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Fostering Public Awareness and Understanding of Atmospheric and Related SciencesDuring FY2006, SERE scientists organized and conducted more than nine national and international workshops and colloquia, bringing together scientists, stakeholders, and researchers from around the globe from a broad set of backgrounds to assist in crossing traditional disciplinary boundaries. SERE's public websites provide a vast amount of information on current activities, findings and information of interest to the general public. In addition, many of SERE's programs enhance the public's awareness and understanding of science through outreach, publications, posters and public talks. In FY2007, CCB will embark upon a new collaboration with the San Francisco Exploratorium to develop museum exhibits designed to expand the public's knowledge about climate change and its potential impacts.
Climate Affairs (HIGHLIGHT) Museum Exhibits on Climate, Water, and Weather Summer Colloquium on Climate and Health Climate Affairs
Historical background The educational and practical value for developing the notion of Climate Affairs comes from at least two aspects of climate change: (1) The apparent warming of earth's atmosphere is causing multiple, varied, as-yet-unidentified effects on local to global climate behavior. (2) Altered climate conditions over relatively short time periods will likely leave many societies unable to cope. Each year, new climate and climate-related records are being set. Decisionmakers use climate information in conjunction with other non-climate inputs. In any given situation, climate information may or may not become the major determining factor in a decision, because other socioeconomic, political, and cultural factors can (and often do) heavily influence decisionmakers. The field of Climate Affairs was developed in a conscious attempt to put climate and climate-related factors on the list of items that decisionmakers normally take into consideration. Michael Glantz, CCB, developed the idea of Climate Affairs after attending the 25th anniversary conference for the Marine Affairs Program the University of Washington in 1998. Many of the graduates of that program are professionals working in a wide range of ocean-related activities and interacting with people from different disciplines. Glantz took this approach and formalized it around climate, to show the many ways that climate can and does influence human behavior.
Relationship to NCAR Strategic Plan Climate Affairs is designed to bring attention to educators in the United States and abroad to the importance of inclusion in disciplinary course materials information about how climate, water, and weather influences human behavior and decisions. NCAR's Strategic Goal #3, "Cultivate a scientifically literate and engaged citizenry and a diverse and creative workforce," is directly and indirectly served through this program. Climate Affairs is a program and not a term-limited project. Through Climate Affairs, a broader and more diverse community is introduced to multidisciplinary research and engages in cross-fertilization of ideas (Strategic Priority #1). It supports and enhances science education at all levels, as it can be designed for undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate programs (Strategic Priority #2). Climate Affairs enables educators in a variety of disciplines to improve and enhance their understanding of the ways in which climate affects society, and society affects climate (Strategic Priority #3). The Climate Affairs program allows institutions and individuals to spark an interest in climate knowledge and help to develop climate literacy among those whose careers are not necessarily in scientific fields. This helps to advance innovation and creativity (Strategic Priority #4).
Description Climate Affairs provides a research and educational template for a truly multidisciplinary activity. CCB is fostering this template for undergraduate and graduate education and training. While a linking of science and policy is considered to be multidisciplinary, it leaves out other important considerations such as climate ethics and equity issues. The "Affairs" template requires an activity to include the following component fields: science; impacts, both on societies and on ecosystems; politics, domestic and international; policy and law; economics relating to cost/benefit assessments; and ethics and equity, which means looking at the ethical aspects of climate-society-environment interactions. The program seeks to educate educators and train the trainers on how to bring multidisciplinary aspects of climate into their curricula.
Timeframe Glantz authored a book, Climate Affairs: A Primer (Island Press, 2003) that delineates the template for use in "educating the educators and training the trainers" in the framework of Climate Affairs. The idea of Climate Affairs was first developed by Glantz and implemented as a Masters Program in 2004 at Columbia University directed by Mark Cane, entitled "Climate and Society." This twelve-month program trains professionals and academics to understand and cope with the impacts of climate variability and climate change on society and the environment. CCB has also provided backup to a Climate Affairs Center at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, and developed proposals for taking the notion to Historic Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), among other activities (see illustration). As one can see from the illustration, much has been accomplished already, but other plans are in progress for further expansion and implementation into areas other than simply climate issues.
Accomplishments FY2006: Milestones and Outputs CCB involved several graduate students in the development of Climate Affairs during FY2006, including the development of a Spanish website. The SERE Lab provided funds to CCB that allowed it to bring several visitors to NCAR in order to make strategic decisions about future directions for this activity. The CCB Director was invited to numerous conferences and centers during FY2006 to give information to interested educators and stakeholders. A workshop held in Bangkok in March introduced several new universities and training centers in Southeast Asia to the idea of Climate Affairs. As climate changes with global warming of the earth's atmosphere, societies will gradually, and in some cases precipitously, be forced to respond to and cope with events and processes that will surprise them. Climate Affairs and building the capacity of developing countries to respond to these changes is a major focus of Climate Affairs. A report was prepared from the workshop proceedings that is available on line and in hard copy (www.ccb.ucar.edu/apn/report).
