Kevin Grise / Environmental Sciences

Earth’s climate system is rapidly changing, and each year brings new impactful weather events and surprising weather records.  Are these extreme weather events new and something we haven’t seen before?  Or, are they just natural aspects of the planet on which we live?  These questions are pervasive in the media, and often the most common questions that I receive teaching about weather and climate.

In the classroom, I often begin my classes with a 5-10 minute discussion of current weather events, before turning to theory and explaining the underlying physics of the atmosphere.  But, students consistently tell me that the part of the class that they most enjoy is the discussion of the current weather, as it readily applies to their daily lives.  Unfortunately, there often isn’t enough class time to both fully discuss the weather events of the day and teach the required content for the class.

For the upcoming academic year, I propose to have more casual, informal weather discussions over lunch about once per month (approximately 3–4 times per semester) to allow for more in-depth discussion of the current weather.  While the exact content will be dictated by the weather in the upcoming academic year, I will try to schedule at least some of the weather discussions either shortly before or after major weather events (such as a hurricane landfall, thunderstorm outbreak, or winter storm).  Short readings will be provided to students to provide background knowledge prior to the discussion, and students will be expected to come to the discussion with questions.  During our lunchtime discussion hour, we’ll review online weather maps, watch and critique news clips related to current weather, and have plenty of time to have discussion about the causes and impacts of the current weather as well as its relationship with climate change.

The lunchtime weather discussions will be announced in my Atmosphere and Weather (EVSC 3300) and Synoptic Meteorology (EVSC 4460) courses, as well as to all Environmental Sciences undergrads via the undergraduate student listserv.  The discussions will be limited to 12 students each, and sign- ups for individual discussions will be first come-first-serve.  Priority for each event will be given to students who did not attend a previous discussion to make sure all interested students have the opportunity to attend at least one of the discussions throughout the academic year.

Budget:

Budget per discussion (12 students + 1 professor) x $20/lunch = $260

x 8 discussions over academic year = $2080