Essays

Designing Sustainable Societies by Incorporating Indigenous Realism
Michael Phillips, Illinois Valley Community College
Michael Phillips, Illinois Valley Community College Sustainability is not optional; it is a requirement if we wish to ensure the viability of future generations. Unfortunately, the concept of sustainability is too ...

Teaching is Insufficient; Learning is also Insufficient.
Kim Kastens, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
Kim Kastens, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University Pre-workshop Essay for the Workshop on Earth Education for Sustainable Societies In episode 122 of Star Trek: Voyager, the character Seven of ...

It's too late. Let's get to work anyway.
Don Haas, Paleontological Research Institution
Don Haas, Paleontological Research Institution It is too late to prevent horrible consequences of climate change, but when it's too late is when we generally get to work. We ended slavery too late. We stopped ...

Sustainable Agriculture as an Integrating Context for Earth Education
Tara Laidlaw, Out to Learn
Tara Laidlaw, Out to Learn As a lens for learning, sustainable agriculture has the potential to connect students' experiences not only across grade levels and across academic disciplines, but with their ...

Inspiring Action Across Diverse Audiences More A Set of Musings than an Action
Margie Turrin, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
Margie Turrin, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory Inspiring Action Across Diverse Audiences More A Set of Musings than an Action Last week I attended a workshop focused on developing an action plan for our region to ...

Earth Education for Sustainable Societies: A Middle School Interdisciplinary Perspective
Loris Chen
Loris J. Chen, Dwight D. Eisenhower Middle School Greta Thornberg, a 16-year-old Swedish climate activist, made headlines by sailing from Europe to New York City to speak at the United National Climate Action ...

From the hyper-local to global: UNAVCO's vision for sustainability in earth education
Beth Bartel, UNAVCO; Donna Charlevoix, EarthScope Consortium; Beth Pratt-Sitaula, EarthScope Consortium; Shelley Olds, EarthScope Consortium
Beth Bartel, Beth Pratt-Situala, Donna Charlevoix, and Shelley Olds, UNAVCO UNAVCO, a non-profit university consortium, operates the NSF's Geodetic Facility for the Advancement of Geoscience (GAGE). Beth ...

Focus on Energy Resources
Elizabeth Nagy, Pasadena City College
Elizabeth Nagy-Shadman, Pasadena City College It might be useful to bring the concept of energy to the forefront, maybe by establishing a standard introductory course, or create an entire major: B.S. in Earth ...

Wrestling with Choices - A Challenge for Schools
Chuck Buxbaum, Sandia Preparatory School
Chuck Buxbaum, PhD, Sandia Preparatory School I recently attended a Design Science Symposium at Rhode Island School of Design that made me consider the traditional departmental divisions in our education system ...

The oceans must play a role in sustainable societies
Lauren Sahl, Maine Maritime Academy
Lauren Sahl, Maine Maritime Academy When educating for a sustainable future it is vital that the ocean be included. The ocean provides essential goods and services to the planet. As more of the global population ...