ERI, in partnership with the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs, UVA Career Center, and others, hosted a three-hour research symposium for undergrad and grad students, postdocs, and faculty to promote ongoing and potential research advancing climate action.
Opening remarks (10:00- 10:15)
ERI Associate Director, Leon Szeptycki provided an overview of ERI’s portfolio and opportunities to engage our mission.
Panel discussion on Advancing Interdisciplinary Readiness (10:15- 11:15)
Three faculty discussed the need for capacity-building, offered insights from the field, and discussed opportunities to advance climate action through interdisciplinarity.
Project-based Learning Presentations (11:15- 12:00)
Attendees learned about sustainability-related project-based learning opportunities at UVA and the impact students can create by participating in them. UVA alumni and community members shared sustainability-related projects that UVA students contributed to over the summer of 2021. These project-based learning experiences provided a great opportunity for UVA students to gain real-world experience, build relationships with alumni, and create positive change in the world. For most projects, student interns were paid to work on a small student team with a dedicated alumni mentor to support learning and growth.
*Update*
On July 16th, the UVA Career Center hosted a virtual event for all Climate Ambition project-based learning participants. Each project team provided a final presentation is to showcase the positive impact their team created through their internship experience. Interns, supervisors, and alumni project coaches were attended. A small group of evaluators offered feedback. The presentation video is available below.
- Greenhouse Gas Reduction Strategy hosted by The Climate Registry
- Carbon Cost Calculation hosted by Rotunda Solutions
- Fish and Climate Change Database Project hosted by the US Geological Survey
- Charlottesville Methane Leakage Detection hosted by the Local Energy Alliance Program (LEAP)
- NOAA Heat Island Mapping Campaign hosted by the City of Charlottesville, Virginia
Virtual Exhibition (12:00- 1:00)
Faculty, students (graduate and undergraduate), and UVA staff participated in a virtual poster exhibition on translating university knowledge into action. All fields of study and research-based knowledge were welcome. During the exhibition session the entire university community, including alumni and community partners, were invited to “walk around”, viewing and asking questions of presenters.