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Understanding Global Change

Understanding Global Change
August 4–8, 2014

A NEW UCMP Summer Institute for environmental science, earth science, and biology middle and high school teachers!

The University of California Museum of Paleontology, together with the National Center for Science Education, will launch a new web resource — Understanding Global Change — at the end of 2014. The resource will provide vetted scientific content, teaching resources, and strategies for K-16 educators to effectively incorporate the complex and critically important topic of global change into existing curricula.

The goal of the workshop is to preview parts of the new website, provide feedback to the UCMP and NCSE, review related teaching resources and supplemental materials that support the teaching of global change, and explore connections to the Next Generation Science Standards. The workshop will also feature invited speakers, prominent scientists whose research intersects with a variety of global change issues, from climate change to ocean acidification.

Monday through Friday, August 4–8, 2014
UC Museum of Paleontology, 2063 Valley Life Sciences Building, UC Berkeley
9:00 am to 3:00 pm

$75.00 for five days; includes free resources distributed to participating teachers plus morning and afternoon snacks.

Please save the date and register early; we expect the course to fill up quickly!

Institute schedule

Monday, August 4
8:15-8:30 am Registration
8:30-9:00 Coffee and munchies
9:00-9:30 Introductions and logistics
9:30-10:45 A conversation with Ben Santer, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Intergovernmental panel on climate change
Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of the next generation. How we approach the science with students, will determine how they understand and work to mitigate the challenges ahead. In this talk, we will address the fundamentals of climate change, the wealth of evidence and the predictions for the future.
10:45-11:00 Break
11:00-12:15 A conversation with Adina Paytan, UC Santa Cruz
Ocean acidification — The other CO2 problem
The increasing use of fossil fuels, combined with the effects of deforestation, has led to an overall increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide by nearly 40% over pre-industrial levels. Currently at 400 parts per million by volume, this number is expected to rise substantially by the year 2100. This rate of increase is at least an order of magnitude faster than has occurred for many millions of years. About 30% of anthropogenic CO2 added to the atmosphere has been sequestered by the oceans and changes in aqueous CO2 levels are associated with changes in carbonate chemistry. Popularly known as "ocean acidification," these changing balances in water chemistry are likely to impact many aspects of marine ecosystems, and are one of the most important environmental concerns of our time. Understanding the fundamentals of coral calcification is a crucial first step in predicting the response of corals and coral reef ecosystems to future climate change, including ocean acidification.
12:15-1:00 Lunch with the scientists (bring your own lunch)
1:00-3:00 Classroom activities: HHMI and the Earth Viewer App
 
Tuesday, August 5
8:30-9:00 am Coffee and munchies
9:00-9:15 Morning warm-up and logistics for the day
9:15-10:00 Understanding Global Change website
10:00-10:45 KQED: Online interactive resources and eBooks
10:45-11:00 Break
11:00-12:15 UGC classroom activity: Connecting global change drivers and stories
Using UGC content to design interactive learning activities
12:15-1:00 Lunch with the scientists (bring your own lunch)
1:00-3:00 A conversation with Cesar Nufio, University of Colorado
Insect response to climate change, grasshopper phenology
Over the last century, average global surface temperatures have increased by 0.74°C. This warming has had a variety of impacts on species; affecting their development, distributions and relative abundances. During this workshop, teachers will work in teams to use grasshopper survey and other associated data collected 50 years ago to develop a scientific program to explore the effects of climate change on insects. The goal of this workshop is to discuss the scientific process, to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the types of data we are working with and to imagine what an inquiry based approach may look like in the classroom.
 
