We are excited to announce the start of our Climate LIVE (formerly EI LIVE K12) series. Climate LIVE is an online video series that features experts from across the Columbia Climate School presenting climate and sustainability content for grade school and university students, educators, parents, and the public from November 2022 to June 2023. The series will feature interdisciplinary researchers in 1-hour live sessions where they will share aspects of their work through lectures and interactive activities. We are looking forward to offering eight exciting monthly sessions spanning a diversity of topics. We hope to see you at an upcoming talk!
All sessions will take place on the second Wednesday of each month from November 2022 to June 2023 from 4:00-5:00pm ET.
All sessions are free, but pre-registration is REQUIRED for each event. RSVP links, along with the schedule from November to June, are below. We will send a Zoom webinar link to all registered participants prior to the start of the programming. All sessions will be recorded and hosted on the Climate LIVE page for easy accessibility.
Parents/Students: Please note that each session has a specific target age range.
Educators: We suggest tuning in for the sessions that correspond with the age groups that you teach, and where we are able to, we will share additional readings and resources.
Winter 2022-Spring 2023 Sessions
Student Activism in the Climate Movement
Wednesday, November 9, 2022: 4:00-5:00pm ET
Presenters: High School Climate Activists Suler Lu, Ajani Stella, Nadine Ismail
Target Audience: Grades 9-12
Youth action in the climate movement is essential as their voices hold particular power. Young people have emerged as major players in climate planning and decision making due to their creativity, optimism, and fresh solution-based ideas. In this session, we will be hearing from youth activists who are leaders on the ground in their communities, providing climate adaptation, mitigation, and resilience strategies to create a more climate-just and sustainable future.
Climate Justice in New York City
Wednesday, December 14, 2022: 4:00-5:00pm ET
Presenter: Thad Pawlowski, Managing Director, Center for Resilient Cities and Landscapes and Adjunct Associate Professor, Urban Design and Urban Planning of Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation
Target Audience: Grades 6-12
What lessons have we learned from 10 years of recovery since Hurricane Sandy? Urban planners and designers had to think creatively to address the challenges and opportunities of local climate change adaptation. In particular, climate justice drives planners to re-think the way cities are built to promote equity.
Generating Applications to Gain Acceptance
Wednesday, January 11, 2023: 4:00-5:00pm ET
Presenters: Rashawn Khamari Merchant, Climate and Society Graduate Student; Tenzin Sherpa, Undergraduate Student; Madison Milla, High School Student; Cassie Xu, Associate Director, Non-Degree Education and Outreach Programs, Columbia Climate School
Target Audience: Grades 8-12, Undergraduate and Graduate Students
How do you best represent yourself in an application? How do you show the reviewer that you are the perfect candidate for the position? In this session, we will be hearing directly from students who have successfully navigated applications for internships, summer programs, undergraduate school, and graduate school. Our panel consists of students at all stages of their academic careers—high school, undergraduate, and graduate school. We will even hear a reviewer’s perspective about what they look for when selecting candidates. Our panelists will be sharing tips, tricks, and lessons that they have learned from going through the process themselves.
Paying Attention to Critical Climate Messages From the Polar Regions
Wednesday, February 8, 2023: 4:00-5:00pm ET
Presenter: Margie Turrin, Director of Educational Field Programs, Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory
Target Audience: Grades 8-12
The polar regions are the site of profound climate change and regularly ‘message’ us with observable change, yet it is easy to dismiss the signals if we are not paying attention. In this session we will explore some of the range of signals we are measuring in both the Arctic and Antarctic, what they mean for the polar regions, and how they connect to those of us who are beyond the poles.
The Climate Symphony: How Climate Variability Impacts Global Rainfall Patterns
Wednesday, March 8, 2023: 4:00-5:00pm ET
Presenter: Laurel DiSera, PhD Student, International Research Institute for Climate and Society
Target Audience: Grades 8-12, Undergraduate Students
Climate variability plays an important role in the earth system and impacts rainfall differently from year to year and from decade to decade. This presentation will focus on different modes of climate variability and their impacts on rainfall, the difference between climate variability and climate change, and what happens when different modes of climate variability impact each other. The goal is to think of the climate system as an orchestra playing a symphony!
Everything You Wanted to Know About Climate Mobility but Were Afraid to Ask
Wednesday, April 12, 2023: 4:00-5:00pm ET
Presenter: Alex de Sherbinin, Senior Research Scientist and Associate Director for Science Applications, Center for International Earth and Science Information Network
Target Audience: Grades 9-12, Undergraduate Students
Climate change is slowly reshaping settlement patterns as humans respond to increasing variability and extremes. People may move voluntarily, they may be forced or encouraged to move through incentives, or they may be displaced and either stay in their new location or return. We will explore these topics as they relate to climate mobility in both high and low income settings throughout the world, including the implications for climate justice.
Natural Ideas for Unnatural Problems: Ecosystem-Based Disaster Risk Reduction
Wednesday, May 10, 2023: 4:00-5:00pm ET
Presenter: Hannah Dancy, Project Coordinator, National Center for Disaster Preparedness
Target Audience: Grades 8-12, Undergraduate Students
For many, a changing climate means increasing frequency and intensity of all types of natural disasters, including floods, droughts, fires, and windstorms. New infrastructure can be costly to build and maintain, and old infrastructure crumbles under the stress of a modern climate. In this session, we will discuss natural strategies to adapt to disasters that have become unnatural, and what other services these novel strategies can provide to our communities.
Harnessing the Power of Communities to Fight Flooding and Protect Our Waterways
Wednesday, June 14, 2023: 4:00-5:00pm ET
Presenter: Paul Gallay, Senior Staff Associate and Resilient Coastal Communities Project Leader, Center for Sustainable Urban Development
Target Audience: Grades 9-12, Undergraduate Students
Climate-driven flooding is worsening due to sea level rise and rapidly intensifying storms, with many of the most serious impacts being felt in disadvantaged communities already reeling from decades of underinvestment in water quality and ecosystem health. To protect our most vulnerable communities, government planners must find new ways to respect and center the wisdom that only those communities possess. Can we build the just and equitable partnerships we’ll need to survive climate change?
