climate change education

Jennifer Sklarew

Lynn Tierney — Fri, 04 Aug 2023 17:12:24 +0000

Jennifer Sklarew Lynn Tierney Fri, 08/04/2023 - 13:12

Assistant Professor, Environmental Science & Policy Department, College of Science

Contact Information

Phone Number: 703-993-6177

Email: jsklarew@gmu.edu

Headlines

Engineering with nature: Exploring Mason's contribution to water conservation
August 1, 2023

Biography

Dr. Jennifer Sklarew brings 30 years of energy and environmental policymaking and analysis to her research and teaching. Dr. Sklarew coordinates the department's MS Concentration in Energy and Sustainability Policy and Science, which she developed. She also teaches graduate and undergraduate energy policy and food-energy-water nexus courses she developed for ESP. Her published and funded work examines how institutional relationships and catastrophic events drive energy and environmental policymaking and change. Specific focal areas for her qualitative research include sustainability and resilience challenges in the energy-water nexus, solutions that leverage food-energy-water-climate interdependencies, and energy system transitions in Japan, India, and China. NPR has quoted Dr. Sklarew as an expert on Japanese energy policymaking change.

Dr. Sklarew currently leads two research projects. The first is to design, build and deploy hydropower micro-turbines on Mason’s Fairfax campus and analyze technological, ecological, geographical, socio-economic and institutional challenges. Her faculty-student team will use this data to develop potential solutions and lessons learned, to which they will add as they conduct additional pilots in overseas communities facing severe energy and water insecurity. The second project, a collaboration with faculty and students in food/nutrition and engineering, involves research on food, energy, water and climate challenges facing low income, rural communities. Through needs assessments, the project enables collaboration with communities to determine their food, energy and water needs and develop potential solutions.

Read full profile on the College of Science website

Podcast - EP35: Foods you can lose to climate change

Damian Cristodero — Wed, 12 Jan 2022 17:03:20 +0000

Podcast - EP35: Foods you can lose to climate change Damian Cristodero Wed, 01/12/2022 - 12:03

In This Story

Gregory Washington

Ted Dumas, an associate professor of psychology, is an experienced researcher who is ringing alarm bells about the damage from climate change. His book, “If Food Could Talk: Stories From 13 Precious Foods,” explains how foods such as coffee, chocolate, bananas and avocados could soon disappear for good. Dumas tells Mason President Gregory Washington how the book came about, how these foods can be saved – a pooping bear in Japan might provide a way to save cherries – and how the book was almost entitled “The Last Chocolate Kiss.”

Topics

��AV

College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Department of Psychology

Climate Change

climate change; global warming

climate change education

Access to Excellence podcast

Office of the President

Mason team tackles climate change in Virginia counties through new three-step initiative

Mariam Aburdeineh — Thu, 09 Dec 2021 17:54:54 +0000

Mason team tackles climate change in Virginia counties through new three-step initiative Mariam Aburdeineh Thu, 12/09/2021 - 12:54

In This Story

Joel Hicks

Solving climate change is a grand challenge facing the planet. As more individuals and leaders are recognizing the need to switch to environmentally friendly practices, ��AV’s Local Climate Change Planning Initiative (LCCPI) is helping make that a reality for counties across Virginia.

“Our vision is to have Mason be the lead university in helping counties that lack the resources and expertise in [addressing climate change] get this done,” said Paul Bubbosh, a 1988 Mason alumnus and adjunct professor at the Schar School and College of Science.

Wealthier counties have funding to mitigate environmental issues, said Bubbosh, who started LCCPI with Schar School adjunct professor Joel Hicks in Fall 2021. Many smaller jurisdictions do not, he said, and they may not have staff for these initiatives.

LCCPI, housed within the Center for Energy Science and Policy, allows Mason to bring in its resources and expertise in modeling, engineering, environmental science, policy law, and more, to provide pro bono services to these counties, Bubbosh said.

Students will play an active role in the initiative’s three-stage process, which the Mason team is piloting in Manassas City.

The first stage, which Bubbosh said takes four to six months, is about gathering data on the county’s emissions footprint and having students conduct inventory modeling.

The next stage involves working with community leaders for a year to develop goals, such as changing streetlights to LEDs or reducing emissions, he said.

“In that process, which involves students leading community meetings with faculty, we begin to educate members of the public about the things they desire,” Bubbosh said. “It’s moving them toward understanding what makes the best, most economical, most practical sense for the community.”

Working at the local level is where critical change can happen, said Bubbosh, who said LCCPI was inspired by his time as a Peace Corps volunteer, when he saw how local communities are impacted by climate change.

That’s why stage three provides heightened value.

Hanna Metuda is one of two undergraduates volunteering with LCCPI. Photo provided.

“Any contractor you hire to do this leaves at stage two,” Bubbosh said. “We want to embed students in internships with the local county to help them implement what they found in stage two.”

“Being in the forefront and crafting creative solutions that could ripple through other communities is really inspiring,” said Hanna Metuda, a senior studying government and international politics. “That Mason is allowing students to be a part of that is exciting…and it gives me hope for our environment.”

Metuda is one of two undergraduates volunteering with LCCPI. She said growing up in the Philippines with the effects of pollution and climate change inspired her environmental drive. While she said she’s excited to apply what she’s learned in the classroom, she understands challenges could arise.

“Students will discover hurdles along the way that no classroom will ever be able to prepare a student for,” Bubbosh said, suggesting some challenges may be insurmountable. “However, that learning experience, even at a loss, is a win for students in terms of practical work experience.”

“It’s about seeing results—not academic exercises—and actually making a difference in someone’s life,” he said.

From left to right: Delegate Rip Sullivan (D-48th) from Manassas, Paul Bubbosh and Ambassador Richard Kauzlarich, Director of Mason's Center for Energy Science and Policy. Photo provided.

Topics

Sustainability

Sustainability Research

Schar School

Schar School Faculty

College of Science

Center for Energy Science and Policy

Manassas

Campus News

Institute for a Sustainable Earth (ISE)

Government and International Politics

internships

Climate Change

climate change education

environmental science

Department of Environmental Science and Policy (ESP)

Podcast — Ep 23: Climate change and the misinformation war

Damian Cristodero — Wed, 21 Apr 2021 15:59:19 +0000

Podcast — Ep 23: Climate change and the misinformation war Damian Cristodero Wed, 04/21/2021 - 11:59

In This Story

Gregory Washington

There are those who still don’t believe in climate change or that it is manmade. As Earth Day approached, Mason President Gregory Washington spoke with public health scientist Ed Maibach, director of ��AV's Center for Climate Change Communication, about overcoming climate change misinformation, which he calls the world’s most important public health initiative.

Topics

Access to Excellence

Access to Excellence podcast

Center for Climate Change Communication

Climate Change

climate change education

Paris Agreement on climate change

global warming

College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Institute for a Sustainable Earth (ISE)

Earth Day

Sustainability