Back in the Headlines: Climate Coverage Returns to its 2009 Peak

Posted on January 2, 2015 by prometheus

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A sharp rise in reporting, spurred largely by energy development, put global coverage of climate change in 2014 back near its 2009 peak.

By Douglas Fischer
The Daily Climate

Call it the new black: Climate change again is in vogue, with media coverage in 2014 fully recovered – for now – from its recession-era dip, based on an analysis of The Daily Climate’s archives.

Coverage grew for a second straight year, approaching its 2009 high and rebounding nearly 70  percent above its 2012 low.

Driving the trend were energy and political stories: Fracking, coal regulations, the UN climate talks all had more coverage last year than in 2013.

Last year The Daily Climate aggregated 31,407 climate-themed news stories, opinions and editorials from mainstream media, center right to center left. Politics dominated the haul, with 44 percent of all stories having a predominately political theme, as identified by The Daily Climate staff.

Driving the coverage

But there’s little question that the lull in coverage – which started as the UN Copenhagen talks collapsed in 2009, the “Climategate” email hack sowed doubts about climate science and a global recession took hold – is over.

What drove that coverage? It helps when a major figure puts climate change on the agenda. Former Vice President Al Gore did so in 2007 and 2008, with his movie and subsequent Nobel Peace Prize and Academy Award. President Obama did that for climate change in 2014, with his push to regulate coal-fired power plants and his surprise breakthrough with China just before the UN climate talks in Lima in December.

That deal, where both nations for the first time agreed to cap greenhouse gas emissions, gave the moribund talks new spark. You can see that in our archives: The Daily Climate picked up 1,912 stories about the United Nations climate talks in 2014, 79 percent more coverage than the 2013 Warsaw talks generated and more reporting in any year since the Copenhagen Accord in 2009.

A bounce in every metric

And it wasn’t just the UN. Every metric The Daily Climate tracks saw a bounce for the second year running: News stories were up 30 percent last year versus 2013, the number of reporters writing at least one climate story jumped 28 percent, and the number of outlets publishing on the topic rose 26 percent.

More impressive: At least 94 reporters wrote 30 or more climate stories in 2014, 74 percent more than the 54 writing at that level in 2014, according to The Daily Climate archives.

Several caveats need mention here. The Daily Climate’s research team and capacity to aggregate stories has changed since 2009. And while we’ve tried to keep our criteria constant over the years, as the climate change story has evolved, so, too, has our search.

Fracking as a major driver

Fracking is a prime example. What looked like an obscure and novel oil-field technology in 2008 is now a major driver in energy and climate policy worldwide. The growth in our archives reflects that, jumping from 17 stories in 2009 to 243 in 2011 to 1,680 stories in 2013 and 3,049 stories last year. Not all mention climate change, but they all reflect a piece of an issue that is driving energy prices, coal use and greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.

Another important caveat: The Daily Climate and its staff of roughly two dozen full- and part-time journalists and researchers doesn’t pick up every story published on the topic. Some are too “bloggish,” some too short, others are behind an Internet paywall. Our mandate is to present a broad sampling of the day’s news, not an encyclopedic compilation, and the volume this year meant we missed or ignored many pieces.

Still, the numbers represent a yardstick by which the topic’s importance can be judged by news outlets globally.

And 2014 figures suggest the media see the issue as one worthy of more ink.

1,338 stories from The Guardian

Almost all of the world’s major news outlets published more climate stories last year than they did in any year since 2009: The Guardian led the pack, with at least 1,338 climate stories published in 2014 – almost four per day. But Reuters, the Associated Press, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Washington Post all published more on the topic last year than they did in 2013.

Let’s not forget the reporters.

A small army published on the topic – some 11,384 reporters and reporting teams in 2014 that The Daily Climate picked up. That’s almost 60 percent above the recent nadir, in 2011, when we saw just 7,166 individual bylines.

The Hill’s prolific Laura Barron-Lopez led the pack, with her byline appearing atop 320 different stories in our archives. She’s not alone, however, in her astonishing output: Seven other reporters wrote 100 or more climate-related stories in 2014, according to our records.

