‘Climate and the Real World' a Climate Studies Diversity Project at NMSU

As a result of the AMS/NSF Climate Studies Diversity Project workshop held in May 2015, a course is being developed and tested at New Mexico State University. The course is offered primarily for students in the Environmental Sciences program but useful for others with interest in climate with a basic science background. Climate and the Real World is a course that examines elements of climate, environmental science, satellite technology, instrumentation, and policy in a practical setting. The goal of this course is provide students in basic climate science and experience in designing and executing field studies. The basic climate science lectures are given in a flipped format that is recorded, posted online for students to listen prior to class, answer questions, and take notes. During the first half of the class, the instructor leads a discussion of the online lecture and discusses the questions. The second half of the class revolves around hands-on activities related to monitoring the climate and air quality. Field activity at nearby locations is built into the schedule as appropriate. Field locations are transformed into outdoor classrooms to put into practice student led experiments. Classroom sessions are held to plan, analyze, and present data collected in the field. Students are expected to maintain a quality field notebook. Students explore ways to measure wind and water erosion, weather, and air quality. No prior background in climate, instrumentation or satellite technology is assumed.