VIU hosts climate change symposium for high school students and teachers

Vancouver Island University’s Awareness of Climate change through Education and Research (ACER) team is hosting a one-day symposium on the science and implications of climate change on May 17.

Aimed at teachers and high school students, the symposium will include classroom experiments, workshops, hands-on activities, a question and answer session and engaging discussions to increase the scientific understanding of global warming and the challenges and opportunities this presents in the high school science curriculum.

“This is a great opportunity for VIU student volunteers in ACER to interact with high school students and teachers,” said Carol Bob, project coordinator.

“We want to provide participants with an update on the science of climate change and offer them some activities that deepen their understanding and promote critical thinking skills,” said Dr. Erik Krogh, a professor of environmental chemistry at VIU and one of the faculty advisors for the project.

The ACER project is a public outreach initiative lead by an inter-disciplinary team of students and faculty at VIU.

The group works to promote understanding of the human impacts on the Earth and atmosphere and the role this plays in climate change. The program aims to empower participants to become innovative problem-solvers.

“One of our objectives is to help participants recognize credible climate science and discuss some common climate misconceptions,” said Jeff Lewis, a Geography professor at VIU who will lead one of the workshops.  

The project directly engages Canada’s youth in the process of scholarship and  knowledge mobilization, providing the framework for discussions of risk assessment and evidence-based public policy changes, added Bob.

The symposium is made possible through the support of the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada and TD Friends of the Environment Foundation.

The event runs from 8:30 am to 3 pm on Monday, May 17 in Building 355 (Arts/Science) on the Nanaimo campus of VIU.

For more information, to pre-register for the symposium or have the ACER group come into your school or public meeting, email Carol Bob, ACER project coordinator at Carol.Bob@viu.ca