2019 CLEAN Teleconferences
December 31, 2019: NO CALL, Happy New Year!
December 24, 2019: NO CALL, Happy Holidays!
December 17, 2019: Community debrief of COP25 and AGU Fall Meeting
In this call, we discussed the highlights of the COP25 and AGU conferences that occurred the previous week.
You can find the recording here:
https://transcripts.gotomeeting.com/#/s/c9481112970b04669524c9d5e59c74177653add6e9c4e29c414ebcfeb213899f
December 10, 2019: Live from COP25!
This week's CLEAN call will feature a dispatch direct from Madrid, Spain where the 25th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties, COP25, is being held. Kristen Poppleton, Director Programs at Climate Generation will host a conversation with Sarah Goodspeed, Climate Generation's Youth and Policy Manager, and Deb Morrison from University of Washington's Institute of Science and Math Education direct from the COP. For more information on Climate Generation's COP25 delegation visit www.climategen.org/cop25.
Kristen Iverson Poppleton is the Director of Programs for Climate Generation: A Will Steger Legacy. Climate Generation empowers individuals and communities to engage in solutions to climate change. She served on the disbanded Federal Advisory Committee for the Sustained National Climate Assessment, the City of St. Paul's Climate Action Planning Committee, and Minnesota's Science Standards Revision Committee. She currently serves on the CLEAN (Climate Literacy) Network's Leadership Board.
Sarah joined Climate Generation as Youth Manager in January 2018 to integrate robust youth engagement across programs and expand the workforce and energy coalition work. She brings more than a decade of experience with environmental nonprofits and government agencies supporting sustainable communities through research-based, community-driven education and policy change.
Dr. Deb Morrison collaborates with those involved in K-16 education to design equitable learning experiences for students and teachers, primarily within science education. Deb is currently at the University of Washington's Institute of Science and Math Education where she is engaged work that spans local to global scales in areas of education, communication, and outreach, particularly to do with climate change. Her research is grounded in theories of abolition, de-colonialism, transformative learning, design-based research, and action research.
You can find the recording here:
December 3, 2019: Dr. Yue Li and Anne Armstrong:Integrating Drawdown Actions and Social Norms Research in a Climate Change Online Course
Abstract: Climate Change Science, Communication, and Action is an online course run by the Civic Ecology Lab to build climate literacy, enhance global social networks of concerned citizens, and facilitate climate action. In our most recent iteration of this massive open online course, we integrated Drawdown-based actions into weekly assignments and the final project, a climate change action plan. Concurrent with this, researchers from Cornell University embedded a social norms experiment in the course platform to test the extent to which different types of norms messages affected the likelihood of following through on a climate action. In this CLEAN presentation, we will review how we integrated Drawdown actions into the course and present preliminary findings from the norms experiment.
Yue Li is a postdoc and online course instructor at Cornell University. Through her research and outreach, she seeks to understand how networking among environmental educators in online learning communities and other platforms fosters innovation in their environmental education practice. Yue is currently conducting MOOC research and international programs to bridge environmental education communities in China, the US and elsewhere.
Anne Armstrong is a PhD candidate in the Department of Natural Resources at Cornell University. She has a professional background in environmental education, and she is the lead author on Climate Change Communication: A Guide for Educators (Cornell University Press, 2018). Her research areas include climate change communication, environmental education, and the links among place, social practices, and identity in environmental stewardship.
You can find the presentation slides here (Acrobat (PDF) 1.6MB Dec3 19).
View the recording here (MP4 Video 93.9MB Dec5 19).
November 19, 2019: Discussion of CLEAN AGU workshop plans led by Frank N.
This session was an informal discussion among attendees. Watch the recording here (MP4 Video 37.6MB Nov24 19).
November 12, 2019: Arlae Castellanos: Achieving Whole School Sustainability is Challenging. This Online Tracking Tool Can Help
Abstract: Achieving whole school sustainability requires integrating effective practices across educational programs, physical place, and organizational culture. But how do you track and measure your success? START is a standardized, benchmarking online tool that helps schools create a healthier and more sustainable environment by assessing needs, clearly defining steps and activities, and tracking actions. In this session, discover how START encompasses more than 50 metrics that allow for internal or peer benchmarking by the entire school community, from students to faculty and staff. START's rating system helps schools understand the cost, difficulty, and impact of each action and which to implement to reach their goals.
Bio: Arle is the Executive Director & Sustainability Tracking Program Director (START) of the Green Schools Alliance. Having spent extensive time in Africa developing and implementing entrepreneurship and permaculture programs has given her an out of the box approach to problem-solving and addressing sustainability hurdles through creative means. The programs she develops engage the larger school community that helps bridge the relationship between actions and outcomes in environmental system. Arlae has taught high school through college grads on a variety of subjects ranging from energy auditing, solar for the developing world, sustainable architectural design and entrepreneurship. Arlae melds her capacity to extrapolate schools' needs with real-world applications to manage and develop the Alliances premier sustainability tool, START
You can find Arlae's slides here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1MTv6rEoJpoar7qbmajjDTd8Qbr9MJR4OmGGfc9u9RCw/edit#slide=id.p22
View the recording here (MP4 Video 100.3MB Nov12 19).
November 5, 2019: Celia Gurney: Climate Nexus
Abstract: Fossil fuel companies have long pushed for individual behavior change as a way to distract the public from the large-scale changes that ultimately need to take place at the corporate and government levels. Yet it's also true that people taking action in their personal lives is one of the best ways to build momentum for policy change. Additionally, individual actions provide tangible goals for audiences, showing them a way through climate despair.
A new video campaign launching later this month will leverage creative, humorous content to drive awareness and adoption of individual actions that combat climate change — ultimately steering people toward the most important individual climate action: voting. On this CLEAN webcast, Celia will share drafts of the videos and seek advice from the CLEAN community on how to get them out into the world.
