The Topic:
Over the last three semesters, we have examined the Science of Nature and the Nature of Science. Specifically, we've looked at how we use the foundations of scientific practice to explore the evidence, causes, and implications of past and present global change, and examine the use of scientific knowledge and communication when making decisions for the future. Ultimately, we aim for the program to help students plan for resilience in a future of global change.
How has your experience as a Science & Global Change Scholar helped in that understanding (compared to what you have received if you were not in SGC)?
Over these past three semesters, I have been a student at UMD, specifically one in the Science & Global Change program. This is a program dedicated to the topic of a changing world, specifically climate change, and how we understand and plan for this using the hypothetico-deductive method and the body of knowledge created by scientists who have come before us. I was familiar with the topics of science and climate change before I had joined this program, as we had been taught them all throughout high school. However, here we delved into it in much more depth than I had ever before, starting off from the very basic subjects of reasoning and hypotheses, before moving on to its application within the real world. I think that had I not taken SGC, I would have still understood and gained a further understanding of science and climate change, but my experience within this program has boosted my grasp of it a little, and provided me the opportunity to connect to others who have similar interests.
I’ve taken some classes which have touched upon the topic of climate change. One is my GEOL 100 and its associated lab GEOL 110, while the other is GEOG 201 and its associated lab GEOG 211. In both these courses, which go over the climate and how it affects the world, there were sections explaining global warming (which will cause changes to the climate and as a result the greater world). Much of these sections were just information I had learned back in high school, or knew from other sources, but some of it was new. When it came to this new information, whether it be about the causes, or the effects, or the possible solutions, the information that I had learned in Science and Global Change came into use. In this program, we gained a deeper understanding of the scientific process and how the body of scientific knowledge that has been created can be applied onto various new topics. As a result, I was able to easily absorb the new information, and incorporate it into what I already knew. I was able to follow what was being talked about, because in the Science and Global Change program we had also talked about the causes, and the effects, and the possible solutions. So none of what I learned caused any real confusion to me.
Building off of this, climate change is also a topic that gets often brought up in the news, and for good reason. It is a gargantuan issue that will have massive consequences for the world and society that we all live in. And as someone who occasionally reads the news, I do sometimes come across articles and pieces and papers on climate change. For example, there was an article recently about the latest COP28 conference, where a new treaty was the focus. In this, following in the footsteps of the nuclear nonproliferation treaty, a fossil fuel non proliferation treaty was drafted, and various countries and subgovernments are signing on. While still not official, and unfortunately facing great resistance from fossil fuel companies and the countries which are the largest polluters, this shows a second possible manner to the conference in which climate change could be slowed down and eventually stalled. As Susana Muhamad states in the article “At the beginning, [real change] seems to be something on the periphery…But maybe from the periphery, it goes to the center.” In Science and Global Change, we talked about a variety of solutions, but regardless of what the solution is, all the solutions required global effort. What we are learning in class is tying in with what people are doing in the real world, and what we can expect to see in the modern world and the future.
The knowledge scholars taught me about the scientific processes and fallacies has also come in use in my personal life. Just recently, I was having a discussion with a friend who was trying to justify something related to astrology or something similar in spirit by using vague statements about how the process used to come up with the predictions was scientific and how there were numerous instances of it panning out. However, I was able to point out that the method was not scientific in the least, given there were no hypotheses posited, no various control groups experimented on, and how no explanations were provided as to why celestial bodies would have anything to do with the personalities or future events of any specific individual (besides the very basic stuff regarding the laws of physics). I also pointed out the instances of it supposedly working were unreliable, because given how no proper experiment was run, all the successful predictions could be cherry-picked and all the unsuccessful ones ignored (even if unintentionally due to not realizing there were predictions that failed). Unfortunately I have not had similar discussions with any of the SGC scholars outside of the group activities that were mandatory. Similarly, being in Scholars did not bring me into contact with any people or concepts that challenged my already held beliefs.
In Scholars, I contributed to the overall program through my attendance at nearly every session and my participation in all group activities and homework assignments, which when added together with the work of my peers helped keep the program flowing. Outside of that though, I cannot really name any other instances where I made any significant contributions to SGC. However, I do think that my participation in SGC has been beneficial as a whole. I have met a few interesting people, be it faculty or fellow students, and have sat through many fascinating lectures. I’m not really sure when or where I will utilize what I have learned, but I do hope it will happen. Perhaps in some future endeavors - whether they be working with scientists, volunteering at a museum, or perhaps writing my very own paper - the knowledge I have gained about the world of science will come in handy.
SGC Gallery and On-Line Projects: