The Future of Climate Science Training
Wednesday, 15 December 2021 | 12:45 - 14:15 (New Orleans) | Online Only
More on our activities at the AGU Fall Meeting: WCRP: AGU Fall Meeting 2021
Now, more than ever, the world needs climate scientists. Climate expertise is particularly needed in countries most vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change. Although there is a large amount of excellent climate science training available around the world, access to this training is uncoordinated and dependent on factors other than the skill or need of those who need to access it. Barriers to access to training are primarily geographical and financial.
Throughout the COVID-19 global pandemic, the quality and quantity of training that has been provided using virtual tools has been astonishing. The future for global climate science training looks bright, with these same tools making it possible for the best and brightest early career researchers to benefit from training that meets their needs delivered from institutions around the world. The new WCRP Academy lighthouse activity seeks to use this moment of transformation to deliver a step-change in our ability to connect learners and educators around the world. The ambition of the Academy is to be the first global marketplace for climate science training, helping researchers to learn about and access training and training institutions to build sustainable courses that can be delivered in-person, blended, or virtually.
This session will be part of our first global climate science training stock-take. The stock-take will establish what training is needed and where and how that training might be delivered. We plan an innovative session that mixes invited presentations from:
- leading organizations already delivering climate science training,
- online and blended learning pioneers, and
- early career researchers from around the world,
with a town-hall-style discussion that allows AGU members and conference attendees to give their views and feedback on the development of the WCRP Academy to date and the state of climate science training. Moderators will ensure that the discussion reveals the areas where there is a deficit of training and the barriers to greater training uptake. Virtual participation from around the world will be vital to furthering our understanding of the training task at hand and also serve to demonstrate what is possible in the new post-COVID world.
The WCRP Academy in general and this special session aligns very strongly with AGU's strategic goals of Global Collaboration and Science Education. Our aim to connect early career researchers with the best climate science educators regardless of geography or financial support exemplifies the open and diverse scientific culture that AGU seeks to promote.
Chairs
Angela Maharaj
Co-chair WCRP Academy. University of New South Wales Sydney, Australia
Christopher Lennard
Co-chair WCRP Academy. University of Cape Town, South Africa
Narelle van der Wel
World Climate Research Programme Secretariat, Switzerland
Speakers
Caroline Mol
Jon Padgham
Dr. Jon Padgham is the Executive Director of START. Over the past 13 years at START, Dr. Padgham has led or co-led several science capacity development projects and programs in Africa and Asia that engaged early career researchers. His work includes strengthening analytical and communication skills for applying climate model projections to adaptation decision making, advancing understanding of climate change adaptation in drylands and urban food systems. His experience in capacity development includes scientific writing, science communication across disciplines, persuasive communications of science to policy and other stakeholder communities, research and assessment methods, building links to global science assessments, and building mentorship bridges between junior and senior academics. Prior to joining START, Jon worked at the World Bank and the US Agency for International Development on climate change adaptation initiatives. At the World Bank, he developed a study detailing where Bank investments are needed to build adaptive capacity in the agriculture sector. At USAID he managed adaption projects and helped to develop a guidance manual on climate change adaptation for that agency’s field operations. Jon received a PhD in soil science from Cornell University.
Garima Raheja
Garima Raheja (she/her) is a PhD candidate at Columbia University, researching air pollution and its impacts on urban communities around the world. Garima serves as a US Department of State Air Quality Fellow, AGU Thriving Earth Exchange Community Science Fellow, and sits on the Bay Area Air Quality Management District Advisory Council. She has worked with NASA, NOAA, the University of Washington, the University of Hawaii, Code for America and the Bay Area Environmentally Aware Consulting Network, and has been involved in K-12 education initiatives with the Oakland Unified School District and Columbia Double Discovery Center, and has led curriculum and course development at UC Berkeley and Columbia. Garima has a BS in Civil/Environmental Engineering and a BA in Data Science from the University of California, Berkeley. You can follow her on Twitter at @rahejagarima or check out her website.
Ardhasena Sopaheluwakan
Ardhasena Sopaheluwakan is the Director of the Center for Applied Climate Services at the Indonesian Agency for Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics (BMKG). BMKG plays a leading role in advising many education and training activities in the Asia-Pacific Region.