UC Carbon Neutrality Initiative: Faculty Curriculum Workshop and Networking Event Leveraging faculty expertise to embed climate change across the curriculum JANE TERANES ASSOCIATE TEACHING FACULTY, SCRIPPS INSTITUTION OF OCEANOGRAPHY, UC SAN DIEGO FACULTY DIRECTOR, ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS PROGRAM SARA MCKINSTRY SUSTAINABILITY DIRECTOR, UC SAN DIEGO

The Good News on Climate Change At COP-21, the international community made significant progress on binding commitments to limit global greenhouse gas concentrations. The scientific community continues to make remarkable progress in understanding of the climate system and human-caused climate change. ◦ Higher Education Institutions in CA, including UC San Diego and Scripps Institution of Oceanography, are leaders in understanding climate change and how it threatens our planet California is a leading the nation in regulating greenhouse gas emissions. ◦ Reduce Emissions 40% Below 1990 Levels by UC Carbon Neutrality Initiative: ◦ UC has committed to zero net greenhouse gas emissions by 2025.

The Bad News – atmospheric CO 2 concentrations are still increasing CO 2 concentrations in the atmosphere continue to rise because of high global CO 2 emissions.

The Bad News – global temperatures are still rising Temperatures are at least 1.0°C above the pre-industrial average

What should higher education institutions do about this?  Continue to promote research on climate change sciences and policies and support applied research to find solutions.  Campuses should lead in sustainability and climate solutions by making significant reductions in greenhouse emissions and pledging to greater future reductions.  Yet, it may be that where colleges and universities still have the largest influence on combating climate change in the near future is in the way that we educate students.

Approaches in interdisciplinary environmental education  Interdisciplinary environmental and sustainability degree programs.  Academic courses on sustainability and courses that include topics of climate change and sustainability.

But is this enough? There are still far too many students that graduate from our campuses not understanding how to enact climate neutrality in their future professions, within their communities, and within their lifetimes.

Approaches in interdisciplinary environmental education  Interdisciplinary environmental and sustainability degree programs.  Academic courses on sustainability and courses that include topics of climate change and sustainability.  Sustainability general education requirements (?)  Approaches that will infuse climate change and sustainability education across the curriculum.

University of California - Faculty Curriculum Workshops and Networking Events Goal: Increase climate change and sustainability education especially targeting students for whom sustainability may not be a focus. Program: Funding across the UC system for workshops and networking to support faculty across disciplines who want to infuse relevant climate change or sustainability concepts into their courses. Outcomes: Curriculum Workshops for 20 faculty/campus on all UC campuses, Spring 2016 Networking Events, to be held in Fall 2016 Online Climate and Sustainability Education Resource Library (CSERL) - An online portal designed to share educational resources across campuses and disciplines

Workshop model: 20 faculty from a breadth of disciplines develop plans to infuse aspects of climate change into existing undergraduate courses. Leverage faculty expertise to infuse climate change education across disciplines Enhance UC San Diego students’ climate literacy, particularly for those students whose major focus is not on sustainability topics. Provide support to non-specialist faculty in learning key climate science concepts that underpin our understanding of climate change. Encourage modules of climate change content in courses in the humanities, social sciences and arts that are best positioned to address the important human and social dimensions of climate change.

UC San Diego Workshop Results Faculty Participants: 21 faculty participants from 19 different departments Courses Represented:  Faculty regularly teaching 27 different courses across campus.  Most courses did not already contain sustainability/climate change content.  Over two-thirds of the faculty participants regularly taught large enrollment course (>200 students), and one-forth taught regularly taught courses of over 300 students. Future Outcomes:  Each faculty participant prepares a lecture, assignment, module, lab etc. on the topic of climate change that fits into their discipline and course.  Content will be uploaded into a UC-wide online Climate and Sustainability Education Resource Library (CSERL).

UC San Diego Workshop Results

Resources –climate change content geared for the undergraduate level Part of the Science Education Resource Center (SERC) at Carlton College

Embedding climate change across the curriculum: an example The Course: A cross-listed, large enrollment, upper division course: ESYS103/MAE124, Environmental Challenges Student Enrollment: of the 270 students enrolled  Approximately one-third Environmental Systems majors  Approximately one-third Environmental Engineers  Apprroximately one-third from other engineering majors Course format:  Lecture based technical course, with mid-term and final  Weekly writing assignments that build critical thinking skills  Research paper (3-4 pages)

Embedding climate change across the curriculum: the research paper Goal: Engage students with the UC Climate Neutrality Initiative. Research Paper Prompt: “You have a $5 million budget to invest in helping UC achieve its Carbon Neutrality Goals. Explain how you spend your money, what is needed to implement your plan, and account for how your plan reduced carbon emissions.” Assignment requirements: A well-researched paper with citations in peer-reviewed literature An explanation of the strategy/project that you have chosen to meet the UC CNI goals. A detailed budget that describes the financial costs of your plan, including eventual cost savings. The climate benefits of your plan. Include an evaluation of how many people it will serve and consider the extent to which the action will help the university reach our carbon neutrality goal.

Embedding climate change across the curriculum: outcomes  A huge variety of project ideas: many projects promoting solar panels, LED lighting, electric buses, biking infrastructure, and also additional fuel cells.  Also generated a variety of creative ideas: roof top gardens, projects to sequester carbon, prototypes for wave energy, centers for promoting innovation and education, and proposals that targeted behavior.  Generated some (appropriate) cynicism about the CNI.  Finally, there was general positive student response to the course and to the paper assignment. Representative student comments include, “The paper was the most fun part of the class. I did feel some ownership over it.”

“All education is environmental education” “All education is environmental education – by what is included or excluded we teach the young that they are part of, or apart from, the natural world.” -David Orr, author and environmental studies professor at Oberlin College.