US Newspaper trends

Other media trackers confirm this trend. The Center for Science and Technology Policy Research at the University of Colorado, Boulder, has been tracking major newspaper coverage of climate change since 2000.

It uses a narrower criteria – a story has to mention “climate change” or “global warming” to get noticed. And its domestic tally only tracks five large U.S. dailies – Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post.

But researchers there saw a similar tick upward in 2014, with those five outlets publishing 352 stories combined in November 2014 – the largest one-month tally since December 2009.

It’s hard to say if these trends will hold into 2015, or whether increased coverage means society is any closer to curbing our growing greenhouse gas emissions. But if 2014 is any indication, more people are now paying attention. Read more …

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The Future of Science Advice in Europe

Posted on December 23, 2014 by prometheus

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Bridges vol. 42
December 2014

by Roger A. Pielke, Jr.

Last month, when the European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission orbited comet 67P (Churyumov–Gerasimenko) and deployed its Philae landing module, it was a triumph for collaborative science and technology in the EU. But on the same day, the European Commission (EC) and its newly elected president, Jean-Claude Juncker, announced that it would be getting rid of the office of chief scientific advisor (CSA). That meant that Anne Glover was the first and, for now, the last chief scientific advisor to the president of the EC.

The stark contrast between the technological achievement in space exploration and the bureaucratic wrangling down below did not go unnoticed. James Wilsdon of the University of Sussex observed: “The European Commission chose the evening before the Rosetta landing to confirm quietly that its most senior scientific role, that of chief scientific adviser (CSA) to its president, is being scrapped.” Now that the dust has settled a bit, what does the termination of the Commission’s CSA signify for the future of science advice in Europe?

Epitaphs written in the aftermath of Juncker’s decision to eliminate the CSA often elevated the office to a status that it never had in its short existence under Juan Manuel Barroso. For instance, Sir Paul Nurse, president of the Royal Society commented: “This appears to be a very backward step by the new Commission, having only made the enlightened decision to raise the profile of scientific advice three years ago.” Professor Dermot Kelleher, president of the European Academies of Medicine, lamented that the Commission’s CSA office “was key in catalyzing scientific advice from across the spectrum, to inform the work of the European Commission in formulating sound policies for Europe.”

The reality of Anne Glover’s role in the Commission over the past three years was far more prosaic than these comments would suggest. Last August, at a conference in Auckland on global scientific advice organized by Sir Peter Gluckman, chief scientist to the New Zealand government, Glover gave a candid and revealing talk on her experiences as the Commission’s CSA. It was a remarkable talk, as I noted at the time. Slides from her talk, “1000 Days in the Life of a Science Advisor,” have been downloaded more than 6,000 times (available here).

In the talk, Glover explained that the CSA office had minimal resources (a staff of two when she began), and she occupied the role for 51 days before her first face-to-face meeting with President Barosso. Six months into the job, she started sharing briefings from her office with other EC departments, a favor that she says was not returned. Glover further noted that she asked Commission departments to nominate a “correspondent” to facilitate interaction with the CSA office, only to be ignored and, in at least one case, simply rejected. As Professor Albero Alemanno notes: “She quickly found herself in an institutional vacuum.” Glover’s story goes on, and it doesn’t get much better. Ultimately, President Barosso felt compelled to distance himself publicly from Glover and the CSA office over issues related to genetic technologies in agriculture.

In short, the CSA under President Barosso was largely powerless and disconnected. This state of affairs was not the fault of Glover, who took on the CSA role with energy and enthusiasm. The uncomfortable reality is that establishment of the CSA office was a symbolic gesture towards scientific advice, rather than representing any substantive commitment to improving science advice in Europe (see this paper for background).

