Aynsley Kretschmar, a soon-to-be graduate of the M.A. in Climate and Society program, became interested in climate science as a freshman in college. While she hadn’t planned to study environmental issues, a first-year seminar on food and agricultural systems at Wellesley set her new career path in motion. The complexity of such systems resonated with her: “In such a beautiful way, climate touches everything,” she says.
In the Q&A below, Kretschmar, who is the Academic Leadership Award recipient for this year’s Climate School Class Day, shares the diverse skills she’s gained from her time at Columbia, as well as what she’s most excited about for her future.
How did you become interested in climate-related work?
My story with climate started my first year of undergrad, where I took a first-year seminar in food and agriculture. I had never really studied any type of environmental issues before that. I was really captivated by the complexity of thinking about the environment as applies to the food system, and how environmental issues touch on so many different components—[something that is emphasized in] the Climate and Society program. I had planned to be a biology and Spanish double major, but after I took that class, I completely pivoted and ended up being an environmental studies major.
I then worked in the renewable energy industry for about six years on corporate renewable energy procurement. Then I was really excited about the opportunity to come back to school and kind of dig back into the science again. I’ve really enjoyed getting to come back to climate science and ecology through this program and thinking about how all of that interweaves with other elements like society and politics.
Why did you decide to apply to the M.A. in Climate and Society? Which classes and skills do you think you’ll carry with you into your future career?
In terms of skills, I was really looking forward to the opportunity of honing some of my technical skills, particularly things like GIS [geographic information system] and Python. Python is something that I used a bit in the workplace and really struggled to be able to work with effectively. I’ve really appreciated the opportunity to learn more about those skill sets in an educational environment and applied to climate.
The other content area I’ve loved having the exposure to was a course called Dynamics of Climate Variability and Change. It’s a physics-based course that was my absolute favorite in the fall semester. I think it is really the first time I’ve ever been exposed to the complexity of how our climate and weather system works, which is such a fundamentally valuable foundation for studying climate.
What are your plans for this summer?
I will be participating in a capstone course with CGIAR, a global research partnership. It’s focused on climate services, so I believe we’ll be doing stakeholder interviews. I also participate in independent research with Mukund Rao, a faculty member at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. I’ll be continuing that work over the summer and hopefully working toward writing a paper, which will be my first time doing that. That’s been an amazing project.
I’m also participating in a travel course going to the Cayman Islands studying coastal resilience and sustainability, which I’m really excited about.
Can you tell us more about the project you’ve been working on with Mukund Rao?
I’ve been studying carbon dynamics in a boreal forest in central Alaska. Essentially looking at how climate variables, including temperature and moisture, impact productivity [the rate at which photosynthesis occurs] in that site. I’m ultimately looking at daily averages of things like photosynthesis, air temperature, soil temperature, vapor pressure deficit, to understand: What does the relationship look like between productivity over the course of a given year? Are there times where temperature has a stronger relationship with productivity?
Generally, when the temperature gets warmer, boreal forests are more productive, but there have been findings recently showing some decreasing productivity despite overall warming temperatures in the boreal forest. It’s not yet determined why, but one hypothesis is that it could be due to moisture and drought. So over the course of the year, we are studying: Are there times when temperature is positively correlated with productivity? Are there times when it’s negatively correlated with productivity, where you can really see that at a sub-seasonal daily level?
Do you have a vision for the type of work you would like to do in the future or which field you want to pursue?
I’m hoping to stay involved in ecology, conservation, research and education. Ultimately, I would love to pursue a Ph.D. in ecology.
What advice do you have for incoming students or people considering entering the climate field?
In such a beautiful way, climate touches everything, and there are so many different aspects to it. I have classmates that are interested in fashion, business, science, and we have so much access to expertise across all those areas at our fingertips here between the Climate school faculty, Lamont faculty and our peers.
I would say keep an open mind and explore, try classes that you might not think you would like. Go to events that seem interesting but maybe aren’t something you’re considering exploring.
When I graduated from undergrad with an environmental studies degree, I didn’t really understand what the job landscape looked like, so I think taking advantage of advice and the expertise around you and attending events like Climate Week is so helpful in terms of understanding the broad scope of different directions you can go.
