Climate Scholars Program launches first learning intensive
July 9, 2021
The Climate Scholars Program, part of UAF's Honors College, launched its first experiential learning intensive when seven undergraduate students, guided by faculty fellow Kristin Timm, spent a week in June at the Tidelines Institute's Southeast Inian Islands off-grid campus.
The students divided their time between transdisciplinary classroom work and outdoor experiences, studying climate communication with Timm and the history of climate activism with Zach Brown, Tidelines co-director. In developing a sense of the place, the students learned how the off-grid system functions, and they participated in the production of food from the sea and garden and in the kitchen.
The intensive took place on an island situated in Icy Strait and connected to Glacier Bay National Park and Tongass National Forest. The integration of place and learning is a deliberate component of the program's design. Traditional lecture formats were followed by hikes and kayak trips where diagrams illustrating the tides were drawn in the sand and spruce tips were harvested for that night's meal.
Climate scholars come from a variety of backgrounds and are pursuing diverse degrees, including biology, engineering, political science, film, nursing, anthropology, journalism and mathematics. Nastasia Caole, an Arctic and Northern studies student, learned ways to incorporate her own personal values into a pathway to motivate others to become more active on climate change issues. She also connected with the ethos of harvesting local food, a tradition of her Yu'pik family that she didn't grow up with herself, but understands and appreciates.
"I really enjoyed picking up kelp and fishing for rock fish," she said. "It was really beautiful."
Nolan Earnest, a sophomore film studies student, said he enjoyed the remote location. He is interested in off-grid experiences and found the intensive gave a closer relationship to nature and an opportunity to work with new people.
The next Climate Scholars Experiential Learning Intensive is the Climate Research Intensive, which will be led by Katie Spellman in August in the Fairbanks area.
The Climate Scholars Program is open to any UAF undergraduate with a commitment to taking action on climate change and a minimum GPA of 3.0.