How to Study Climate Change in College

Marches, strikes, student walkouts and other demonstrations have occurred recently as concern about climate change heats up. High school and college students have been at the forefront of this emerging movement, demanding action to address global warming and its effects.

According to a 2018 Gallup poll, 70% of Americans ages 18 to 34 are worried "a great deal or a fair amount" about the climate and global warming.

Similarly, a Washington Post and Kaiser Family Foundation poll in 2018 found that roughly one in four teenagers was politically engaged around the topic of climate change and took some action in the past three years. Those active teens reported "participating in a protest or school walk-out, or contacting a government official" to engage the issue.

"They're very thoughtful, they're very concerned," says Paul Chinowsky, a professor and director of the environmental design program at the University of Colorado--Boulder and associate vice-provost for student success. "I think the biggest frustration they have is that changes don't come faster. And they want to know how they can make those changes happen quicker."

For students hoping to channel that passion into a career, there are numerous ways to do so. Experts note that the issue of climate change is expansive, spanning many professional fields and touching wide-ranging industries.

"Climate change affects everyone, and it's everyone's responsibility," says Nate Mosier, a professor and interim head of the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at Purdue University--West Lafayette. "We try to instill in our students that regardless of what career they go into, they can make an impact."

[Read: What a College Major Is and How It Can Shape Your Future.]

STEM Jobs and Climate Change

To understand the nuances of climate change, scientific knowledge is required. That makes majors in the STEM fields -- science, technology, engineering and math -- a natural pathway to addressing issues of climate change.

Within STEM, some programs naturally open up doors to opportunities to address climate change, experts say.

"Certainly, environmental studies is a good major to go into, or geology, or geosciences, earth sciences. Those are the fields that I would typically recommend" to study changes in climate, says Yvette Bordeaux, director of the Professional Masters Programs in earth and environmental science at the University of Pennsylvania.

Likewise, agricultural engineering is a field that Mosier sees directly linked to issues of climate change. This is particularly the case as changing weather patterns reduce crop yields, potentially threatening food supply globally.

"There's a number of ways that climate change affects agriculture," Mosier says. "Rainfall patterns are changing as climate changes; that affects crop and food production. As temperatures change, it changes planting and harvest times. How those complex changes affect where, how and how much food we can produce is a pressing and important question that we need to understand and be able to address."

Students entering a field such as agricultural engineering may take on various challenges, such as developing biofuels or alternatives to meat, or overseeing a company's efforts to reduce its contribution to changes in climate.

"You may have a title like food process engineer," Mosier says. "That may not sound like it's a job in addressing climate change, but if your mission is to make sure that a simple-sounding potato chip factory has zero waste output, that has a positive impact on the environment."

[Read: A Guide to STEM Majors.]

Jobs in civil, architectural and environmental engineering can also play key roles in mitigating damage caused by changes in climate. City planning and architectural design can be far-reaching when it comes to climate change. Designing urban environments touches on transit systems, which can affect the use of fossil fuels and thus air quality. Similarly, building design comprises matters such as proper land use, energy requirements and regulations.

"These disciplines are really about designing the built environment around us," Chinowsky says. "The planning of towns, designing of the parks. All of the things that you would normally experience in your day-to-day going around town. All the things that are designed and built around you, and how they interact with the environment."

While students in these fields may not go on to be climate scientists, Chinowsky says that they can have an impact, working as city planners or sustainability coordinators who help localities reduce damage to the environment.

Similar roles exist in the corporate world, Bordeaux says, with opportunities available in areas such as business and finance, where graduates can help companies prepare for and mitigate effects of climate change in supply chains.

Undergraduates may also find the opportunity to study climate issues as colleges launch initiatives to reduce their carbon footprints or engage in research projects. One such example is the University Climate Change Coalition, which features school leaders working with local and state officials to address the warming of the planet.

Liberal Arts and Climate Change

Opportunities to work on global climate change are not limited to those in STEM. The liberal arts also have a role.

" Sociology, English, political science, all of those are really now contributing very heavily to climate change work," Chinowsky says. "A lot of climate change deals with how the public is going to work together, come together, how we're going to actually get people's opinions to focus on some of this, and a lot of that is in the sociology field."

Chinowsky encourages students to take science classes in college to develop a basic literacy to be able to communicate about climate change. He adds that students should look to thought leaders in the field that they follow and examine their backgrounds and how they developed skills to communicate how climate is changing.

Interested students should also ask themselves what kind of impact they want to have in the fight against climate change. Do they want to go to work in a lab, in the field or at a keyboard?

Mosier describes science as a tool for understanding what's happening with climate change and why. Having scientific literacy around the issues of global climate change can make a student appealing to an employer, he says.

[Read: Why Undergraduate Research Matters in College.]

"Employers look for students that not only understand that climate change is an issue but understand something about how the climate is changing, and how technologies could be applied in order to mitigate the change that is happening, and prevent further change from occurring," Mosier says.

Nondegree Pathways to Work in Climate Change

Academic opportunities to understand climate change are offered at levels other than a bachelor's degree. For example, the University of Pennsylvania recently rolled out a four-class certificate program focused on the topic of climate change.

The certificate is comprised of classes in oceanography, atmospheric science, climate change and communicating science. With each class lasting eight weeks, it's possible for a student to complete the certificate in under a year.

While students of all ages and professional levels are welcomed, the certificate was developed for the purpose of continuing education, explains Kristine Rabberman, assistant vice dean and director of academic affairs at Penn's College of Liberal and Professional Studies in the School of Arts and Sciences.

Students give varying reasons for entering the certificate program.

"They want to find ways to develop and grow, they may have new job opportunities that are opening up for them that may require them to develop more information," Rabberman says. "We also know that there are a lot of students out there that want to contribute to their communities in different ways. Sometimes it could just be a student who wants to feel that she is making a really active, engaged contribution to her community by learning more about a very pressing issue."

Regardless of the reasons for studying climate science, academics say that doing so has broad applications.

"We feel that when we look at climate change," Bordeaux says, "that it is a topic and it's an issue that shouldn't simply be reserved for the interest of professional scientists who are working and doing original research in that area."

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