Using the Anthropocene as a teaching, communication and community engagement opportunity

Abstract

Environmental challenges of the Anthropocene are synergistic and interdisciplinary, complicating the ability of scientists to effectively communicate to the public. This complexity illuminates the limitations of traditional Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education, as students frequently have difficulty applying their coursework towards contextualizing the novel problems that accompany global change. We view these challenges as educational opportunities to prepare STEM students for the adaptive learning necessary in the Anthropocene. Through careful attention to course pedagogy, instructors can facilitate student learning about global change and science communication, and teach students to act as bridges across the science–policy gap. Here we discuss our university course, in which students translated The Scientific Consensus on Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century into a communication product, an ArcGIS Story Map entitled ‘Geographic Impacts of Global Change: Mapping the Stories of Californians’. Incorporating such real-world science translation into STEM education is critical for preparing our new generation of socially responsible scientists and citizens of the Anthropocene.