My experience as a Science and Global Change Scholar helped in understanding how we, as students, can plan for resilience in a future of global change as I expanded my knowledge regarding climate change, learned how to work well in a team, and discovered how to craft the perfect argument.
My SGC experience has enhanced my understanding of a news-related item that I encountered outside of the SGC colloquium dealing specifically with global climate change. Towards the beginning of this past semester, my chemistry professor showed the class a copy of the Chemical and Engineering News that was released earlier that week. An article talked about how many airlines are wanting to reduce their emissions to be more sustainable. While reading this article, I remembered learning that airplanes produce large amounts of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that is very harmful to the Earth. Additionally my knowledge involving potential solutions to global climate change, including solar power and alternative fuel sources, helped me to better understand what the article was talking about. Also, the article spoke of airlines wanting to be carbon neutral, which means that it does not result in the net increase or decrease of carbon in the atmosphere. Overall, I think that I better understood this article because of what I learned in SGC.
The SGC colloquium has definitely been effective in enhancing my attitude and approach towards my major. As part of the SGC colloquium, the class was required to learn about the negative environmental impact humans have had and continue to have on the Earth. Within this topic of anthropogenic climate change, the issue of waste was discussed in colloquium. Humans produce a ton of waste, which contributes to climate change and disrupts the natural environment and wildlife. Plastic waste was specifically talked about in colloquium as the matter has become a huge problem in the last few decades. Not only are plastics created from fossil fuels and must burn additional fossil fuels to be made, but plastics are also responsible for polluting our oceans. Learning about this topic of plastic waste has helped to enhance my attitude and approach toward my major. I am a chemistry major and initially I thought the only way I could make a difference in the world was through the pharmaceutical and drug industry. However, I have realized that chemistry is actually very relevant and important when it comes to creating new technologies to help the environment. Right now, researchers in the chemistry field are trying to develop different polymers that will hopefully be much better for the environment than the current ones in the plastics we use right now. This really expands my view on how I can impact the world with my degree.
As a supporting course for SGC, I took organic chemistry (CHEM247). In my organic chemistry, we talked a lot about polymers, which make up plastic. We learned that every year, we make a huge amount of these polymers, which are not good for the Earth. This supports my thesis as it definitely taught me more about plastic, which is a huge problem when it comes to the health of the Earth. This class gave me more insight into what we should be focusing on when it comes to finding a solution to global change as the development of a biodegradable plastic would be a huge help. Another supporting course I took was principles of evolution (BSCI160). In this class, we talked a lot about biodiversity and why it is important. However, we learned that biodiversity has been decreasing over the past decades as humans continue to expand into the habitats of wild life. Particularly, we discussed how biodiversity was lower at the edges of forests than deep within the forest. Usually these edges are formed by roads or other human activity. This supports my thesis as I learned more about how humans are impacting the Earth and that we should be recognizing that we are at fault for these changes.
My learning was enhanced by interacting in and out of class with one or more fellow SGC Scholars. In class, working with other scholars allowed me to get a better understanding of the class material as sometimes students can explain a concept in a way that is more easily understood by their peers. For instance, I found that the search for solutions presentations were very easy to understand as students were able to convey the information in a way that made the most sense to other students. Additionally, I think that by working on the assignments with other scholars, we were able to come up with more ideas and end with better results. This was especially the case when it came to the in class project we did this past fall semester. My group worked really well as a team and we were able to build off of each other's ideas to come up with the best solution for our nation. Outside of class, my team of scholars were able to produce a really great presentation for our search for solutions project. I really enjoyed working as a team and I learned a lot about creating a good presentation from my team members. Also, I think that being in the living learning community aided in my learning as it connected me with other scholars, which was helpful when I had any questions or concerns about a piece of class material. For instance, my roommate is also in SGC and we often talked about class material and helped each other to understand difficult concepts. Overall, I learned a lot from my fellow SGC scholars.
I think I was able to contribute a fair amount to SGC. Unfortunately, I was not able to take part in a field trip this past semester. However, I was able to actively contribute to SGC through colloquium discussions and projects. In colloquium, I always participated in group discussions/assignments, even when the class was virtual. Aside from the small group assignments, I also made sure to be an active member in the presentations we had to give, such as the search for solutions presentation. I really wanted my group's presentation to be very informative and a good representation of work done by an SGC scholar. Thus, I always put a lot of time and work into my presentations and other assignments from SGC.
Being in scholars brought me in contact with a few concepts that challenged my previously held beliefs and opinions. Before SGC I knew that the global temperature was increasing by a small amount each year, but I did not understand how drastic the effect is. In SGC we learned that even an increase of a few degrees can have drastic effects on weather, arctic ice, the coral reefs, and marine life. Learning this really opened my eyes to how we are really affecting the Earth, even if the average temperature is only slightly increasing. Now, I believe that a small increase in global temperature can have drastic impacts on our Earth. Additionally, I used to believe that the only solutions to climate change were renewable energy sources. In SGC, we learned that although renewable energy sources are valuable solutions, there are also a plethora of other technologies that will help reduce climate change. The most interesting one I learned this past semester would have to be the artificial trees that can take in carbon from the atmosphere like natural trees. Now, I definitely believe that there are many solutions to climate change that we should be exploring.
I think my scholars experience will help me in the future as during my time in SGC, I really learned how to work well in a team. Group work was a huge part of SGC unlike many of my other courses. I think that it is very important to know how to work well as a team and I think that this skill will help me as an upperclassman here at the University of Maryland as well as in my professional career. Additionally, I think that learning about logical fallacies will help me in the future as I now know how to support my arguments with good evidence. It is really easy to fall into a lot of logical fallacies when developing an argument, however, because of SGC I am able to recognize these fallacies and avoid them. This ability will be helpful throughout the rest of my time at UMD and in my professional career. Overall SGC was a great experience that will have a lasting impact on me throughout the rest of my academic and professional life.