Qualitative Research on Climate Change Effects & Solutions, for Forging Resilience
Chandra Middleton, Staff Researcher
Center for Law, Energy and the Environment
Applications for Fall 2024 are closed for this project.
Want a chance to help communities adapt to climate change? Want to support people as they engage with environmental law to help make their world more livable and communities more resilient to environmental hazards? Join the Forging Resilience team!
Forging Resilience, a project of the Center for Law, Energy, & the Environment (CLEE) at the law school, supports public libraries and museums as community hubs and anchors. We do this by building toolkits through which librarians and museum officials create opportunities for their community to learn about climate change, about climate solutions, and skills to implement those solutions. Community experiences include elements of lifelong science learning, art, civics education, community organizing, and place-based action. Our toolkits take advantage of hyper-local climate impact projections, locally-meaningful narratives that convey climate science, and skills needed to participate in any kind of policymaking.
Qualitative social science research forms the backbone of our hyper-local, holistic approach to developing toolkits for libraries and museums. Research topics include finding location-specific resources to help communities implement climate solutions, background research on how climate change affects our pilot communities, and background research on potential solutions. While informed by conversations with our library partners, much of the research is conducted online and over the phone.
Role: ROLE: As we work toward kickoff events for two pilot locations, we are also conducting background information on climate impacts and potential solutions. Working with a small team of CLEE staff and graduate students, URAP students will contribute to this critical research. Students should be prepared to commit at least 6 hours per week, which includes time attending a required weekly team meeting. While it is not necessary to commit to more than 6 hours per week, more hours can easily be arranged.
TASKS: The students’ tasks will center on conducting research for our toolkits. Specifically, they will be charged with researching potential climate solutions for a county in New York state, while gathering local and regional resources that support toolkit programming. Much, if not all, of the research will be conducted online. Research will require sensitivity to cultural differences and basic knowledge of climate change as a social issue. The particular solutions for research and community resources to be identified are still being identified. Other avenues of research are likely to include topics that help us build future toolkits, specifically those on the effects of wildfire and wildfire smoke and air quality on individuals, infrastructure, and communities.
Throughout the semester, students are expected to join and contribute to weekly team meetings, during which the team offers updates and we discuss the general progress of Forging Resilience and any obstacles encountered. At the end of the semester, students will have researched and written an informal memorandum that details the research approach and steps taken, results, links to important or useful documents, the students’ notes about salience for the Forging Resilience project, and the names of potential collaborators.
LEARNING OUTCOMES: Chandra Middleton, the Senior Research Fellow running the project, will provide instruction—aided by experienced team members—and mentorship. Students will gain critical analytical skills in the process of researching hyper-local climate effects and potential climate solutions. The nature of our toolkits requires team members to think broadly about both topics to identify societal dimensions that might change how the toolkit is framed. For example, what knowledge underlies the solution presented and what skills might they need to have to implement that solution at scales beyond the household?
Identifying the nuances of how to implement potential solutions also stretches the student’s understanding of what a solution to climate change is, deepening their understanding of how “climate change” touches down in people’s day-to-day lives. What topics might a pilot community rally around, regardless of whether they believe climate change is anthropogenic? Or is it necessary for people to understand basic climate science in order for them to adopt mitigation measures? If so, what social complexities might get in the way of adoption?
The students will also develop highly transferable skills like the ability to convey the complex technical and social topics of their research in writing and orally. The research team uses our meetings to report our preliminary findings, a type of concise communication that takes preparation and practice. We also make extensive use of documents that will be used by other people on the team, so researchers must write their findings in ways that are not only clear for the research conducted, but also in what the research question was and the context in which it was asked. These programmatic skills are exceptionally useful for any workplace.
Qualifications: REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS: Must not be a first year/freshman. Ability to conduct thorough, independent, online research. Superb organization skills are crucial for keeping track of multiple types of data and for making that data accessible to others. Attention to detail is essential, as is a sensitivity to cultural dimensions of politically difficult topics.
DESIRABLE BUT NOT ESSENTIAL QUALIFICATIONS: Technical expertise in climate science or climate solutions is a plus, but not required. Experience with grassroots campaigns or local government, or a background in social science, are also benefits.
Day-to-day supervisor for this project: Chandra Middleton, Staff Researcher
Hours: 6-8 hrs
Off-Campus Research Site: Research and team meetings are conducted 100% online.
Related website: https://www.law.berkeley.edu/research/clee/
Related website: https://www.law.berkeley.edu/research/clee/