all we have learned about environmental policy has influenced and informed my decision to pursue environmental law in the future. SGC has really emphasized and taught me a lot about the importance of protecting the environment and prioritizing the environment over “economic gain” especially because so much of our economy relies on the environment. SGC has provided me with a lot of background information that I plan to use as an adult and activist in the future. SGC also expanded my understanding of science as a whole and the skepticism involved in new discoveries and research. It has taught me to be skeptical and critical of the news and information told to me in the form of scientific articles but also just all news that isn’t reliable, which I'm sure will come in handy.