2020 brought important conversations to the table. From elections, to social movements, and global health conditions, the expression of large-scale issues and opinions has never found a more relevant time. Among such interdisciplinary issues includes the topic of Climate Change. As Dr. Clifford Ochs, professor of biology, aptly describes it–climate change is “one of the most immediate and pressing issues to our society.” The scope of climate change affects not only the current environmental, political, and economic world that we live in, but also looks towards the future.
Shaping this future as one that proactively protects the larger environment as well as our local community first involves engaging in the discussion of “What is Climate Change?” For Dr. Ochs and Dr. Carrie Smith, professor of psychology, asking this question first began on the University of Mississippi campus with students in the fall section of Honors 399 Climate Change in the 21st Century.
As students in the class engaged in discussion about what they knew and felt about climate change, it became clear that this discussion and information about climate change should be shared with the larger University campus and community. The idea for a survey came about when one of Dr. Ochs’s students, Rohan Agrawal, a computer science major, presented the idea of putting this class discussion into “instructive action.” Pointing to the overall success of the class content in inspiring students to apply instruction to real-world situations, the classroom dialogue soon turned towards extending the discussion of climate change to the wider University community and also to the University administration.
Even before a global pandemic sent 19,421 students to a virtual learning environment, a virtual survey was planned as the format for Ochs’s climate study. Development began in Spring of 2020 with the intention of gauging what students and community members knew and thought about climate change. Students of the Honors 399 experiential class worked with Dr. Ochs and Dr. Smith, to create a survey that would provide baseline data for three main objectives:
- The information will help make decisions to incorporate more information about climate change into University classes.
- The information will gauge the question of whether the University should be more regularly offering an interdisciplinary class on climate change.
- Baseline data will provide a starting point for working with University administration to address climate change issues on the scale of the university–offering educational opportunities about the issue and also talking about what the university can actually do in terms of infrastructure.
Despite having to navigate virtual learning and adapt to academic changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the survey was successfully sent out to randomly selected students and staff, during the Spring Semester of 2021. Data and analysis of the survey will help to accomplish the aforementioned objectives as well as to define climate change, gather baseline data about what the average college student, staff, and faculty knows about climate change as well as to gauge his or her’s level of concern about the issue–all as part of encouraging a broader University discussion of the issue.
Whether through a University class, community survey, or even family discussion, we should all be “talking climate.” The issue of climate change is far-reaching and positive action can be implemented in a variety of ways. From home composting to participating in community recycling programs, even seemingly small environmental action can have profound and far-reaching impacts. If each person does their part in contributing not only to the discussion of climate change, but also towards remedying the problem and caring for our environment, we all ensure that our local communities and larger Earth systems will be protected now and for years to come.