Empower Youth Voices in Climate Science
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Hello! We are a group of eight youth researchers and one graduate student engaging with leading models used to make decisions around future climate.
Currently, the leading socio-economic climate models fail to account for the following:
- The emissions impact of war
- The emissions impact of genocide
- The emissions impact income inequality
- The emissions impact of forced migration and immigration
- The emissions impact of having youth shut out of most decision-making spaces in our society (and yes, this absolutely does make a difference!)
We aim to change all that.
Who are we?
We are a team of student researchers at UC Davis affiliated with Data Driven Change (D3C), a student-led social justice organization. Over the last year, we have been working with the cooperative guidance of feminist STS researchers at UC Davis to conduct research into socio-economic climate data and models. We’ve identified a number of gaps in leading models used by the UN, including the gaps listed above.
This summer, we have the opportunity to present our research at two gatherings:
- Scenarios Forum, a leading gathering for climate data scientists. This gathering is the last chance to suggest changes to climate models used by the UN and world leaders until they are "locked in" until the early 2030s. This gathering will be happening happening in Leeds, UK, from July 16th-18th. The undergraduate research team has been given a chance to speak and offer a short presentation of our research as pat of the main conference program, and the grad student has been given a chance to present a poster during the conference reception. We hope to send at least two team members there in-person, while everyone else attends online. Having the team members there in person will ensure that research gets "in process" so our suggested changes to the models are considered. This meeting gives us a chance to advocate for the emissions impact of war, and all the other indicators listed above, to be added to future models and it is the last chance to advocate to have these changes made before the early 2030s.
- The Society for the Social Studies of Science (4S). This is a leading gathering for social scientists who study the behavior of scientists. We have a chance to present our research into alternative socioeconomic climate modeling as part of the "Making & Doing" session of this gathering. This gathering will be taking place in Seattle in early September, and we hope to send as many of our team members as possible to share our research as part of this gathering.
Unfortunately, we have run into a major snag:
Amidst the chaos wrought by the present administration upon university funding (aka the "DOGE cuts"), we have not been able to obtain enough institutional funding to attend these gatherings. We very much hope to be able to attend and present our research.
As the impacts of anthropogenic climate change become ever more eminent, we believe it is vital for youth voices to be heard as part of the process of making these models. As youths and young adults, we have the most at stake: it is our futures on the line. Shouldn't we have a seat at the table? These models will shape policy agendas around the world during these next few critical years that shape our future.
Here is a bit more about us and what we are researching:
- Alexis De La Torre (Junior, Statistics and Data Science) - I'm doing research exploring the environmental impact of forced displacement and immigration, with attention to how climate change is fueling displacement.
- Avidane “Avi” Ceana Caballero (Freshman, Statistics) - I'm doing research exploring the environmental impact of having younger people as part of decision-making spaces, especially on CO2 emissions.
- Clara Zhong (Freshman, Data Science and Statistics) - I'm doing research exploring the statistical impact of fossil fuel company lobbying upon CO2 emissions.
- James Wei (Freshman, Data Science) - I'm doing research exploring the impact different political structures may have upon emissions.
- Phuong Thy Nguyen (Sophomore, Data Science and Communication) - I'm doing research exploring the CO2 emissions caused by war, with a focus on the factors that precipitate armed conflict, including the production of weapons and the rerouting of public attention away from environmental concerns.
- Tess Bowen (Junior, Data Science) - I'm doing exploring the CO2 emissions caused by war, especially by the aftermath of dropping bombs, such as structural damage to buildings and the forced migration of refugees.
- Miguel Rezapour, Team Lead (Senior, Data Science) - I'm doing research exploring the impact of income inequality on CO2 emissions.
- Meghana Kotha, Team Lead (Junior, Data Science, Vice President of D3C) - I'm doing research exploring how droughts and desertification accelerate emissions, especially through forced migration.
- Harlin/Hayley Steele, Graduate Student Mentor (Graduate Student Researcher, Science and Technology Studies and Performance and Practice) - My present research explores what I call "climate data relations." As a creator of social artworks, I develop interactive discourse-specific and site-based interventions. This work presently includes developing better strategies to improve spaces of discourse that pertain to climate and ecological data.
Our work has been occurring under the cooperative oversight of Dr. Sarah McCullough, Associate Director of the Feminist Research Institute (FRI) at UC Davis, and with the co-sponsorship of ModLab: the Digital Humanities Laboratory at UC Davis. While our efforts are self-guided, our work has been organized using principals that can be found in the Asking Different Questions (ADQ) curricula, which was developed by the FRI thanks to an NSF grant (#1807056).
Our team of student researchers is ready to contribute to leading climate models by offering research into overlooked metrics that can and should be part of the next generation of models that guide the agendas of policy gatherings. This project, we hope, will open doors for improved inclusion of youth researchers in future spaces of climate data deliberation.
The cost breakdown for these conferences is below:
- Scenarios Forum cost break down. Flying to the UK from California, plug room and board and the cost of conference tickets is a bit spendy. That's why 2 of us will attend in-person, an undergraduate team leader and the graduate student, while the others attend the gathering as online delegates. The cost for the two in-person attendees is $2,883 per person, while virtual attendees is $100. The breakdown is as follows: Transportation $1,500, lodging & meals $975, in-person conference tickets $319, conference banquet ticket $89.
- Society for the Social Study of Sciences cost breakdown. Coming soon!
Every little bit helps. If everyone who cares about the plant's future donated just $5, we'd have more than enough to reach our goal!
Milestone goals:
- $900 - If we reach this amount, we will all be able to attend the Scenarios Forum gathering as “virtual delegates.” This is not the same as being there in person, but it’s a start!
- $3,683 - If we reach this amount, it will cover the costs for 1 of us to attend the gathering in person, while the rest attend virtually.
- $6,466 - If we reach this amount, it cover the costs for 2 of us to attend the gathering in person, while the rest attend virtually.
Airline mile donations could also help. Donations of airline miles could also go a long way in helping us attend these gatherings! If you have airline miles you might like to donate, please reach out to us at shsteele [at] ucdavis [dot] edu. Thank you!!!
Co-organizers (3)
Harlin Hayley Steele
Organizer
Davis, CA
Avidane Caballero
Co-organizer
Miguel Rezapour
Co-organizer