CLEARING THE AIR: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH Air pollution expert Lelia Hawkins uses research, teaching and activism to communicate about climate change. By Elaine Regus
W
HEN LELIA HAWKINS WAS STUDYING
climate science in graduate school she would say that her team wasn’t saving the world, they were just very carefully documenting its demise. While that still may be the case, Hawkins, associate professor of chemistry, is sounding the clarion call to Harvey Mudd College students, no matter what their disciplines, to tackle the global threat of climate change. “We need all hands on deck at this point,” Hawkins says. “We need students to work on public engagement. We need students to work on CO2 sequestration and removal. We’ve got to get it out of the air. Ultimately, that’s what it comes down to. We need to continue to work on alternative energy. We need students to work on batteries and materials science. Every aspect that we are prepared to train students in is going to be necessary.” Hawkins is leading the way through teaching, research, global collaboration and activism. She recently organized a climate change reading group on campus to kickstart the conversation. The group met three times during the fall to discuss Andrew Hoffman’s book How Culture Shapes the Climate Change Debate. “Climate scientists are struggling to communicate effectively, both in terms of the seriousness of the problem and in their appeals for engagement to a diverse group of voters,” Hawkins wrote in her campus-wide invitation. “It’s a big problem, but our Mudd community is well-equipped to do something about it.” The group of about 30 students, faculty and staff discussed the role of scientists in explaining the current state of climate change, shared thoughts on how to increase science literacy, described how
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HARVEY MUDD COLLEGE