Bio: Celia Gurney is writer, improviser and climate change communications professional based in New York. She is currently a senior associate at Climate Nexus, where she annoys her coworkers by doing things like wearing a Bob Ross wig to meetings. She loves to chat about merging climate change and comedy, so feel free to reach out! You can find her on Twitter at @celiagdisease.
You can find Celia's slides here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1YbEqGmD_SMY1aQwm1TGfjZ_UfqHl8ePrQFT7FLLHD6I/edit#slide=id.p
View the recording here (MP4 Video 264.6MB Nov8 19).
October 29, 2019: Informal Discussion
This session was an informal discussion among attendees. Watch the recording here (MP4 Video 38.4MB Nov1 19).
October 22, 2019: Informal Discussion
This session was an informal discussion among attendees. Watch the recording here (MP4 Video 37MB Oct28 19).
October 15, 2019: Frank Granshaw: Climate Science for Nonscientists: Experience and Experiments
Abstract: Global Environmental Change (GEC) is an introductory climate science course that has been taught at Portland State University since 1998. As part of the University Studies program at PSU it is a general studies course that includes both science and non-science majors. Initially GEC was taught largely as a historical geology / climatology course - understandable since it has almost always been taught by geologists. I began teaching the course in 2014 and am teaching it now for seventh time. During that period those of us teaching the course have broadened it to include topics such as energy technology, climate policy, and societal impacts. This year is particularly noteworthy since the course has been overhauled to include several major experiments. Chief amongst these are a new resource manual designed to move the course towards more of workshop format, a capstone project involving student teams producing virtual posters that we hope will be presented at COP25, and a virtual bridge to COP25 to give students proxy experience with this critical international process. This CLEAN webcast is meant to showcase our experience and seek help from the CLEAN community in developing these new facets of GEC.
Bio: I am a retired community college geoscience instructor now heavily involved in climate education and advocacy work in northwestern Oregon. I am by training a glacial geologist and a physicist, as well as a veteran science museum educator. I'm also an insufferably proud grandpa, which has a lot to do with why I do what I do.
You can find the presentation slides here (Acrobat (PDF) 11.5MB Oct28 19)
View the recording here (MP4 Video 97.5MB Oct15 19).
October 8, 2019: Lacy Cagle: Ecochallenge: Global Change at a Human Scale
Abstract: Ecochallenge.org's social change platform and curriculum connect a global community of advocates and changemakers, each doing what we can, in ways that are most relevant to us, to make this great spinning dot we call home a healthier, more equitable, more sustainable place. Since 2010, more than 100,000 people have connected the dots between their values and the impact of their actions through online Ecochallenge events, resulting in:
- more than 228,916 miles not traveled by car.
- 2,519,593 gallons of water saved.
- more than 3,331,085 pieces of plastic not sent to the landfill.
- and much more!
In this session, learn more about Drawdown Ecochallenge and The People's Ecochallenge, how they can help you meet your sustainability education and engagement goals, and how we can all work together at a human scale for positive global change.
Bio: Lacy Cagle is Director of Learning at Ecochallenge.org, where she develops and refines a system of high quality learning programs that inspire action and advocacy. She holds a Master's degree in Educational Leadership and Policy with a focus on Leadership in Sustainability Education from Portland State University and a Permaculture Design Certificate. In addition to her work at Ecochallenge.org, Lacy teaches Foundations and Practice of Sustainability at Washington University in St. Louis, is a sustainability consultant at Blackrock Consulting Collaborative, and is a board member of Au Sable Institute. Lacy provides sustainability services and training to faculty throughout North America, is deeply involved in the OneSTL initiative (St. Louis regional plan for sustainable development), and serves on the USGBC Missouri Gateway committee for Green Schools.
You can find the presentation slides here (Acrobat (PDF) 2MB Oct7 19)
View the recording here (MP4 Video 140.1MB Oct11 19).
October 1, 2019: Tracey Ritchie: Earth Day 2020
Abstract: Earth Day 2020, Join the Movement! This presentation will review the resources, programs, and opportunities to join the global environmental movement as we prepare for the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day in April 2020. The theme for Earth Day 2020 will be Climate Action and Earth Day Network will have a series of resources to help you address climate change with your students utilizing citizen science, Teach-Ins, and other activities. All of the resources will be available for free on our website and in multiple languages.
Bio: Tracey Ritchie holds a PhD from the University of Florida in Environmental and Climate Education. She is currently the Director of Education for Earth Day Network where she focuses on developing resources and partnerships for Earth Day 2020, the 50th Anniversary. She has been in the field of Environmental Education for over 14 years working on program development and evaluation, educator professional development,
You can find the presentation slides here (Acrobat (PDF) 2.7MB Oct1 19)
View the recording here (MP4 Video 93.6MB Oct11 19).
September 24, 2019: Informal Discussion
This session was an informal discussion among attendees. Watch the recording here (MP4 Video 42.6MB Oct1 19).
September 17, 2019: Claire Anderson: Working Across Scales: Coordinated and Comprehensive K-12 Water Literacy Education for a Changing Climate
Abstract: Ripple Effect is an alliance of educators, designers, scientists and storytellers who work to build water literacy through standards-aligned, in-school science instruction about real people and places impacted by climate change. Our interdisciplinary science curriculum centers student learning on communities where—due to sea-level rise, storm water runoff, subsidence, or extreme weather—people are forced to renegotiate their relationship to land and water. Claire Anderson, Executive Director, will discuss the context of Ripple Effect's creation, as well as our methods and impact in working with teachers and students in New Orleans and Southeastern Louisiana. Claire will also discuss Ripple Effect's current, consortium-driven effort to define water literacy and align efforts of various environmental education and scientific research groups, using field stations as the nexus points for convergence between education, science and the lived experiences of real people and places.