From this perspective, President Juncker has actually done the scientific community a favor. For the past three years, most scientific organizations and their leaders seemed perfectly content with a symbolic, ineffectual CSA in the Commission. However, the termination of the office has forced a conversation that probably should have been occurring in far more prominent settings. Such a conversation is now underway (see, e.g., this special issue of the European Journal of Risk Regulation) and should continue. Read more …

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Policy Learning and Community Recovery: Analyzing Responses to Colorado’s Extreme Flood Events of 2013

Posted on December 15, 2014 by prometheus

APTOPIX Colorado Flooding

Natural Hazards Center
Quick Response Research Report #248

Deserai A. Crow
University of Colorado, Boulder

Elizabeth A. Albright
Duke University

By examining the policy response to extreme flooding events, this study seeks to illuminate the important factors explaining variation in local level policy learning in response to the extreme floods in Colorado in September 2013. This research examines the factors that are associated with observed variations in policy change in flood mitigation and prevention at the local level. Understanding the factors that encourage adaptation in local policy contexts may prove critical, since this can mean the difference between ongoing flood vulnerability as a consequence of extreme weather events rather than long-term resilience. Additionally, this study provides a comparative case research design wherein federal and state-level emergency response and management can be held constant, focusing on the role of counties and localities in responding to extreme weather events. We are studying these factors in the context of the September 2013 floods in Colorado and the community-level decisions made in seven case communities located in the three hardest-hit counties in Colorado. Findings indicate the importance of several variables in determining the policy responses within communities: the extent of damage a community incurred, the political context within a community and level of transparency in routine governance, and the degree to which city infrastructure (instead of private property) bore the brunt of the flood damage. Additionally, the availability of information appears to be a crucial resource for governments in policy responses, with those more likely to undertake adaptive policy measures also more likely to engage digitally and in-person with local constituents and stakeholders. Read more …

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High-Energy Innovation: A Climate Pragmatism Project

Posted on December 11, 2014 by prometheus

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by G. Dirks, L. King, F. Laird, J. Lloyd, J. Lovering, T. Nordhaus, R. Pielke, Jr., M. Román, D. Sarewitz, M. Shellenberger, K. Singh, and A. Trembath

Consortium for Science, Policy & Outcomes, and The Breakthrough Institute
December 2014
Download a PDF of the report here.

Executive Summary

In the coming decades, most of the innovation in clean energy technologies needed to combat climate change will likely occur in rapidly industrializing rather than developed nations. This report identifies and maps promising international efforts by private firms and governments in China, India, the United States, Europe, Latin America, and Africa to advance four low-carbon technologies –– shale gas, nuclear, carbon capture and storage (CCS), and solar –– and makes the case for more collaborations between nations.

Technological innovation often occurs where demand is rising the fastest. Wealthy developed nations have seen their overall energy consumption growth slow down in recent decades, along with the rates of economic growth. By contrast, energy consumption in poor and developing (non-OECD) countries is expected to increase 90 percent by midcentury. The so-called “BRICS” —  Brazil, Russia, India, Mexico, China, and South Africa — spend more on energy innovation (i.e., research, development, and deployment) than all 29 OECD member nations of the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Today’s global energy innovation bears little resemblance to the 1980s-era model of “technology transfer” from rich to poor nations, as enshrined in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Industrializing nations have in recent years pioneered innovation of next-generation energy technologies, and are beginning to market those technologies internationally. South Korea, for example, which has seen the cost of building standardized nuclear plants decline over time, is constructing advanced nuclear power plants in the United Arab Emirates for both electricity and desalination.

Basic research in national laboratories is critical but insufficient. Technological progress will come from demonstrating and deploying next-generation nuclear, solar, CCS, and natural gas technologies. Real-world trial and error is critical to technological progress, as the shale gas revolution, which took several decades, showed.

While emerging economies will do the heavy lifting, advanced industrial economies still play important roles. Germany, the global leader in solar deployment, is developing large solar power plants in South Africa and India. US energy utilities are working with Chinese firms to demonstrate carbon capture and storage technologies in Mississippi. Shale fracking technologies developed in the United States are being deployed with the help of US firms and public research agencies in China, which has a more complicated geology and requires significant innovation to become commercially viable.

Policy makers ought to view energy innovation as a global public good. The benefits of creating cheaper and cleaner energy sources are shared by all –– not monopolized by individual nations. For instance, the success of nuclear and shale gas in China depend largely on the successful development of similar technologies in the United States. Similarly, the United States may likely benefit from cheaper and safer nuclear, solar, or CCS developed in China. The broader picture is one of shared economic and environmental interests from creating cheap and clean energy.

