Student Interest Drives Modernization of Climate Science Curriculum: Engaging with Community Partners outside the Classroom

As climate change continues to accelerate, there is a growing need for collaboration between geoscientists and community partners to cocreate equitable science-based climate solutions that align with community priorities. However, the curriculum of many geoscience Ph.D. programs focuses almost exclusively on physical science knowledge production confined to the academic sphere with little attention to usability or applications of climate information to decision-making. A consequence is that there is often little educational support to train future generations of geoscientists with the skills needed to serve as knowledge brokers and interpret climate information into the context needed for decision-making. To address this, a group of students and faculty at the University of Michigan developed a pilot course to provide hands-on experience engaging with local communities to develop climate solutions. This project involved a collaboration with the Washtenaw County Water Resources Commissioner’s Office to discuss their high-priority objectives. The inaugural project involved identifying high-priority locations in Washtenaw County for rain garden development to be used for internal planning purposes. The process of recurring communications with partners played a critical role in tailoring the project to have ongoing use for local government after the course. This project provided a student-driven bridge between climate knowledge production, climate science usability, and community engagement. This type of formal engagement with community partners provides opportunities to train the next generation of geoscientists to have the skills to engage with practitioners and decision-makers and make climate science more accessible.