Bio: Claire is executive director and co-founder of Ripple Effect. She ensures that Ripple Effect is constantly building toward our mission of educating and empowering the next generation of water-literate leaders. She determines the organization's priorities and measurable goals to help ensure Ripple Effect is meeting benchmarks and responding to the needs of teachers, students, and all other stakeholders.
Most recently, Claire taught elementary math and science at KIPP Central City Primary School for seven years and was a Curriculum Fellow for KIPP New Orleans. During that time, she co-founded Ripple Effect and helped grow the program to reach over 12,000 teachers, students, and families. As a KIPP National Master Teacher she developed 4th science curriculum for a system of over 40,000 kids. Her curriculum work includes yearlong curriculum for elementary mathematics and science (aligned to the Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards), as well as water literacy curriculum for Ripple Effect and Station 15, a documentary film about New Orleans water issues. Previously, she worked as a business development manager and content coordinator for museum exhibition and planning projects.
You can find Claire's slides here (Acrobat (PDF) 34.4MB Sep16 19)
View the recording here (MP4 Video 105.6MB Sep22 19).
September 10, 2019: Brittany Shea: Climate and health education for health professions schools and programs
Abstract: Brittany Shea, Project Director for the Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education (GCCHE), will discuss the Consortium's history, purpose, and offerings, including a Virtual Town Square, online Knowledge Bank, and Core Competencies on climate and health. The GCCHE was founded in 2017 by the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health to ensure that the next generation of health professionals globally have the knowledge and skills to prevent, mitigate, and respond to the health impacts of climate change, and to increase the number of health professionals who focus their work on climate change. It now includes nearly 200 health professions schools and programs from almost 30 countries on 6 continents. The GCCHE has been featured in academic journals and media outlets including The New York Timesand The Wall Street Journal, and included in leading reports such as the 2018 Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change Brief for the United States of America. The Mailman School invites representatives of health professions schools to join the GCCHE by completing this form.
Bio: Brittany Shea, MA is the Project Director for the Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education (GCCHE), based at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. The GCCHE is a global network of health professions schools and programs developing climate-health education for the next generation of health leaders.
Previously, Brittany worked to advance research on environmental health and climate change in other roles at the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health, Harvard University's David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies in Santiago, Chile, and Harvard Business School. Brittany has presented internationally on climate-health education and environmental health topics. She received a master's degree from Harvard University and bachelor's degree from Boston University.
You can find Brittany's slides here (Acrobat (PDF) 1.7MB Sep9 19).
View the recording here (MP4 Video 50.6MB Sep10 19).
September 3, 2019: Nicole Seymour: Laughter, Grief, and Everything in Between: Mobilizing Climate Change Emotions
Bio: Nicole Seymour is Associate Professor of English and Affiliated Faculty in Environmental Studies and Queer Studies at California State University, Fullerton. She is the author of Strange Natures: Futurity, Empathy, and the Queer Ecological Imagination (University of Illinois Press, 2013), Bad Environmentalism: Irony and Irreverence in the Ecological Age (University of Minnesota Press, 2018), and, with Katherine Fusco, co-author of Kelly Reichardt (University of Illinois Press's Contemporary Film Directors Series, 2017). You can find her on Twitter at @nseymourPHD or online at http://nicoleseymourphd.com/.
Abstract: My presentation will have two parts. In the first, I'll talk about my research interest in "inappropriate" environmental affects and emotions such as irreverence, humor, and ambivalence. In my most recent book, Bad Environmentalism: Irony and Irreverence in the Ecological Age, I describe how contemporary artists and activists in the Global North have mobilized such affects and emotions in service of their particular agendas, and as alternatives to the "doom and gloom" that typically characterizes mainstream environmentalist discourse. In the second part, I'll talk about my recent involvement with the NXTerra project, an open-access set of Web resources for climate-change educators that will launch this fall. With Sarah Jaquette Ray, I have been curating a specific set of pedagogical resources focused on climate change-related emotions. I'll describe some of the resources we've collected and how they might allow instructors to engage productively with emotions such as grief and apathy.
You can find pdf presentation slides here (Acrobat (PDF) 1.8MB Sep3 19).
View the recording here (MP4 Video 374.6MB Sep3 19).
August 27, 2019: Mark McCaffrey and Abby Ruskey: UNFCCC Education, Communication, and Outreach Stakeholders' (ECOS) Community Working to Scale Climate Literacy & Action by 2020
Abstract: Education, Communication and Outreach Stakeholders (ECOS) is building capacity to complement the efforts of the UNFCCC Secretariat to deploy a coherent strategy globally. Prioritizing high-quality, localized strategies for education, communication, and outreach is vital. As ECOS member Danae Espinoza summarized: "The importance of international cooperation, funds to accomplish the task at the local to global level, government support and the inclusion of citizens are all vital in implementing the Paris Agreement."
Come learn about ECOS and the strategic steps it is taking to prepare for the UN Climate Summit in NY in September, COP25 in Santiago- December 2019, SB52 in Bonn- June 2020, and ultimately COP26 in 2020, where nations will report on their progress to achieve the Paris COP21 goals. ECOS leadership overlaps with CLEAN founders and leaders. Part of this session will be dedicated to discussing ideas for linking ECOS and CLEAN resources and activities.
Bios: Abby Ruskey possess deep experience and training in education and learning, sustainability and systems, cultural responsiveness, planning, research and policy. She has worked in executive positions for over 25 years to develop and integrate capacities, programs and tools for helping individuals and collectives catalyze and life-affirming systems change. Recently, Abby researched and wrote strategic documents and articles, and pursued policies and projects to prepare and empower people for climate change and related social, health, infrastructure, food-agriculture and other disruptions.