Governments, industry associations, and philanthropies all have important roles to play in coordinating and contributing to accelerated low-carbon technology innovation within and among nations. While philanthropies have funded major international efforts to increase agricultural yields and improve public health, no such initiative yet exists on energy innovation. Policy makers, for their part, should seek to expand these promising initiatives for both economic and environmental reasons. Such an approach is more likely to succeed than efforts that require shared sacrifice. Governments have long encouraged and invested in technological change to access to cheaper, cleaner forms of energy for economic growth, national security, and environmental quality. Read more …

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New CSTPR Project: Balancing Severe Decision Conflicts under Climate Extremes in Water Resource Management

Posted on December 11, 2014 by prometheus

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Lisa Dilling
University of Colorado Environmental Studies, Center for Science and Technology Policy Research, and CIRES/WWA

Joseph Kasprzyk and Rebecca Smith
University of Colorado Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering (CEAE)

Imtiaz Rangwala, Kristen Averyt, and Eric Gordon
CIRES/WWA

Laurna Kaatz
Denver Water

Leon Basdekas
Colorado Springs Utility

This project is funded by the NOAA Sectoral Applications Research Program

Over the past several years there have been increasing calls for decision support tools in the area of climate (e.g. NRC 2009a, NRC 2009b) and acknowledgement that changing extremes add to an already challenging decision environment for water managers (e.g. IPCC 2012). Recurring droughts, flood events, and concerns over extreme events in the future have created a strong interest among water managers in the Front Range of Colorado about how to plan in the face of these extremes (Lowrey et al. 2009, Woodbury et al. 2012). Traditional methods of identifying alternatives for water supply management may not fully capture the range of existing preferred alternatives, meaning that utilities may miss some of the solutions that appropriately balance among tradeoffs. In this project we seek to co-produce and test a newly developed multi-objective decision tool as a Testbed to aid this process, balancing conflicting management objectives for water planning under climate extremes and determining how policy alternatives perform under severe climate uncertainty. By combining innovative search algorithms, simulation models, and interactive visualizations, the proposed decision tool helps generate and evaluate new alternatives, as well as promotes managers’ learning about the tradeoffs and vulnerabilities of their systems.

General description: Our project team represents an interdisciplinary collaboration (policy, social science, engineering, operations research, climatology) between academics and water utility practitioners from 6 water providers in Colorado’s Front Range. Water managers and researchers will work together from the start to define the problem formulation (policy levers, objectives and constraints) that will inform multi-objective evolutionary algorithms (MOEAs) and be combined with a representative water resources simulation model for a range of extreme climate scenarios. This Testbed approach will result in a visualization of the decision space that, we argue, may in fact expand the alternatives that still meet managers’ decision criteria and allow managers to be able to visualize these more clearly than traditional tools. In our final step we will query managers about the tool, its results, and the process involved in incorporating such a tool into practice for helping to make decisions in anticipation of future extreme events. We will analyze these results and make some inferences about the viability of MOEAs and the larger issue of incorporating new tools into practice for urban water utilities. Read more …

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Indigenous Women Telling a New Story About Energy and Climate

Posted on December 9, 2014 by prometheus

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Winona LaDuke: Indigenous Women Telling a New Story About Energy and Climate
Along with Nani Chacon and Adrian Manygoats

December 9, 2014 at 7:00 PM
University Theatre in the Theatre Building, CU Boulder
View Flyer | More Info

Winona LaDuke (Anishinaabe) is an internationally acclaimed author, orator and activist. A graduate of Harvard and Antioch Universities with advanced degrees in rural economic development, LaDuke has devoted her life to protecting the lands and life ways of Native communities.

Nanibah “Nani” Chacon is a Painter, Muralist, Educator and Art Activist and Organizer. She was raised in Chinle, Arizona and Albuquerque New Mexico. Her cultural heritage and experience often informs her work as an artist and activist. Nani has a prolific career as an artist which spans close to 20 years, covering Graffiti artist, illustration, fine art painting, Murals and public works. In 2002 she received her BA in education, she has taught grades K-College Prep both formally and informally as an artist and mentor. As an artist Nani has won numerous recognitions and exhibits her work nation wide. Her recent endeavors include work as an art activist with the nationally recognized group Honor the Treaties, curatorial projects and community organizing.

