My second year at UW was full of great classes and new opportunities. In the 2017-2018 school year I gained better perspective in both my academic and personal goals. In my sophomore year, I was able to commit to the environmental studies major, and greatly broaden my skillset, focusing on classes that teach useful technical skills like GIS and research methods, while also broadening my understanding of the natural world. During this year I got to broaden my experiences outside of the classroom as well, volunteering at the UW Farm, becoming more involved with UW Honors as a Peer Mentor, and being selected as the representative for environmental studies on the College of the Environment Student Advisory Council.
Autumn 2017: Honors 220
In Autumn Quarter 2017 I got to take two great classes that took me out of my comfort zone in many different ways. I enjoyed my autumn classes a lot and i think it helped to put me on track for a great year, as I ended up taking so many interesting classes over the next two quarters as well. Overall, I think the classes I took during this quarter were very important for my academic growth as I was often challenged, working with unfamiliar materials, and expanding my understanding of cross-disciplinary issues.
This course focused on science communication and storytelling in the sciences. I really enjoyed this class and it's somewhat untraditional approach to teaching, through the inclusion of improv exercises and storytelling. I was also able to learn a great deal about how to communicate science effectively to the public, and some of the shortfalls that exist regarding the communication of major environmental issues, such as climate change and ocean acidification. I believe that this course helped to improve my communication skills, and become a better presenter.
Presentation 1
In this presentation I focused on why climate change is often seen as a controversial issue, despite the fact that the vast majority of climate scientists believe anthropogenic climate change is a very pressing issue. In this presentation I used research focusing on psychology to help determine what drives people to either believe or denounce the roles and existence of climate change. I also presented several solutions for scientific communicators to overcome barriers of public disbelief.
Presentation 2
This presentation used all of the skills we discussed through the course, and I chose to present on the issue of ocean acidification, specifically in Puget Sound. I really enjoyed giving this presentation and getting to teach my peers more about a very important issue that is occurring right in our backyard. I was surprised to see how unfamiliar some of the audience was with the severity of ocean acidification locally, and hopefully helped to make some of my audience more conscious of the issue.
Spring 2018: ESRM 250
This course was one of my favorite courses at UW, and definitely one of the most valuable. In this course I learned about Geographic Information Systems, GIS, and how to create my own digital maps. This class included a final project, in which we created our own portfolio of maps that could address a specific research question. I chose to research the ways in which Mount Rainier's glaciers have retreated since the 1970s, to help determine how/when they will continue to retreat in the future amidst climate change. I am very proud of the maps I created, as they took a great deal of background research and time to create.