Mark S. McCaffery is founder and co-focal point of ECOS and is based in Central Europe. Having helped establish a local watershed focused network two decades ago (BASIN, the Boulder Area Sustainability Information Network), and a national digital library and online community (CLEAN, the Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network), Mark assisted in initiating the climate and energy literacy frameworks and authored Climate Smart & Energy Wise, published in 2014 by Pruitt Press. Relocating from North America to Central Europe to pursue international collaboration and engagement opportunities, he assisted in the launch of the Institute for Sustainable Development in Budapest and has consulted with Climate-KIC, the largest EU public-private partnership on climate solutions, and various United Nations organizations, such as FAO and UN CC: Learn.
Laura Weiland is director of the Omega Center for Sustainable Living (OCSL), in Rhinebeck, NY, USA. She has lived, studied, and worked across several countries and United States over the past two decades, starting as a student in an agricultural high school in Ambato, Ecuador. She has been imagining, designing, and creating nontraditional educational experiences for herself and others since the age of 15, with studies and experience from biology, farming, permaculture, and regenerative frameworks, to eco-social design, community organizing, and climate education. She holds a master's degree in sustainable development with a focus in community development.
Timothy Damon is founder and President of the Global Youth Development Institute (GYDI), an internationally-oriented 501(c)(3) with the mission of educating and empowering young people across the world as leaders for action on climate change and the Sustainable Development Goals. He has extensive experience since 2011 working in and around the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), through the varied roles of an academic researcher, youth advocate and trainer, and an adviser for government delegations to the UNFCCC on youth and education matters.
Presentation slides can be found here.
View the recording here (MP4 Video 89.5MB Aug29 19).
August 20, 2019: Informal Discussion
This session was an informal discussion among attendees. Watch the recording [here (MP4 Video 33.8MB Aug20 19).
August 13, 2019: Informal Discussion
This session was an informal discussion among attendees. Watch the recording [here (MP4 Video 50.3MB Aug20 19).
August 6, 2019: Informal Discussion
This session was an informal discussion among attendees. Watch the recording [here (MP4 Video 32.8MB Aug6 19).
July 30, 2019: Informal Discussion
This session was an informal discussion among attendees. Watch the recording here (MP4 Video 32.5MB Aug6 19).
July 23, 2019: Informal Discussion
This session was an informal discussion among attendees. Watch the recording here (MP4 Video 32.2MB Jul23 19).
July 16th, 2016: Discussion Cancelled- GoTo Meeting not available due to ESIP Summer Meeting (https://www.esipfed.org/meetings/upcoming-meetings/sm19)
July 9, 2019: Informal Discussion
This session was an informal discussion among attendees. Watch the recording here (MP4 Video 32.5MB Jul16 19).
July 2, 2019: Informal Discussion
This session was an informal discussion among attendees. Watch the recording here (MP4 Video 34MB Jul2 19).
June 25, 2019: Informal Discussion
This session was an informal discussion among attendees. Watch the recording here (MP4 Video 32.6MB Jun25 19).
June 18, 2019: Informal Discussion
This session was an informal discussion among attendees. The discussion was not recorded.
June 11, 2019: Informal Discussion
This session was an informal discussion among attendees. Watch the recording here (MP4 Video 33.2MB Jun12 19).
June 4, 2019: Informal Discussion
This session was an informal discussion among attendees. Watch the recording here (MP4 Video 33.6MB Jun6 19).
May 28, 2019: Emily Hart: Teacher-Research in the Climate Change Classroom, One Teacher's Story
Bio: Emily Hart studied biology at Smith College and has an M.S. from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in Environmental Conservation. For the past five years she has been teaching biology and environmental science at an independent high school in the Boston area. Emily's favorite topic to teach is climate change and she is also a climate activist outside of the classroom.
Abstract: In this presentation, I will share my experience as a teacher-researcher in my high school environmental science class. During the 2017-2018 school year I developed and conducted a qualitative project to explore questions about my climate change teaching, especially around how I integrate emotions, justice and politics into my evidence-based science curriculum. This presentation shares student responses to learning about climate change in my class as well as the need that I observed for differentiation and civic education.
You can find pdf presentation slides here (Acrobat (PDF) 975kB May28 19)
View the recording here (MP4 Video 67.3MB Jun6 19)
May 21, 2019: Informal Discussion including discussion of Rising Voices Workshop and topics for summer discussions
View the recording here (MP4 Video 44.4MB May23 19)
May 14, 2019: Rose Michelle Borden: Time Scavengers: A Website to Disseminate Climate Change and Evolutionary Principles to Increase Public Literacy
Bio: Rose Michelle Borden is an M.S. student at the University of Tennessee Knoxville in the School of Information Sciences, where she is focusing her studies on planetary science data and science data management. She also participates in many science outreach activities and serves as local coordinator for the Knoxville Pod of 500 Women Scientists. She has an M.S. in planetary geology from the University of Tennessee and a B.S. in geology from Central Washington University.
Abstract: This presentation is intended to introduce you to the Time Scavengers project. I will go over how the site got started and the main objectives of the project. I will then talk about how the site is organized and run. We use Google Analytics to explore statistics of site visitors and find the best ways to release and promote information, so I will present some recent data on that. Finally, I will go over some new ways that we have been exploring to promote the site and content.
You can find pdf presentation slides here (Acrobat (PDF) 5MB May13 19)
View the recording here (MP4 Video 0bytes May20 19)
May 7, 2019: Juliette Rooney Varga & Stephanie McCauley: Multisolving Climate Change, Public Health, and Wellbeing: A Framework for Bringing Win-Win Solutions Into Your Classroom
Abstract: In this webinar, we will introduce concept of multisolving, or systemic solutions that protect the climate while also improving health, equity, and wellbeing. We will also provide a framework and toolkit for applying multisolving to real-world decision-making and educational projects: FLOWER, or the Framework for Long-Term, Whole-System, Equity Based Reflection. Lastly, we will share examples of how multisolving and FLOWER are being used in educational settings from secondary to undergraduate levels and have an informal discussion about how webinar participants might adopt the tool in their own educational work.