Adrian Manygoats is a Navajo activist who serves as project director for Eagle Energy. She is passionate about women and energy and environmental justice for all people.

Brought to you by
Inside the Greenhouse, an initiative on the CU campus for creative climate communication
Center for Science & Technology Policy Research
CU Department of Theatre & Dance
International Collective on Environment, Culture & Politics

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Updated Figures: Media and Climate Change Observatory (MECCO)

Posted on December 4, 2014 by prometheus

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The Media and Climate Change Observatory (MECCO) monitors fifty sources across twenty-five countries in seven different regions around the world. MECCO assembles the data by accessing archives through the Lexis Nexis, Proquest and Factiva databases via the University of Colorado libraries. These fifty sources are selected through a decision processes involving weighting of three main factors:

  • geographical diversity (favoring a greater geographical range)
  • circulation (favoring higher circulating publications
  • reliable access to archives over time (favoring those accessible consistently for longer periods of time)

World, Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, Spain, United Kingdom, & United States (Updated through November 2014)

Figure Citations

Wang, X., Nacu-Schmidt, A., McAllister, L., Gifford, L., Daly, M., Boykoff, M., Boehnert, J., and Andrews, K. (2014). World Newspaper Coverage of Climate Change or Global Warming, 2004-2014. Center for Science and Technology Policy Research, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Web. [Date of access.] http://sciencepolicy.colorado.edu/media_coverage.

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Tiger Woods Is Back, Meaning We Can Watch Golf Again

Posted on December 4, 2014 by prometheus

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Roger Pielke, Jr. quoted in a Atlanta Blackstar article:

Tiger Woods Is Back, Meaning We Can Watch Golf Again
by Curtis Bunn

Atlanta Blackstar
December 2, 2014

Whether Tiger Woods is playing beautifully or like a weekend hacker, he is more interesting to watch than some of—most of—the PGA Tour’s top players. So, believe me when I say all elements of the golf world embrace his return this week after almost four months off at the Hero World Challenge in Islesworth, Fl.

Why? Because he moves the meter. Woods, the only Black player on the PGA Tour, inspires viewers, brings people out, increases purses.

He has hardly been the same player since his personal life unraveled in public and injuries piled up. But beating Woods remains a significant feat for tour players. Fans tune in to watch him flourish or struggle. He’s that magnetic.

He’s hoping, as are many fans, that he is over the injuries and can return to consistent competitive golf after playing in just eight tournaments last year.

“I’m excited that I have this much time off to obviously heal and get stronger and get my game in order for next year,” said Woods, whose season was halted by March 31 back surgery and another back injury in August. “I went through a period there for the last year, year and a half, where I didn’t really practice that much.”

The golf world missed him. His impact can be measured in viewers and dollars. As talented as Rory McIlroy is and others on Tour, they do not make golf fans want to tune in. Woods attracts the fan and the person who just wants to see what he’s doing.

Here’s how it shows up: The 2013 U.S. Open, a coveted major, with Woods participating pulled a 6.1 Nielsen rating. With Woods out because of injury this year, the ratings dropped to 3.3. The 2013 Masters with Woods drew a whopping 10.2. Without Woods in 2014, the numbers dipped signficantly to 7.8.

That’s power.

“I’m not saying anyone has to be a cheerleader,” Sean Foley, the swing coach Woods fired a few months ago, said. “But at least be fair, have some respect. I think when he came on the tour the purse was about $70 million and this year it’s $297 million. That escalation over 20 years is attributable to one person’s influence.”

Money talks.

This is how Roger Pielke Jr. of SportingIntelligence broke down what he calls the “Tiger Woods effect”:

The PGA Tour distributed $101 million in prize money in 1996, which was Woods’ final year before turning pro, and $292 million in 2008, the last year of Woods’ amazing run of dominance.

The 9.3 percent average annual increase in prize money during the Tiger era is nearly triple the 3.4 percent average annual increase that the tour experienced in the six years before Tiger joined the Tour.

That’s power.

Further, according to Pielke, the PGA Tour distributed $3.1 billion in prize money between 1997 and 2008. If Tiger didn’t exist and the prize money kept increasing by 3.4 percent per year instead of 9.3 percent per year, the tour would have only headed out $1.5 billion.

