December 12, 2022
I enjoyed my time in the Science and Global Change (SGC) scholars program, and I genuinely feel I’ve gained a lot of valuable knowledge over my time in the course, regarding global change and other aspects of study.
Among other things, I chose to study engineering because I want to help with mitigating impacts of climate change and environmental hazards on marginalized people. SGC, being a class relating to climate change, bolstered my knowledge of ways of actually doing that in a lot of ways. Our two week simulation of operating as a country in the wake of environmental crisis, as well as our assigned readings into climate change solutions by Project Drawdown, both exposed me to parts of the sustainable development process I was previously unaware of, and helped clear the air regarding what I would actually be doing if I chose to continue down this path of study into a career. Besides my future career, the things I've learned in SGC have helped me while I’m still in school as well. I’ve gotten a lot better with my studies over this semester, but that didn’t stop me or my arrogance from waiting until the morning of an ENSP101: Introduction to Environmental Science exam to study for it. In a rush, I looked over my notes on the topics listed for the exam: “ecosystem services arise from the normal functioning of natural ecosystems” or notes about the movement of carbon through biogeochemical cycles (Spivy, 2022). Unfortunately, I forgot to study something rather substantial–my professor's notes on the scientific method, which proved to be the second question on the exam. We were expected to formulate an experiment deducing the effectiveness of a pesticide following the principles of the hypothetico-deductive method, which I blanked on completely. Fortunately for me, although I hadn’t crammed it in my head an hour before, I knew the hypothetico-deductive method. The practice of scientific inquiry was our focus for almost the entirety of our first semester in SGC. From memory, I wrote down each step of the Hypothetico-deductive model, and managed to put together a passable example of a scientific experiment. Other smaller occurrences of SGC course content becoming useful in other courses have also happened these past few semesters. The first that come to mind are the most recent, were in URSP250: The Sustainable City, a course about sustainable urban planning. Understandably, there is a lot of overlap between a course discussing sustainable, climate resilient development, and a course discussing the climate and its impacts. In URSP250, I was able to see real world applications of solutions to the issues highlighted by CPSG100, 101, and 200, which was really cool. I learned in CPSG100 that global temperatures would soon increase temperatures by 3 degrees celsius, and I learned in URSP250 that that would lead to coast loss and flooding for people in Bangladesh (Hendricks, 2022)
Being a living learning program, SGC helped me grow socially as well as academically. I met friends through this program I likely would not have interacted with had we not been neighbors in Centreville, or partners in class. Even with people whom I haven’t fully developed a relationship with, we still greet each other brightly when we see each other around campus, and I think that's a testament to the community that is developed within this program. Academically, I’ve been able to reach out to people within the program for support for both SGC courses and courses for other classes, due to our acquaintance in SGC. Admittedly, I’ve not been one to speak up and participate in the colloquium part of colloquium over the past three semesters, but I did take in-person field trips during the course, helping out people working for scientific institutions continue their research. If I wasn’t in Scholars, I likely would not have signed up for CPSS340: Infrastructure and Society, and would not have done my part to help out the Maryland Defense Force assess State military facilities, so clearly academic and societal contribution was facilitated by the program.
In terms of challenging perceptions, not many of my opinions on various subjects were challenged by SGC; rather, they were given layers of nuance they did not previously have. I remember reading new clippings about Global Warming when I was a child; there are references to it in some of the most popular media of my generation's childhood, like Sid’s quips about wanting the world to get warmer in Ice Age (2002). I thought going into this program that it would be a breeze: what else is there to know about climate change? As I’ve come to find out, a lot. The in-depth examination of climate change in the anthropocene, contextualized by historical patterns, was something I had not experienced in previous courses, or come to know from my own readings. Looking towards the future, I’ve gained knowledge, on global change, and science itself, that altered the way I view more than what was studied in the course. In the times we live now, knowing how to discern what is true from what is being said, and advocate for honesty and accountability above personal convictions, is more important than ever. I will take the concepts I've learned in this program with me as I move further into my academic career and beyond, attempting to do just that.
References
Spivy, A. (2022). “Environmental Systems and Ecosystem Ecology” September 27,2022.
Hendricks, M. (2022) “The Risks of Global Environmental Problems and Climate Change”. November 7th, 2022.