Stephanie McCauley is a Project Coordinator and Operations Manager for Climate Interactive, where her current focus is on Multisolving, illuminating the health, jobs, and equity co-benefits that may be realized when enacting thoughtful climate policies. She lives in Greenville, SC and is currently serving on the city's Green Ribbon Advisory Committee, where she makes recommendations for the city's sustainability plan. Stephanie has a M.S. in health economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a B.S. degree in applied mathematics from the University of South Carolina Honors College.
Juliette Rooney-Varga is an expert on climate change and sustainability. She is the director of the UMass Lowell Climate Change Initiative and associate professor of Environmental Science. She has more than twenty years' experience as a scientist studying biogeochemistry and microbial ecology. Her current work focuses on developing and researching the learning impact of interactive simulations that enable people to explore, for themselves, the expected climate and energy impacts of decisions and policies. These simulations bring current climate change and energy science to students, citizens, and policymakers at all levels and have been shown to motivate science-informed action.
You can find pdf presentation slides here (Acrobat (PDF) 10.6MB May6 19)
View the recording here (MP4 Video 89.4MB May9 19)
April 30, 2019: Jothsna Harris and Megan Van Loh: Talk Climate, A Model for Sparking Climate Conversations
Abstract: This presentation will provide an overview of Climate Generation's Talk Climate Institute model, focusing on the most recent example held in March. Polls on climate change show that 70% of Americans believe that climate change is happening and that it will cause harm to future generations, yet two-thirds of Americans say they never talk about it. We know that there is a disconnect between people feeling concerned, but lacking confidence to talk about it and one of the most important things we can do to address climate change is to talk about it!
The Talk Climate Institute meets the urgent need to inspire confidence to talk about climate change. Participants develop skills to unpack dynamics on beliefs and behavior to find common ground, and learn practical strategies to engage with people on the issue of climate change.
Bios: Jothsna's primary role is to lead planning and implementation efforts for Climate Generation's public engagement work. Jothsna has helped to create a neutral balance in bringing the issue of climate change to communities across Minnesota, building community resiliency and capacity through multi-stakeholder alliances, and connecting people through the power of storytelling. Jothsna's work includes innovative programming designed to empower climate champions and normalize climate change, including the Talk Climate Institute, 2017-18 Youth Convening Minnesota, and our award-winning 2014-16 Climate Minnesota project. Jothsna is a recipient of the CERTs Women in Energy series, and holds dual BA's in Environmental Studies and Political Science from the University of Saint Thomas. In her spare time, Jothsna loves experiencing new adventures with her family. In 2011, she traveled with her husband, Rasheed and their two children (3 and 6 years old at the time) for five months in Italy through the WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) Organization, to assist in improving sustainable agriculture practices.
Megan has been with Climate Generation since 2012, providing coordination and support of a variety of programs that aim to engage educators and the public with climate change education and opportunities for solutions. Her experience in different aspects and roles at Climate Generation brings a unique perspective to the education program to support and expand educator professional development and programing. Megan graduated from the College of St. Benedict and St. John's University with a degree in Biology, and has a background in environmental education, natural resource management, and nonprofit coordination. She is glad to call Minnesota her home, and has a passion for engaging people with a love for the environment in order to preserve it for future generations.
You can find the presentation slides here (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 14.5MB Apr30 19) and a PDF here (Acrobat (PDF) 120.8MB Apr30 19).
View the recording here (MP4 Video 73MB May2 19)
April 23, 2019: Alana Siegner: Food and Climate Curriculum
Bio: Alana (Laney) Siegner graduated from Tufts University in 2012 with a double major in Environmental Studies and International Relations. She was the Local Outreach Chair of the Tufts-Engineers Without Borders chapter and spent 3 summers traveling to Uganda to work on an EWB clean water storage project. After college, Alana served for 2 years as an AmeriCorps National Teaching Fellow with Citizen Schools, working with 8th graders in Boston Public Schools. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Energy and Resources Group at UC Berkeley, where she researches sustainable, agroecological food systems and farm to school programs as mechanisms for developing student environmental and climate literacy. Her Master's project focused on the San Juan Islands in Washington state as a case study of high-functioning school food programs and environmental education. As part of a participatory research project, she worked as a Sustainable Agriculture Intern for two summers, learning from small scale diversified farmers on Lopez Island. She developed, implemented and evaluated a Food and Climate Change curriculum following completion her Master's degree, and continues to engage in farm-based climate education work. Currently, Alana is a Graduate Student Researcher with the Berkeley Food Institute working on a study of East Bay Urban Agroecology, with a focus on food distribution, access and justice questions. She is interested in uniting her passions for farming, climate education, and research in a future career opportunity.
You can find the presentation slides here (Acrobat (PDF) 2MB Apr19 19).
View the recording here (MP4 Video 63.3MB Apr24 19)
April 16, 2019: Lisa Gardiner: Climate is Elementary: Climate Postcards
Abstract: This presentation will profile Climate Postcards, a classroom activity designed to help elementary students learn about regional climates. In this activity, students build their graph reading, literacy, and geography skills as they learn about climate zones.
Bio: Lisa S. Gardiner, PhD MFA, leads educational resource development at the UCAR Center for Science Education, developing K-12 curriculum and exhibit and website content to help people of all ages learn about the science of our planet. Gardiner is the author of Tales from an Uncertain World: What Other Assorted Disasters Can Teach Us About Climate Change (Iowa Press, 2018) and cocreator of Elementary GLOBE. Before moving into science education in 2001, Gardiner researched the ecology of fossil coral reefs. She holds a PhD in geology from the University of Georgia, a bachelor's degree in geology and marine science from Smith College, and an MFA in narrative nonfiction writing from Goucher College.
