Nashita's Three Semester Review

The Science and Global Change Scholars Program has greatly expanded my scientific knowledge and my understanding of scientific communication. My experience in SGC and SGC supported courses have made me a more critical and inquisitive thinker.

Global climate change and its effects have been appearing on the news more and more often. Recently I encountered news reports related to COP27, or the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference. Due to my experience in SGC, many of the topics brought up in the conference were quite familiar to me. For example, a major issue brought up during the conference was climate reparations. Climate reparations is the idea that the largest climate emitters pay monetary compensation to countries bearing the brunt of climate change. My experience in SGC helped me better understand the global nature and unequal distribution of the effects of climate change, especially through the in-class Global Energy and Environment Policy Simulation. This in-class activity helped me understand that geography plays a big role in the kinds of climate solutions a country can invest in as well as the vulnerability of a country to different climate related disasters. From this activity I learned that nations with less capital are often not as resource rich and are located in areas that may be most impacted by the effects of climate change. Through this activity, SGC has helped me better understand aspects of the climate reparations argument.

During SGC colloquium various topics are discussed relating to topics such as the scientific process and global climate change. One topic discussed in colloquium, which enhanced my approach towards my major is science communication. Science communication plays a major role in shaping an individual’s and society’s understanding of a scientific discovery or invention. As a computer science major, a topic which I find to be frequently misunderstood by many, including myself, is Artificial Intelligence. The SGC colloquium on scientific communication has helped me to evaluate how scientifically authoritative a source is and to identify denialist tactics. These skills have provided me with a better understanding of emerging artificial intelligence technologies and techniques. The SGC colloquium on scientific communication has also provided me with a better understanding of where misinformation related to artificial intelligence stems from, and how to potentially combat it through effective scientific communication.

Not only have my CPSG courses taught me about scientific knowledge and communication, but so have my supporting courses. For example, in my English 101 class we learned how to examine a paper for credibility and when to be skeptical of arguments presented by an author. Understanding this evaluation is an important part of interacting with scientific information. It is easy to get caught between headlines, but the layered and constantly evolving nature of scientific knowledge means it is necessary to always evaluate and question the information you are presented with. Another supporting course which expanded my scientific knowledge is CMSC132. In this class I applied the scientific method to debug programs. Through these supporting courses I learned that scientific thinking can be applied to virtually anything.

Interacting with other SGC students in class has greatly enhanced my understanding of topics discussed in colloquium. For example, in-class group assignments have introduced me to different ways of approaching a problem or new information related to some topic. SGC has always been a great way for me to interact with people outside of my major. Since SGC houses people of various majors, everyone has a different approach to a problem, which I am always curious to learn about.

I have made some contributions to the SGC, mainly through discussions, projects, and field trips. One example of my contribution is the Visions of the Future project, where I worked with other SGC students to develop a plan to mitigate the effects of climate change.

Before entering the SGC program, I was unaware of the severity of the current climate crisis. I understood that the effects of climate change were devastating but I believed that they were reversible. However, through the SGC program I learned that we cannot completely reverse anthropogenic climate change. Instead, we can prevent global temperatures from rising further and mitigate its effects.

My experience in Scholars has made me more aware of my consumption of information and my impact on the environment. In the future I plan to utilize the skills from SGC to analyze new information. My improved critical thinking skills will guide me through the rest of my undergraduate years and my professional career.

Last modified: 25 November 2022