On May 7th, ESSIC scientist Lauren Zamora visited Howard County Conservancy’s Youth Climate Institute to talk to a group of middle and high school teachers about her research in the Arctic as a part of a teacher development program.
Zamora spoke about the rapid warming of the Arctic and how it will impact weather and human endeavors. She introduced the NASA ARCSIX aircraft campaign, a mission to better understand the processes that control how clouds change and persist, how clouds affect warming at the surface, and how sea ice is affected by interactions between the atmosphere and the surface. In 2024, Zamora traveled to Pituffik, Greenland to sample aerosols and clouds, gauge sampling needs of other colleagues, and coordinate with external and international partners.
Zamora also discussed her Simons Foundation-funded research on climate intervention and presented, on behalf of her colleagues Vanessa Maciel, Jasper Kok, and Zachary Cue of UCLA and Jully Alvarado of the L.A. school district, their work developing Next Generation Sciences Standards (NGSS)-aligned high school lesson plans. The lessons focus on the science and societal impacts of climate change and climate intervention, as well as the inequity of those impacts across time and space.
After her presentation, the teachers split into breakout groups and discussed how they might integrate this information into their lessons. Throughout, Zamora answered questions about science and ethical issues related to climate intervention.
Overall, the event was a great way to bridge the gap between research and classroom education to inspire the next generation of scientists.