You can find the presentation slides here (Acrobat (PDF) 3.8MB Apr15 19).
View the recording here (MP4 Video 60.4MB Apr16 19)
April 9, 2019: Joseph Henderson & Andrea Drewes: "Teaching Climate Change in the United States" book
Abstract: Drs. Henderson and Drewes will present an emerging edited book project that focuses on how various groups are teaching climate change in the United States political context. We will discuss the origins of this accepted book project, our framing principles, and current chapter participants to solicit feedback from the CLEAN Network with the goal of informing the final product as we wrap up this summer. We look forward to engaging you in conversation.
Bio: Dr. Joseph Henderson is a Continuing Lecturer in the Department of Environment and Society at Paul Smith's College of the Adirondacks in Upstate New York where he teaches courses in the environmental social sciences. He is trained as an anthropologist of environmental and science education, and his research investigates how sociocultural, political and geographic factors influence teaching and learning in emerging energy and climate systems. He completed a Ph.D. at the University of Rochester, where he conducted ethnographic analyses of science learning, sustainability education, and educational policy. His post-doctoral work at the University of Delaware examined the emerging field of climate change education from a learning sciences and educational policy perspective.
Dr. Andrea Drewes is an Assistant Professor of Education at Cedar Crest College in Allentown, Pennsylvania where she teaches courses in teacher education. She is trained as a learning scientist and her research has focused on teacher preparation for climate change instruction and student learning outcomes in climate science education. She completed a Ph.D. at the University of Delaware, where she investigated personal, professional, and political influences on science teacher identity development for teaching climate change through a narrative inquiry with climate change educators.
View the recording here (MP4 Video 134.6MB Apr11 19)
April 2, 2019: Beth Osnes: Good Natured Comedy for Climate Communication: Drawdown, Act Up!
Abstract: This presentation will explore the use of good-natured comedy to helps students sustain hope and effectively communicate climate solutions. This project seeks to diversify the modes of comedy that can be used in climate communication beyond satire to others that are possibly more hopeful and supportive of sustained engagement and action. Beth Osnes, Professor of Theatre and Environmental Studies at the University of Colorado, will share her experience developing and presenting this work. Useful approaches for engaging students in fun and creative ways will be shared.
Bio: Beth Osnes PhD, is an Associate Professor of Theatre and Environmental Studies at the University of Colorado. She is co-director of Inside the Greenhouse, an initiative for creative communication on climate (www.insidethegreenhouse.net). She recently toured an original musical Shine to cities in the Rockefeller Foundation 100 Resilient Cities Initiative to facilitate local youth voices in resilience planning, and published the book Performance for Resilience: Engaging Youth on Energy and Climate through Music, Movement, and Theatre. Open Source Materials for using Shine to engage youth are available at: http://www.insidethegreenhouse.org/shine. She is currently developing a method towards vocal empowerment for young women that she is researching in Guatemala, Tanzania, Egypt, and the USA (http://speak.world). Her book Theatre for Women's Participation in Sustainable Development includes her work specific to gender equity in Panama, Guatemala, India, Nicaragua and the Navajo Nation. She is featured in the award-winning documentary Mother: Caring for 7 Billion (www.motherthefilm.com).
You can find the presentation slides here (Acrobat (PDF) 221MB Apr1 19).
View the recording here (MP4 Video 493.8MB Apr4 19)
March 26, 2019: Continuation of CLEAN Network Discussion on AGU 2019, NSTA 2020, NAAEE 2019, & AMS 2020 session proposals
Abstract: We will continue our discussion of conferences with upcoming session proposal deadlines. We are hoping to have a coordinated presence from CLEAN at these meetings and during this call we want to finalize plans for sessions or coordinate teams to do so. If you are unable to attend the teleconference call but are interested in being part of coordination efforts for any of these conferences, please add your name to the respective conference worksheet/tab on this Google Sheet
View the recording here (MP4 Video 31.4MB Mar26 19)
March 19, 2019: CLEAN Network Discussion on AGU 2019, NSTA 2020, & AMS 2020 session proposals
View the recording here (MP4 Video 33.5MB Mar26 19)
March 12, 2019: Frank Niepold: NSTA Priorities Discussion
Bio: Frank Niepold is the Climate Education Coordinator at NOAA's Climate Program Office in Silver Spring Maryland, Climate.gov Education section lead, a co-chair of the U.S. Global Change Research Program's Education Interagency Working Group, the U.S. Climate Action Report Education, Training, and Outreach chapter lead for the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Education and Youth delegate for the United States at the 2015 Conference of Parties (COP21), and a member of the Federal Steering Committee for the Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4). At NOAA, he develops and implements NOAA's Climate goal education and outreach efforts that specifically relate to NOAA's Climate goal and literacy objective. Frank is the "Teaching Climate" lead for NOAA's Climate.gov web portal that offers learning activities and curriculum materials, multi-media resources, and professional development opportunities for formal and informal educators who want to incorporate climate science into their work. Additionally, he is the managing lead of the U.S. Global Change Research Program (GCRP) document, Climate Literacy: The Essential Principles of Climate Science. NOAA, NSF, NASA, AAAS Project 2061, CIRES, American Meteorological Society, and various members from both the science and education community worked to define climate literacy in the United States.
Abstract: the upcoming National Science Teachers Association National Conference in St. Louis, MO from April 11th to 14th the CLEAN Community along with those working in Climate and Energy Literacy could support each other and teachers better. The NSTA conference will begin with concurrent sessions on Thursday, April 11, at 8:00 AM and end on Sunday, April 14, at 12 Noon. Given the increase in importance of climate at NSTA due to the release of the "Teaching of Climate Science" Position Statementcould we coordinate our work? During this CLEAN Weekly call, we will discuss if and how we could work together more effectively.