So, when he tees it up on No. 1 Thursday, even those who would rather see him continue to struggle are glad to see him back. He makes it better—and richer—for everyone. Read more …

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The Tiger Woods Era Made Pro Golfers More Money Than They Could Have Dreamed Of

Posted on December 3, 2014 by prometheus

woods

Roger Pielke, Jr. was quoted in Business Insider:

The Tiger Woods Era Made Pro Golfers More Money Than They Could Have Dreamed Of
by Tony Manfield
Business Insider
December 2, 2014

In an interview with ScoreGolf, Tiger Woods’ ex-coach Sean Foley vehemently defended Tiger on everything from his tipping habits to his recent performance on the course.

When talking about Tiger’s critics, Foley mentioned how Tiger single-handedly transformed the sport from a financial point of view:

“I’m not saying anyone has to be a cheerleader. But at least be fair, have some respect. I think when he came on the tour the purse was about $70 million and this year it’s $297 million. That escalation over 20 years is attributable to one person’s influence.”

He’s dead on.

Roger Pielke Jr. of SportingIntellgience dug through the numbers in August and outlined what he called the “Tiger Woods effect.”

He found that the PGA Tour handed out $101 million in prize money in 1996 (Tiger’s last year as an amateur) and $292 million in 2008 (the last year of the Tiger Woods era).

The 9.3% average annual increase in prize money during the Tiger era (1997-2008) is nearly triple the 3.4% average annual increase that the tour saw in the six years before Tiger went pro (1990-96).

Tiger wasn’t the only one to cash in. According to Pielke, the PGA Tour distributed $3.1 billion in prize money between 1997 and 2008. If Tiger didn’t exist and the prize money kept increasing by 3.4% per year instead of 9.3% per year, the tour would have only headed out $1.5 billion.

So ultimately Tiger doubled the amount of total PGA Tour prize money distributed during his decade of dominance, generating $1.6 billion winnings for other professional golfers.

Some big names benefitted immensely. From Pielke:

[Mickelson] has benefitted more than anyone except Vijay Singh from the “Tiger Woods effect.” Singh earned an extra $36 million over his career thanks to Tiger and Phil an extra $29 million. (This is PGA tour alone).

With the golf industry struggling across the board, purses have dropped by 2.3% since Tiger’s career took a turn in 2008, according to Pielke’s numbers.

Now that the Tiger era is coming to a close, it’s becoming clearer that 1997 to 2008 was a long exception for the sport — a golden age for popularity that couldn’t last beyond his singular dominance. Read more …

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Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centre Internship, Summer 2015: Call For Applications

Posted on December 2, 2014 by prometheus

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SUMMER 2015 Application information
Improving Environmental Communication and 
Adaptation Decision-making in the Humanitarian Sector

submit your application to redcross@colorado.edu

Application Deadline:  Friday January 23, 2015

Application Details [pdf]

CU-Boulder has partnered with the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre (RCRCCC) to place graduate students in locations in eastern and southern Africa each summer. This collaborative program targets improvements in environmental communication and adaptation decision-making as well as disaster prevention and preparedness in the humanitarian sector. It connects humanitarian practitioners from the Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centre – an affiliate of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies – with graduate student researchers at the University of Colorado who are interested in science-policy issues. Through this program we strive to accomplish three key objectives:

  • to improve the capacity of humanitarian practitioners within International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies network at the interface of science, policy and practice
  • to help meet needs and gaps as well as work as a research clearing house in environmental communication and adaptation decision-making in response to climate variability and change, as identified through Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centre priorities and projects
  • to benefit graduate students by complementing the classes and research that they undertake in their graduate program with real-world experience in climate applications and development work

This internship program will place 1-2 Master’s degree and/or Ph.D. students in an IFRC regional field office, a National Society branch office, or with a partner organization for a period of approximately 3 months.

