The education and human resource development component of this project has the following key elements:
In addition to the continuing decision seminar, individual meetings between stakeholders and project scientists will be crucial to the success of the project. This will allow stakeholders to have attention given to issues of their choice. In addition, we will produce a newsletter containing seasonal outlooks and, where appropriate, long-term issues on a schedule decided at the seminar, and we will maintain a web page for the project that includes our analyses.
Qualitative phrases such as credible, likely, or extremely improbable tend to be associated in different people with markedly different numerical probabilities (Lichtenstein and Newman, 1967). Numerous aids to conceptualizing probabilities have been proposed. Human judgments about uncertainty, or judgments made in the presence of uncertainty, frequently rely on a number of simple cognitive heuristics. We will work to develop an educational program for policy makers to understand and to be able to use statistical and probabilistic information for policy decisions, and will extend this to develop educational modules on these issues to NSB schools and colleges.
After this project is finished, we would like to leave the stakeholders with a mechanism whereby they can access relevant information without the need for continuing complex ensemble model predictions. We will work with Ilisagvik College and the Barrow Arctic Science Consortium in developing and implementing this educational program.
To increase general awareness of the Arctic in the global climate community and to increase the manpower working on arctic problems, it is important to educate a new generation of students who are capable of addressing the complex interdisciplinary issues facing the Arctic that are associated with environmental change. New graduate degree programs in Environmental Studies are being developed at CU (led by co-PI J. Curry) with specializations in Climate and Atmospheric Chemistry, Water Sciences, Environmental Policy and Sustainability, Biogeochemical Cycles, and Waste Management and Environmental Remediation. A unique curriculum is being designed so that graduates will have expertise from several disciplines and the analytical skills to address environmental problems. The curriculum includes new interdisciplinary courses, service courses to provide multidisciplinary breadth, and capstone impact assessment and policy courses where students work in multidisciplinary teams. A novel feature of the graduate curriculum is the academic Certificate program, whereby graduate students can receive recognition for interdisciplinary coursework and formal requirements that exceed those of established degree programs. In conjunction with this proposal, we plan to establish a graduate Certificate in Arctic System Studies. This certificate will include a seminar series, which will parallel developments in the stakeholder workshops.
To allow some Barrow residents to benefit directly from the curriculum developments at CU, we will target several university undergraduate students with interests in arctic system science to participate in the SMART program. The SMART program exposes undergraduate science and engineering students from minority groups to advanced research opportunities. During 10-week internships, students will work with faculty mentors from the project team conducting hands-on research at the CU-Boulder campus. The SMART program pays all the costs of the internships, including room and board, transportation, books and supplies, and a modest stipend. Interns earn three hours of upper-division undergraduate credit for their research and participation in seminars and workshops throughout the summer. Depending on the student's interest, this joint educational experience can alternatively consist of taking courses through our distance learning program and/or working jointly with CU and Ilisagvik College faculty on research projects while in Barrow. We are encouraged in this endeavor by the attendance of two high school students at our recent seminar in Barrow.