Presentation slides can be found here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1K8zid9cp7aP4HL7D18WuK67YMb3RtyzUivFbw6J8xhw/edit#slide=id.g51e91c4ae1_0_534
A PDF Version of the presentation slides can be found here: Frank's_NSTA_slides (Acrobat (PDF) 1.2MB Mar12 19)
View the recording here (MP4 Video 76.1MB Mar13 19)
March 5, 2019: Judy Twedt: Climate data communication through digital sound arts
Bio: Judy Twedt creates music from climate data, and studies how people relate to both visual and auditory displays of climate information. She has a masters degree in Atmospheric Sciences, is a doctoral candidate at the University of Washington and a 2018 invited speaker for TedX Seattle. Her work is marked by the goal of connecting to climate change across differences, whether disciplinary, socio-cultural, or generational. She is also a 5th generation Washingtonian, from a family of farmers, settlers, and loggers.
Abstract: What happens to our perception of climate change when we listen to climate data? Does the process of creating music from climate data change our relationship to the science? These are questions I have been asking, through surveys and informal interviews with listeners and students. In this presentation, I will share preliminary results from teaching with data sonificiation in public outreach, in undergraduate classes, and in workshops for children. I will also share a composition, and discuss my own process of turning data into music.
You can find the presentation slides here (Acrobat (PDF) 4.9MB Mar5 19).
View the recording here (MP4 Video 184.4MB Mar5 19)
February 26, 2019: Alexis Frasz: Creative Strategies for engaging people around climate change
Bio: Alexis Frasz is co-director of Helicon Collaborative. Helicon is a strategy and research consultancy focused on understanding and activating culture as a force for social and environmental change. Helicon's work at the intersection of art and environment is based on the idea that environmental problems are cultural at their root. In other words, the problem isn't really the environment "out there," it is "in here"—in our sense of identity, what we find meaningful, how we imagine our future, our social norms and dominant values. Our society won't be able to make more decisive progress on environmental issues, regardless of our technical know-how, until we understand and shift the underlying cultural narratives and ideas that guide our individual and collective behavior. Helicon's work at this intersection has been focused on understanding and articulating what works--how artists and cultural strategies contribute to environmental progress and what approaches are most effective and why. We think it is essential to direct the outpouring of creative energy towards the activities that will have the greatest environmental impact.
Abstract: This presentation will offer insights from research on how arts and culture can help us adapt to climate change and take action to move towards a more sustainable future. It attempts to bust the myth that the most important role for art is helping to raise awareness about climate change, suggesting that instead we need to leverage the role art can play in helping us grapple with hard realities and imagine new possibilities.
You can find the presentation slides here (Acrobat (PDF) 3.5MB Feb25 19)
View the recording here (MP4 Video 99.8MB Feb26 19)
February 19, 2019: Mark McCaffrey: Powers of 10 Research
Bio: Mark grew up at the foot of the Rocky Mountains and after learning about the hydrologic cycle in school and spending summers playing in ditches and creeks....and later becoming a river guide on the Colorado River and its tributaries...he attempted to start a water magazine and television network in New York City in the 1980s. Later returning to Colorado he helped establish BASIN, the Boulder Area Sustainability Information Network, focused on water and sustainability issues in the Boulder Creek Watershed, and over a decade ago co-founded CLEAN. He also helped establish the National Center for Science Education's climate education initiative and he now lives in central Europe, where he had an appointment with the Institute for Sustainable Development Studies.
Abstract: A new "Powers of 10" (P10) logarithmic optimization framework offers a social perspective and practical tool in the climate action space by complementing technology, business, finance and policy paradigms and existing social frameworks. P10 identifies optimal population cohorts for climate actions between a single individual and the globally projected ~10 billion persons by 2050. Applying a robust dataset of climate actions from Project Drawdown's Plausible scenario, we find prioritizing community to urban-focused climate actions can help complement top-down and bottom-up efforts. The versatility and practicality of the P10 framework supports policies and practices for rapid sustainability transformation, helping blend and maximize individual and collective agencies for innovation, decision-making, and the collective impact of climate action at scale. In addition to adding precision to efforts to optimize the appropriate scaling of climate action, the P10 framework and approach has pedagogical and practical potential by conveying the continuum between individuals and all of humanity and helping frame the nested relationships of structures and systems within society.
You can find the presentation slides here (Acrobat (PDF) 6MB Feb15 19)
View the recording here (MP4 Video 103.8MB Feb20 19)
February 12, 2019: Frank Granshaw and Don Hass: Using VR in Climate Education
Bio: Don Haas is the Director of Teacher Programs at The Paleontological Research Institution and its Museum of the Earth & Cayuga Nature Center in Ithaca, NY. He is Past President of NAGT. Don's work in public outreach, teacher education, teacher professional development and curriculum materials development marries deep understandings of how people learn with deep understandings of the Earth system. Frank Granshaw currently works at the Department of Geology, Portland State University. Frank does research in Educational Technology, Glacial Geology, and Remote Sensing. Frank is actively involved in climate and sustatinability education and advocacy through PSU, Greater Portland Sustainability Education Network, Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon Creation Justice Program, and the Union of Concerned Scientists' Science Network.
Abstract: Climate change has sometimes been characterized as a slow motion train wreck - big, distant, and often abstract. Increasingly virtual reality is being used to make the impacts of climate disruption more tangible. The aim of this talk is to explore the question; "how, as climate educators, can we best leverage this emerging technology to better do our jobs?" In addition to looking at available VR media, we will also look at how we can author our own media or better yet have students do so. This webcast will include time for brainstorming how we as a community can use this technology in our own work.