Next Steps FY2007 The notion has expanded in CCB from Climate Affairs to include Water Affairs, El Niño Affairs, Coastal Urban Affairs, Desert Affairs, and several others within China. During FY2007, CCB will hold an international workshop in Hanoi, Vietnam (with funding from NSF and the World Meteorological Organization) for hydrologists in South and Southeast Asia to introduce them to the Climate Affairs approach. CCB will also present the notion at COP12 (12th Conference of Parties) for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Nairobi, Kenya. The inauguration of at least one new center in China's Heilongjiang Province will also take place in FY2007. This program has received funding from NSF, with additional funding from the World Meteorological Organization, the Food and Agricultural Organization, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Office of Global Programs. Seed funding from NSF was instrumental in bringing this program into existence.
Museum Exhibits on Climate, Water, Weather
Millions of people of all ages, representing a cross section of society, pass through the doors of museums. They often leave these museums having learned from the exhibits they visit, even if what they glean is only a visual impression about the interactions among science, society, and the environment. Museum exhibits, however, have the ability to bring more scientific information to the public than they do at present and could be better utilized to show how climate, water, and weather issues have shaped our society over millennia. Also, no longer is it just climate and weather that influence the hydrological cycle. The behavior of people and society (anthropogenic forces) now should be added to the list of such influences. Museum exhibits can be expanded from their present state to more fully demonstrate the scientific theories behind climate change and climate variability. During the past two years, Michael Glantz of SERE's CCB has been exploring the concept of bridging activities between national science and technology museums (NSTMs) and national meteorological and hydrological services (NMHSs) with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The WMO has the scientific and technological credibility and information through its NMHSs that is usable and needed now by various members of society, and the NSTMs have the audiences and demonstrated public outreach methods. During FY2006, a Concept Paper was prepared for the WMO by Glantz to explore possible future collaboration, and a WMO panel agreed to the findings. Because of WMO budget constraints for calendar year 2006, the WMO is delaying action on this activity until spring 2007. Glantz was also appointed as an Osher Fellow at the San Francisco Exploratorium (California) for 2006 and has made several presentations to promote the idea of museum exhibits to help the public gain a broader understanding of the atmospheric sciences. The Exploratorium is a hands-on science museum with more than 500 exhibits. Several interactive museum exhibits are being created through this interaction that will concentrate on climate-society interactions. These two collaborations will continue into FY2007. Funding for these projects is provided from the National Science Foundation, with additional funding from the San Francisco Exploratorium.
Summer Colloquium on Climate and Health
The ASP/ISSE Summer Climate and Health Colloquium, first initiated in 2004, is a bi-annual workshop which exposes graduate and postgraduate students to methods for integrating climate change, climate variability, and public health research. It includes presentations by experts in the field of climate and health, opportunities for students to discuss integrated work with leaders in their respective fields, and hands-on experience with analytic tools. The first bi-annual colloquium provided an overview of many climate and health issues. Based on participant feedback, future sessions were tailored to address more specific topics. To this end, the Summer Climate and Health Colloquium 2006 highlighted ongoing national and international multidisciplinary climate- and health-related projects involving vector-borne disease. The intent of the Colloquium is three-fold: 1) to introduce interdisciplinary methodology and research which are applicable to those in academia, pure and applied research, and policy-making institutions; 2) to foster collegial networks and future collaborations; and 3) to provide participants with an opportunity to discuss issues of health and climate research and interdisciplinarity, drawing from their own cross-cultural expertise. Seventeen participants from six countries participated in the 2006 Colloquium, which was held 16-22 July. Sessions included an overview of climate variability and climate extremes, working with demographic and health data, infectious disease epidemiology, qualitative and quantitative research methods, and social vulnerability. Through tutorials and hands-on experience, participants were also introduced to the use of regional climate models at differing spatial and temporal scales and the use of remote sensing to be used in predicting disease. The next planned Climate and Health Colloquium is scheduled for summer 2008 with a tentative focus on the health-related impacts of pollution and air quality. The Colloquium series is supported by the National Science Foundation.
The first Girl Scouts at NCAR event entitled, "Weather and Climate: The Two Go Together" was held at NCAR in October 2004. The event was conceived and implemented by two ASP postdoctoral fellows who wanted to get girls excited about science and to motivate those girls to consider a career in science. The fellows partnered with UCAR's Office of Education and Outreach and developed a program based upon research which demonstrates that girls benefit from:
With the help of multiple female NCAR scientists who lend their support, the Girl Scout Event at NCAR provides a perfect learning environment to bring science to girls, while giving the girls an opportunity to earn a badge from the Girl Scouts. In FY2006, two new postdoctoral fellows, Kristen Corbosiero and Vani Cheruvu, took over the event planning and implementation. Two Girl Scout events were held on May 13, 2006 and on September 23, 2006. Both events included movies of female scientists, talks by female scientists, hands-on activities with take-home workbooks and at the May event, a weather balloon launch. The September event focused some time during the afternoon on hurricanes. The May event drew 40 Girl Scouts and the September event hosted 51, a record. The event always scores high remarks from the girls and the adults who participate. Some of this year's comments included:
The adult volunteers' comments included:
Because ASP postdocs have two-year appointments, the future of this event will always hinge on new volunteers taking over every one to two years. Three new ASP postdocs plan to make this event happen in 2007. The Girl Scouts at NCAR Events are funded by the NSF.
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