My experience in SGC has helped in my understanding of global change by allowing me to have a deeper understanding of the evidence, causes, and implications associated with it. Through the weekly discussions, activities, and excursions, I have been able to immerse myself in a multitude of different plans and perspectives aimed to help create a more resilient planet among societies around the world. In this 3 semester review I will be delving into my experience with the program and how it has shaped me in ways that I have applied outside of the program.
A news related item that I came across outside of the SGC colloquium that struck my interest was about the 2023 Lahaina Wildfires in Maui. For my Urban Sustainability class, our assignment throughout the entire semester was to pick a city and do research on it to learn about its climate resiliency through planning. My group's city was Maui and we learned about the devastating wildfires that tore through the western region. News reports highlighted how a combination of prolonged drought, record-high temperatures, and strong winds created extremely dangerous fire conditions. What struck me most was how climate scientists explained that Hawaii’s fire risk has been increasing for years as part of a broader pattern tied to global climate change, including hotter summers, shifting rainfall patterns, and the spread of flammable invasive grasses. The human aspect of the disaster was also powerful: the loss of life, the displacement of thousands of residents, and the cultural devastation in a town with deep Native Hawaiian history. Seeing these stories made climate change feel less abstract and far more personal and immediate. My SGC experience allowed me to understand more clearly the causes of the wildfire as well get a more personal perspective into the true damage and recovery process needed to overcome this. A clear example of a failure in critical thinking appeared during the aftermath of the 2023 Maui wildfires, when many social media users shared and believed false claims about the cause of the disaster without checking evidence. According to a BBC News article, some posts suggested that the fires were ignited by a “directed energy weapon” or other secret technologies, and these wildly implausible theories spread widely despite having no factual basis. In reality, independent verification showed that videos and images used to support these claims were unrelated or digitally altered, such as footage from a transformer explosion in Chile or a rocket launch in California that had nothing to do with the fires. These examples demonstrate a failure to use basic critical thinking skills: people accepted sensational assertions without evaluating sources, examining context, or consulting expert explanations. Instead of relying on scientific reasoning or official fire investigation findings, many users accepted misinformation because it was dramatic or fit a preferred narrative, illustrating how logical fallacies and lack of scrutiny can distort public understanding of real events.
Sardarizadeh, Shayan, and Mike Wendling. “Hawaii Wildfires: ‘Directed Energy Weapon’ and Other False Claims Go Viral.” BBC News, 14 Aug. 2023, www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66457091. BBC Feeds
My Weather and Climate course AOSC200/201 as well as my Urban Planning and Sustainability course URSP250 have both helped in my understanding of global climate change. The weather and climate course helps build the scientific foundation needed to understand global climate change by explaining how atmospheric processes work, how greenhouse gases trap heat, and how long-term climate patterns differ from short-term weather events. It also teaches how scientists use data, models, and observations to identify trends and make predictions, which makes climate change feel evidence-based rather than abstract. The urban planning course complements this by showing how climate change intersects with human systems,how cities contribute to emissions, how design and infrastructure influence vulnerability, and how social and economic factors shape who is most affected by climate impacts. It also highlights practical solutions such as sustainable transportation, green infrastructure, resilient building design, and policy interventions. Taken together, these two courses provide both the scientific “why” behind global climate change and the practical “what we can do about it,” creating an understanding that connects physical science to real-world decision making and community resilience.
My learning was enhanced deeply through interacting with my fellow SGC peers as well as by doing excursions/field trips. Especially this semester, all the group in class activities definitely allowed me to gain good experience working in groups. Being an active teammate in the several group projects we have had has also allowed me to be intertwined with my peers and pushed me to help make sure we were all contributing equally. An experience from all the way to the beginning of this program that has stuck with me was the Service Day trip. I really enjoyed being able to get to know my fellow peers. Working together to help ensure the aquatic environment was clean and safe really made an impact on me. While we were doing this service project, I was also learning more about this particular ecosystem and how it functions which was really interesting. I think by actively participating on these types of projects and trips as well as showing up to class each week to further this understanding is how I have contributed to this program.
Scholars ultimately challenged my previous belief that our contributions to combating climate change are not as effective as we thought. At the beginning of my college experience, I often felt that individual or even small-scale community efforts to combat climate change were insignificant compared to the scale of the global problem. It seemed unrealistic to believe that recycling more, reducing personal energy use, or supporting local sustainability projects could make any real difference when industry-level emissions and national policies drive such a large portion of the crisis. However, this program helped shift that perspective by showing how collective action, institutional planning, and informed decision-making can meaningfully contribute to climate solutions. Through coursework, discussions, and case studies, I learned how small actions become part of larger systems. Also how city planning, campus sustainability initiatives, and community-based adaptation efforts can add up to measurable impacts when organized around scientific understanding and policy frameworks. Seeing examples of cities reducing emissions through urban design, or communities building resilience with targeted planning, made it clear that change does not only come from massive global treaties, but also from coordinated local efforts supported by people who understand the science. This helped me realize that while any single contribution may seem small in isolation, the accumulation of informed, intentional actions can genuinely influence both mitigation and adaptation to climate change.
I think the SGC Experience can help inform my future by all the ways it has allowed me to problem solve, work in teams, analyze scientific information, and more. Developing skills in problem-solving, teamwork, and analyzing scientific information is essential for preparing a future as a scientist. Problem-solving trains me to approach complex questions methodically such as identifying hypotheses, designing experiments, troubleshooting challenges, and finding innovative solutions, skills that are central to scientific research. Working in teams mirrors the collaborative nature of modern science, where projects often require input from specialists in different areas; learning to communicate effectively, share ideas, and integrate diverse perspectives ensures research is rigorous and productive. Finally, analyzing scientific information strengthens my ability to interpret data critically, distinguish between correlation and causation, evaluate evidence, and draw conclusions grounded in facts rather than assumptions. Together, these skills provide the foundation to conduct meaningful research, contribute to scientific knowledge responsibly, and adapt to the challenges and uncertainties inherent in a scientific career. They also cultivate habits of critical thinking, persistence, and intellectual curiosity that are essential not just for becoming a scientist, but for contributing solutions to complex global issues like climate change.