September & October in Review
Federal Science Agencies Release the Nation’s Climate Literacy Guide
Director of SSEC Dr. Carol O’Donnell worked with the nation’s leading climate experts to co-lead the release the third edition of Climate Literacy: Essential Principles for Understanding and Addressing Climate Change. The Guide presents information that is important for individuals and communities to know and understand about Earth’s climate, the impacts of climate change and solutions. A team of federal scientists, communicators, educators, and program leaders worked collaboratively to update the guide. In the USGCRP press release, Carol was quoted as saying, “We know from hundreds of listening sessions over the past year that educators and youth are hungry for resources, knowledge, and skills to address climate change,” said Dr. O’Donnell. “By combining the unparalleled climate data and research of the National Climate Assessment, with the essential principles for helping youth and adults understand and communicate about climate change, this guide is poised to transform how climate science is address in classrooms and communities across the country.”
Global Leaders in Science Education SSEC
Unit Director Dr. Carol O’Donnell, was invited as a keynote speaker at two back-to-back convenings in Munich, Germany and Erice, Italy. The annual International Dialogue on STEM Education (IDoS) in Munich resulted in a collaborative white paper authored by 6 international peers (including SSEC) outlining recommendations for integrating digital technology into the teaching of early STEM education (Figure 3). The International School of Science Education (ISSE) in Erice, Sicily focused on sharing best practices on inquirybased science education in High School Biology education (Figure 4). Dr. O’Donnell’s keynote address focused on “Transdisciplinary Teaching and Learning: STEM Education in a Changing World.
UNESCO Global Education Meeting (GEM) in Fortaleza, Brazil
SSEC Unit Director Dr Carol O’Donnell, along with SSEC experts in international education Heidi Gibson and Katherine Blanchard, attended the 2024 UNESCO Global Education Meeting in Fortaleza, Brazil. Attendees included 50 Ministers of Education (including Deputy Minister of Education and Sciences of Ukraine, Dr. Yevhen Kudriavets, shown here, and Deputy Secretary of Education Cindy Martin of the U.S. Department of Education) along with 90 delegations from across the globe who came together to advance SDG 4: Quality Education
Educating for Climate Action Summit during Climate Week NYC
The Wild Center, NOAA, Smithsonian Institution, Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, Climate Mental Health Network, NYC DOE Office of Sustainability, National Wildlife Federation jointly organized the Educating for Climate Action Summit during Climate Week NYC. This event tackled critical topics like climate literacy, Indigenous knowledge, mental health, and climate justice. You can watch a recording of the opening keynote and panel here. The event was held at the NMAI in NYC and had over 430 attendees. The Smithsonian Science Education Center’s Dr. Brian Mandell and Carol O’Donnell organized a workshop on SSEC’s newly released Gallup report, Educating for Sustainable Development: Opportunities for Progress in the U.S., as well as its new community research guide for youth, Climate Action! and Climate Resilience!.