Wednesday, August 6
8:30-9:00 am Coffee and munchies
9:00-9:30 Morning warm-up: KQED, logistics for the day
9:30-10:45 A conversation with Marina Psaros, King Tides Project, and Juliette Hart, University of Southern California
Documenting sea level rise in your community through citizen science
Sea level rise and flooding will be among the most expensive, disruptive, and damaging impacts from climate change. In the San Francisco Bay Area alone, billions of dollars worth of private property, public infrastructure, and businesses are at risk from flooding. More than 160,000 Bay Area residents — many of whom are physically, socially, or economically disadvantaged — live in areas that will be vulnerable or uninhabitable within the next 50 years. Researchers and policy makers are already deeply engaged in seeking solutions. In this session, participants will learn the fundamentals of sea level rise science from researchers in the field, with a particular focus on the Bay Area. Teachers will then have the opportunity to test drive a new project-based learning curriculum designed to get students engaged in real-world data collection and thinking critically about climate change impacts in their own community.
10:45-11:00 Break
11:00-12:15 UGC resource feedback and discussion
12:15-1:00 Lunch with the scientists (bring your own lunch)
1:00-3:00 Classroom activities: Joe Levine, biologist, author, PD course director at Organization for Tropical Studies
Perspectives, tools, and techniques for teaching about global change
Each aspect of global change is so complex that it is easy for teachers to focus tightly on details and neglect the big picture. Earlier workshops in this institute emphasize the use of specific topics to demonstrate the nature of science and the data supporting hypotheses about the impacts of GC on the biosphere and human society. This workshop pulls back to look at the broader picture, beginning with the observation that we live in a new geologic epoch: the Anthropocene … during which our species has become the single most important force behind global change. Using selected visual aids that help make complex data comprehensible, we will explore strategies for creating a conceptual framework to support teaching both the substance and the planet-wide context of GC.
 
Thursday, August 7
8:30-9:00 am Coffee and munchies
9:00-9:30 Morning warm-up and logistics for the day
9:30-10:45 A conversation with Jackie Mohan, University of Georgia
Climate change and forest systems
Climate change is predicted to alter forests both nationally and globally. In this talk, we'll address how forests are changing in a warming climate, focusing on population demography (growth, survivorship) and seasonal plant performance. We'll also discuss species migrational responses to climate change and new research trying to discover how our "forests of the future" will look and function in a warmer world.
10:45-11:00 Break
11:00-12:15 A conversation with Tessa Hill, UC Davis
Ocean acidification
Focusing on the "other CO2 problem," this presentation will further explore the basics of ocean acidification and it's influence on marine ecosystems. Ocean acidification is the process of ocean chemistry change due to the influx of anthropogenic carbon dioxide, which has significant impacts for marine organisms. During this session we will cover the oceanographic dynamics behind this phenomenon, specific biological impacts, and classroom-ready activities that can be used to introduce and understand this process.
12:15-1:00 Lunch with the scientists (bring your own lunch)
1:00-3:00 Classroom activities: Jessica Bean, UC Davis, ocean circulation
 
Friday, August 8
8:30-9:00 am Coffee and munchies
9:00-9:30 Morning warm-up and logistics for the day
9:30-10:45 A conversation with Katharine Mach, Stanford University
Risks and opportunities for response: A look at climate change impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has released three volumes of its Fifth Assessment Report. The report assesses current scientific and technical understanding of climate change. Over 800 experts from around the world, who responded to more than 100,000 review comments and cited more than 20,000 scientific publications in several years of drafting, authored the report. Climate changes that have already occurred have led to widespread, consequential impacts. Adaptation is also already occurring. Moving into the future, responding to climate change is a challenge in managing risks. This presentation will focus on the assessment of impacts, vulnerability, and adaptation in a changing climate and explore future risks for people, economies, ecosystems, and societies. Furthermore, will look at the ways in which effective climate-change adaptation can help create a richer, more resilient world.
10:45 Depart for field trip to the Oakland Museum of California (via BART or carpool)
11:30-1:30 Tour the California Natural History Gallery at the Oakland Museum
1:30-3:00 Enjoy the rest of the Oakland Museum, lunch on your own, and goodbyes
 

About the Speakers

Jessica Bean is a postdoctoral scholar at UC Berkeley, working on the Understanding Global Change project. She received her Ph.D. from UC Davis and was a research fellow at the Bodega Marine Laboratory. Fond childhood memories of museums, national parks, beaches, and collecting shells, fossils, and rocks lead her to a career in integrative research in ecology, physiology, paleontology, and conservation biology. Dr. Bean studies marine snail physiology, and its relationship to ecology, evolution, and life history patterns of marine snails in the distant past. She also enjoys mentoring students, and has developed K-12 and college curriculum, and has taught courses at California State University, Sacramento.