You can find the presentation slides here (Acrobat (PDF) 3.7MB Feb12 19)
February 5, 2019: Max Boykoff: Creative (Climate) Communications: Productive Pathways for Science, Policy, and Society
Abstract: Conversations about climate change at the science-policy interface and in our lives have been stuck. In this presentation I highlight some dimensions of my 2019 book 'Creative (Climate) Communications' that integrates lessons from the social sciences and humanities to more effectively make connections through issues, people, and things that everyday citizens care about. This has worked to enhance our understanding that there is no 'silver bullet' to communications about climate change. It argues that a 'silver buckshot' approach is needed instead, where strategies effectively reach different audiences in different contexts. Tactics emanating from this approach can then significantly improve efforts that seek meaningful, substantive, and sustained responses to contemporary climate challenges. I argue that it can also help to effectively re-capture a common or middle ground on climate change in the public arena. The book documents, analyzes and evaluates endeavors that harness creativity to try to better understand what kinds of communications work where, when, why, and under what conditions in the twenty-first century.
Bio: Maxwell Boykoff is the Director of the Center for Science and Technology Policy, which is part of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado-Boulder. He also is an Associate Professor in the Environmental Studies program and is Adjunct faculty in the Geography Department. In addition, Max is a Senior Visiting Research Associate in the Environmental Change Institute at the University of Oxford.
Max has ongoing interests in cultural politics and environmental governance, science and environmental communications, science-policy interactions, political economy and the environment, and climate adaptation He has experience working in North America, Central America, South Asia, Oceania and Europe, and is a co-author and editor of six books and edited volumes, along with over fifty articles and book chapters.
You can find the presentation slides here (Acrobat (PDF) 949kB Feb8 19)
View the recording here (MP4 Video 58.3MB Feb8 19)
January 29, 2019: Shelly Sommer: Act on Climate
Abstract: Shelly Sommer will share the origin story and purpose of Act on Climate (https://seec.colorado.edu/act), a website developed by volunteers immersed in climate and environmental research at CU Boulder. The site is meant to help us answer the question we almost always hear at the end of any public talk on climate change: "What is the most important thing I should do about climate?" Too often, we don't have a good answer to that question, and let that moment of activation slip away. Act on Climate is structured to help people who are already concerned about climate move toward action without having to take on a large cognitive load, and to assist communicators and scientists in reducing barriers to effective action among their audiences.
The presentation will share the inside process of creating the site, and expose some of the collaboration, considerations, and luck it required. Call participants are invited to use the site directly or cannibalize it for parts that may forward their own work. If time allows, discussion may focus on philosophical or practical questions that could shift the future of Act on Climate.
Bio: Shelly Sommer is the Information & Outreach Director at the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR) at CU Boulder, and director of the informal Albert A. Bartlett Science Communication Center. She brings a strong background in analytics and evidence-based approaches to goals to collaborative work with diverse stakeholders. Current hats include bridging science and society, science communication, content strategy, and library management. She was previously a librarian for many years.
You can find the presentation slides here (Acrobat (PDF) 1.1MB Feb4 19)
View the recording here (MP4 Video 107.5MB Feb4 19)
January 22, 2019: Informal Discussion
This session was an informal discussion among attendees. Watch the recording here (MP4 Video 14.1MB Jan28 19).
January 15, 2019: Don Haas & Ingrid Zabel: Climate and Energy Exhibit at the Museum of the Earth
Bios
Dr. Ingrid Zabel is the Climate Change Education Manager at PRI, and is interested in building public understanding of the science and societal impact of climate change. Ingrid leads climate change science activities with youth and the public at the Cayuga Nature Center, the Museum of the Earth, and schools in Ithaca, NY and New York City. She also develops science exhibit content, manages citizen science projects, and she is one of the authors of PRI's Teacher-Friendly Guide to Climate Change. She is the Curator of two state-level portals to climate change resources: the New York Climate Change Science Clearinghouse and Resilient MA, for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Don Haas is the Director of Teacher Programs at The Paleontological Research Institution and its Museum of the Earth & Cayuga Nature Center in Ithaca, NY. He is Past President of NAGT. Don's work in public outreach, teacher education, teacher professional development and curriculum materials development marries deep understandings of how people learn with deep understandings of the Earth system. He is a nationally regarded expert in climate and energy education, place-based and technology-rich Earth and environmental science education. He also is co-author of the books,The Teacher-Friendly Guide to Climate Change and The Science Beneath the Surface: A Very Short Guide to the Marcellus Shale.He served on the Earth & Space Science Design Team for the National Research Council's A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas. Don has taught at Colgate, Cornell, and Michigan State Universities, Kalamazoo College, and Tapestry and Norwich (New York) High Schools.
View the recording here (MP4 Video 51MB Jan15 19)
January 8, 2019: Tim Grant: Books for teaching about climate change
Abstract: In the past 2 years, Green Teacher has published 2 books of interest to CLEAN members. The first, Teaching Teens about Climate Change, was designed for those that work with teenagers, inside and outside of schools. The second, Teaching Kids about Climate Change, was designed for educators who work with children aged 5-14, again inside and outside of schools. The majority of articles, activities and teaching strategies found in each of these 80 page paperbacks were published from Green Teacher magazine, subsequent to the publication in 2001 of our book Teaching about Climate Change. In his presentation, Tim will highlight a few of the contributions to each of these new books.
Bio: Tim Grant is the publisher and former editor of Green Teacher, a non-profit magazine for youth educators. During his 26 years at Green Teacher, he edited/co-edited 9 books, including Teaching about Climate Change (2001) which sold 25,000+ copies before going out of print two years ago. Before stepping down as editor, Tim hosted 85 webinars, including 3 related to climate change education. He lives in Toronto, Ontario.
You can find the presentation slides here (Acrobat (PDF) 1.2MB Feb4 19)
Watch the recording here (Acrobat (PDF) 1.2MB Feb4 19)