Students will design their own program of work in conjunction with CU-Boulder Director Max Boykoff and RCRCCC supervisors. The RCRCCC supervisors will liaise with specific IFRC field offices to identify potential projects and placements.  Projects can encompass, but are not limited to, topics such as the use of scientific information in decision making, communication of probability and uncertainty, perceptions of risk, and characterizing vulnerability and adaptive capacity.  Placements in the field will address specific needs identified by IFRC field staff related to challenges of science communication and adaptation decision-making.

Participants will be required to provide six blog posts from the field during this placement, give some presentations (e.g. in ENVS, in the CSTPR brownbag series) upon return, and complete a report at the conclusion of their internship detailing their experience and research outcomes.

Selected interns will be provided with round-trip airfare to their field site, with travel to be organized through the University of Colorado. Interns will also receive a stipend to offset costs of in-country housing, food, and transportation. In total, funding will be provided up to $5,000 to offset these expenses, which can vary widely depending on the location and nature of the placement. Due to this limited funding support, applicants are encouraged to seek additional funding from alternate sources, as expenses can exceed this budgeted amount, depending on the placements.

This CU-Boulder program has now worked for two summers in locations of eastern and southern Africa, and has placed these five students in these places:

  • 2014 – Drew Zackary (Anthropology PhD), Apac and Otuke, Uganda
  • 2014 – Leslie Dodson (ATLAS PhD), Lusaka, Zambia and Capetown, South Africa
  • 2013 – Amy Quandt (ENVS PhD), Isiolo, Kenya
  • 2013 – Arielle Tozier de la Poterie (ENVS PhD), Soroti, Uganda
  • 2013 – Kanmani Venkateswaran (ENVS, MS), Lusaka, Zambia

Projects have involved topics such as analysis of uses of regional climate forecasts to trigger anticipatory humanitarian action, and examinations of ways to improve the linking of science-based forecasts with humanitarian decisions. More information on the specifics of all these placements and activities can be found here.

Application Details for Summer 2015:
Criteria:
Successful candidates will have a demonstrated interest in the Southern and/or East African regions, as well as demonstrated interest in one or both topic areas (environmental communication and adaptation decision-making), as evidenced by any of these elements: courses completed/underway, past work, volunteer and/or research experience, MS/PhD thesis direction.

Successful candidates must be self-starters and capable of adapting to independent working conditions. Students must have the consent of their graduate advisor to participate. A detailed terms of reference tailored to each intern will be developed by the intern and the relevant contacts in the months leading up to placement in the field.

Application Requirements (all submitted as separate pdf files):

  • Up to 1000-word statement about interest (geographic and/or topical) in the internship program, as well as a description of: a) how participation would fit into graduate study, b) previous experience and current skills would help to the RCRCCC to achieve its mission, c) preferred focus of work or topic of study, d) previous international experience and d) future career goals and objectives. Please be sure to specifically describe why and how the internship will be a mutually beneficial opportunity for both the CU student and the RCRCCC.
  • Statement of availability between May and August 2015
  • Current C.V.
  • One page letter/statement of graduate advisor support
  • Unofficial transcript(s) from graduate work at University of Colorado-Boulder

Notification and Planning timeline: 


  • January 23: Applications due to redcross@colorado.edu
  • week commencing February 2: Interviews with finalist internship candidates
  • week commencing February 23: applicants informed of internship placement decisions
  • March 9: Deadline for internship invitees to accept/decline offer (at this stage, offer 
is not a guarantee until final placement is confirmed by IFRC in Spring 2015)
  • March/April 2015: Final matching and placement decisions will be completed by IFRC
  • Summer 2015: students will be placed in Southern and/or East African regional field offices

These internships are made available through support by the Environmental Studies program (ENVS) and from the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) Center for Science and Technology Policy Research (CSTPR).

Contacts
Max Boykoff (Director)
Associate Professor
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Studies (CIRES)
Center for Science and Technology Policy Research (CSTPR)
Environmental Studies Program
Campus Box 488
tel: (303) 735-0451
boykoff@colorado.edu

Arielle Tozier de la Poterie (Graduate Student Co-coordinator)
Environmental Studies PhD student
Campus Box 488
arielle.tozierdelapoterie@colorado.edu

Meaghan Daly (Graduate Student Co-coordinator)
Environmental Studies PhD student
Campus Box 488
meaghan.daly@colorado.edu

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