Growing the next generation of climate scientists

Annabelle Johnston Communications Intern

As Woodwell Climate Research Center has evolved, former students have taken on new roles and leadership positions. The center is training - and learning from - the next generation of scientists through education programs that include undergraduates, graduate students, and research assistants from a diverse range of backgrounds. Education opportunities take a range of forms,

but are united in their student-driven approach and foundation in the impactoriented principles that underlie all of the Center’s research.

The Polaris Project was founded in 2008 by Drs. Robert Max Holmes and John Schade with the shared goals of advancing scientific understanding of Arctic ecosystems, training the next generation of Arctic scientists, and communicating that science to the public. Prior to entering the field, undergraduate students accepted into the program undergo a series of virtual training sessions to practice transforming observations into questions to guide their subsequent research. Students read academic papers and familiarize themselves with the research process as they develop their own interests. Then, students travel to Alaska to conduct research in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta and return to Woods Hole to conduct two weeks of data processing at the Woodwell Climate campus.

A student-centered approach underlies the program from start to finish. “I’m there to support and train the students, not conduct my own research,” said Project Director Dr. Sue Natali. Each year, all students lead a presentation of their research at the American Geophysical Union conference, and the program produces a few student-led or co-authored journal articles.

While COVID-19 forced a revamping of this year’s Polaris Project to be primarily online, this cohort of students is being offered a chance to participate in the field expedition to Alaska when travel can resume. Natali also developed a small pilot mentorship initiative that paired students applying for the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program with past recipients. She hopes to expand the initiative in coming years to support students applying to a range of graduate programs. The success rate for fellowships of past Polaris participants has been significantly higher than the national average, in part because of the mentoring students receive, the students’ research experiences, and the overall leadership strengths of the students who participate in this program.

However, training scientists requires more than providing data analysis tools. The Polaris Project teaches students to conduct research that values and respects local and Indigenous peoples whose land they work on, following guidelines and principles outlined by Polaris alumna Darcy Peter.

“We want to create an inclusive scientific community,” said Natali. “Now, we’re providing students with opportunities to learn from the writings of Indigenous knowledge holders. We’re asking them to think critically about the human impact of both climate change and the work we do.”

To further foster a diverse scientific community, Woodwell Climate is a member of the Diversity Advisory Committee, which runs the Woods Hole Partnership Education Program (PEP). PEP was founded in 2009 to address underrepresented minorities in the sciences, and has hosted over 150 college students across the six participating Woods Hole research facilities.

Understanding human impact is also at the core of the Solaris Program, a joint initiative of Woodwell Climate and its partner in Brazil, the Amazon Environmental Research Institute

(IPAM Amazônia). The Solaris Program provides training and support for individuals from a range of backgrounds to develop the expertise and skills needed to address the significant conservation challenges facing Brazil’s Amazon and Cerrado (savanna) regions. It immerses Brazilian, US, and other international students in ecological field research at Tanguro Research Station—a working ranch in Brazil’s Mato Grasso state on the frontier of mechanized agriculture and diverse tropical rainforest. The program has also engaged journalists in this research through intensive field “boot camps” designed to train environmental reporters on the collection, analysis, and interpretation of environmental data. It has also experimented with a Summer Policy Institute, which pairs policy students from the US and Brazil to conduct targeted environmental policy analyses in collaboration with relevant governmental agencies. Former Solaris student Dr. Divino Silverio worked closely on the ground with Woodwell Climate scientists before receiving a grant to conduct research at the Massachusetts campus in 2013. “The opportunity to work with people from the Center connected my research to larger systems. I was working with water experts and scientists with experience in remote sensing and data modeling, and had the opportunity to expand my collaboration networks to include scientists around the world.”

Silverio’s experience is not isolated. “By training students from the region, Solaris has been able to build capacity locally. Many students stay in the region over the long term, contributing not only to science but also to training the next generation in regional universities,” noted Woodwell scientist and Water Program Director Dr. Marcia Macedo.

Solaris students often bring unique perspectives to their research, as many have worked with small farmers and large producers before. “We learn so much from our students—many already have a deep understanding of the landscape and an intuition for how it’s changing,” added Macedo.

In addition to formalized education projects, Woodwell Climate supports research assistants in their pursuit of higher education, allowing them to eventually lead their own research projects. The goal of the education program, Dr. Linda Deegan explained, is to provide emerging scientists with the resources and support to find and pursue their interests. Some research assistants take their experience to other research institutions after acquiring their degrees, some return to Woodwell, and a select few never leave.

Hillary Sullivan worked as a research assistant with Dr. Linda Deegan on the TIDE Project for a few years before deciding to pursue a Ph.D. “I wanted more autonomy in the research questions I asked,” Sullivan explained. “I’m really lucky to be able to work and go to school at the same time.”

Similarly, Dr. Scott Zolkos worked as a research assistant with Drs. Max Holmes and Scott Goetz prior to his graduate studies. Through this experience, Zolkos was exposed to different ways of examining Arctic and Earth systems, which led him to a string of questions that eventually informed his own doctoral research.

“Our program is grounded in real world issues and immersed in the science to solve those issues from the start. There’s not one ladder that everyone must go up, starting at the same place and ending at the same place. Our program is tailored to our students’ interests, where they want to go and what they want to do,” said Deegan.

Left: Polaris Project 2019 students during field research in Alaska. Above: Divino Silverio, harnessed and ready to climb the flux tower at Tanguro Ranch. / photo by Paulo Brando

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