Collaborative Research: GP-GO: Climate Leaders Academy: a professional development opportunity in the geosciences

Vanderbilt University, Nashville TN

Investigators

Abstract

Climate change is the most pressing societal challenge of our time, and students within higher education need new training and skills to prepare them to lead on climate solutions—both in their professional careers and as global citizens. The geosciences are central to climate leadership, but for the geosciences to contribute meaningfully to policy solutions, understanding of and engagement across a range of disciplines is increasingly necessary. To meet this need, the Climate Leaders Academy (CLA) will formalize interdisciplinary climate-training and professional development through a cohort model that brings together undergraduates and graduate students from a diverse set of institutions and backgrounds. The PIs will directly engage participants in national and international climate change frameworks, and provide financial support, formalized mentoring, an established network of ongoing support, and transferable undergraduate and graduate-level course credits. Climate change is one of the most difficult societal challenges of our time, and expertise and leadership from nearly all fields of study are needed. Graduates from our nation’s colleges and universities need new training and skills to prepare them to lead on climate change issues, which includes an understanding of the national and international frameworks of which the U.S. is a part. In addition, certain populations in the U.S. are still disproportionately under-represented in U.S. climate studies, meaning there is a substantial un-tapped talent-pool of potential leaders. This program establishes a Climate Leaders Academy to (i) foster optimism regarding the nation’s and the world’s capacity to address climate change; (ii) train students in the interactions across many fields that are necessary to develop climate change solutions, including law, policy, science, and engineering; (iii) advance societal understanding of climate change, its impacts, and potential solutions; and (iv) using the international climate change negotiations as a learning platform, train U.S. students to engage across cultures, countries, and different fields of study. The project will prepare participants to compete in a global work force that is increasingly demanding and providing better opportunities for climate-educated graduates. The project is uniquely aligned with Program, Agency and Administration priorities. Most importantly, providing real-time training opportunities for participants in international negotiation techniques which the Program sees as an innovative skillset that will allow grad students to be prepared for the necessities of international collaboration around the critical subject of climate change. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.