On the first day of ENVS 160, I didn’t know if I was going to major in Environmental Studies or Biology. I was hoping that this course, along with Bio 151, would give me a clear view of my future at Lewis & Clark and beyond. About half way through the semester I decided on Biology, which left me a little unsure of my place in ENVS 160. As we spent more and more time in class talking about what the major entails and I heard people discussing their possible concentrations, I felt bad that I wasn’t going to be a part of this future. I then started thinking a lot about how I need to take advantage of my time here at LC and decided to really focus on how I can apply this course and our readings to my future in biology and in life in general.
I have learned a lot of valuable knowledge in this course that can be applied not just in this course but in other ways too. Why We Disagree About Climate Change (Hulme 2009) and other texts have shown me how people have different opinions as to how we should go about solving problems and why these differences exist. I’ve also noticed the importance of making connections across environmental topics in order to make progress in a variety of ways, as I noted in another post. I look forward to having complex conversations with people about the state of the natural world and using my ENVS 160 knowledge in those conversations. I believe that we as students of environmental studies, no matter the amount of experience, have a responsibility to start these conversations and engage with people to make the environment a larger part of daily considerations. The topic of the environment and our interactions with it are applicable to any kind of career or anyone’s life. Since climate change and environmental issues are such a huge part of our lives now, it is important for everyone to have some knowledge in the field since this is a worldwide issue. Speaking of the environment, I have also learned a lot about using big words with caution and in general, being precise with word choice when writing and speaking about issues that I care about.
As for my specific future, I look forward to combining the scientific reasoning/methods that I learn from biology with the more interdisciplinary outlook that I have gained in this class. Since I am pretty sure my future will contain the field of conservation in some way, I have realized the importance of seeing different perspectives on our world’s many environmental issues. An important thing that I have learned, especially from Why We Disagree About Climate Change (Hulme 2009) and Who Rules the Earth? (Steinberg 2015), is that the problem is not solely uneducation. It is going to be crucial to keep in mind throughout my scientific pursuits that presenting information and evidence to the public is not enough to make them change their minds. In addition, I will need to examine how people think about evidence and figure out the best way to present information to the public. Another important thing I have learned is the importance and effectiveness of institutional action. As I discussed in a previous post, our political and economical efforts need to be focused on institutional change. Individual actions still have great importance, but they do not matter as much in the context of the worldwide problem.
Overall, I plan on using my ENVS 160 knowledge to make real, effective change happen in the minds of people and on the planet in order to preserve biodiversity and stabilize global temperature and more. By listening to people’s ideas/opinions and using scientific data I hope to help in making the world a better place for all of the organisms on this planet and the ones to come, as cliché as that may sound. Although I’m not entirely sure where I will be or what I will be doing in the years after college and beyond, I know the topics of environmental studies will continue to be prevalent and important.
Works Cited
Hulme, Mike. 2009. Why We Disagree About Climate Change. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Steinberg, Paul. 2015. Who Rules the Earth?. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.