Juliette Finzi Hart is an Assistant Professor (Research) in Marine Environmental Biology at the University of Southern California (USC). She also serves as the Marine and Climate Science Specialist for the USC Sea Grant program. Juliette's current work focuses on climate change — from the perspective of both the natural and the built environment. Her research interests also include coastal marine policy, regional ocean governance, and sustainable ecotourism.

Tessa Hill is an Associate Professor in the Earth & Planetary Sciences Department and Bodega Marine Laboratory at UC Davis. She received her B.S. in Marine Science from Eckerd College (1999) and Ph.D. in Marine Science from UC Santa Barbara (2004). Tessa's research focuses on the impact of climate change on marine ecosystems, in the geologic past, the present, and future, and her studies include using the geochemistry of microfossils and corals to determine the rates, magnitudes, and effects of climate change, as well as the response and adaptations of species to environmental change

Joseph Levine is co-author of Biology (Pearson Education), the most widely-used high school biology textbook in the U.S. He received his PhD from Harvard University, and has published in scientific journals ranging from Science to Scientific American. He has conducted professional development seminars for teachers in biology, evolution, and the nature and process of science across the continental U.S., and in Mexico, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

Katharine Mach is a Co-Director of Science for the IPCC Working Group II Technical Support Unit. Prior research projects include marine biomechanics, ecophysiology, the ecological consequences of wave-induced breakage in seaweeds, and the impacts of climate change in ocean ecosystems. She is currently interested in methods of assessment and treatment of uncertainties and risk in climate change assessments and decision-making.

Jackie Mohan is an Assistant Professor at the University of Georgia, Athens. She earned a Ph.D. from Duke University in Terrestrial Community & Ecosystem Ecology, a MEM from Duke University in Conservation Ecology, and a B.S., B.A. from the University of Chicago in Biochemistry & Evolutionary Ecology. Her work focuses on the impacts of global change on forests, and the geographic variability in plants due to environmental change and its effects on ecosystems, including plant and soil feedbacks in the climate system.

Cesar Nufio is the Adjunct Curator in Entomology in the Museum of Natural History at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He earned a Ph.D. in Insect Sciences from University of Arizona, and a B.A. in Biology and Environmental Studies from the University of California at Santa Cruz. A behavioral ecologist, his work focuses on the reproductive choices of insects and the effects females and subsequent generations. He has taught ecology and evolutionary biology, and coordinated graduate field courses in Costa Rica. He currently works with the Gordon Alexander Orthoptera Collection and examines how climate change affects insects in the Fort Range and Rocky Mountain regions of Colorado.

Adina Paytan is a Research Scientist at the Institute of Marine Science at UC Santa Cruz. She has a Ph.D. in Oceanography from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, an M.S. in Earth Sciences Oceanography from Hebrew University, and an M.S. in Science Education from Weizmann Institute of Science. Her work focuses on studying the chemical and isotopic records in earth materials that reveal the biogeochemical processes of the past and present.

Marina Psaros founded and is the Principal at Coravai LLC, a communications and technology research and consulting firm that specializes in environmental issues. She received her M.S. in Environmental Policy and Planning from MIT, and has worked in California coastal management issues since 2006.

Ben Santer is a Research Scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. He received a B.Sc. in Environmental Science and a Ph.D. in Climatology from the University of East Anglia. He was a Convening Lead Author for the 1995 Report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and has received a MacArthur fellowship in 1998, and the Department of Energy's Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award in 2002.

For more information, contact Lisa White.
 

Understanding Global Change photo collage

University of California Museum of Paleontology National Center for Science Education

Oval satellite photo / NASA GOES Project (CC BY 2.0); glacier photo / no1nose (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0); hurricane image / CoreBurn (CC BY 2.0); smokestack photo / Damián Bakarcic (CC BY 2.0); flooded street photo / Don Becker, USGS (CC BY 2.0); erupting volcano photo / Brandon Wilson/AVO (CC BY 2.0)