Climate Science Through a Global Lens • Karina Alvarez

(Global Change Ecology Master’s Student, University of Bayreuth || Germany)

“Last summer I spent almost every day in the field, interacting with a lot of different people and learning about their understanding of what nature is and what the environment is. I don’t think I want to be in academia — I like having tangible results. When you restore a lagoon, you see that within three years, or even things we planted at the beginning of the summer I see growing now. I think that’s a better fit for me.

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I’m studying for a Master’s in Global Change Ecology. My thesis assesses the impact of fires on water quality in Mediterranean-type ecosystems. The program is really interdisciplinary — it incorporates not only ecology, but also the social sciences and atmospheric sciences. I think, especially for climate science and environmental protection, you can’t be stuck addressing the problem from one scientific discipline because it’s not just a scientific argument that appeals to people — that’s probably the biggest thing I’ve learned. We’re learning to work on international scales. Half of our program is made up of international students, so it’s interesting because we’ll talk about different strategies for appealing to politicians, and what somebody from Germany says about how they would work is totally different to the way someone in the States, say, or in Kenya, or in Peru would work. You hear about these aid organizations that go into a country and try to implement a project without incorporating anybody from that region, without getting to know what the norms, what the customs are. And then the project fails miserably. So we’re learning how we can be more effective, not only in international contexts, but for any environmental project because they are inherently social projects. It’s a lot of stepping into other people’s shoes.”