Climate Change Science Is Geography : Why It Must Be Taught at the K–12 Level (Journal Article)

***______{For Hard Copy, Please visit Library.}________***

Abstract: It is important that I tell you a short story. I spent twelve years of my career as a research meteorologist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. My three degrees are in meteorology and physical meteorology. This means that, by degree, I am not a geographer. When the itch to move to academia reared its head, several universities expressed interest, including institutions with more traditional meteorology departments. However, my research portfolio centred on how urban environments affect weather climate processes. Over time, my scholarship evolved to address a diversity of problems including extreme hydroclimate processes (extreme events involving water), climate risk to vulnerable communities, and the energy-food -water nexus. For this reason, the Department of Geography at the University of Georgia felt like more of a natural fit given the intersectionality of my research interests. My degrees say “meteorology.” but my scholarship is inherently geographically grounded.