60-10 Profit Over Planet? Undergraduate Students' Conceptions of Climate Change, Industry, and Policy

Session: 2YC and 4YCU Geoscience Student Research Poster Showcase

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Climate change is a well known and well documented problem. Currently, it threatens to harm many major socioeconomic sectors such as agriculture and energy, as well as threatening the livelihood of many people living in coastal regions. Climate Change mitigation is thus doubly important and one method is through education.Students are well aware of the threat climate change poses (source), but many students still feel helpless or hopeless due to a lack of understanding of how they can help combat climate change. To properly develop a student’s understanding of climate change, they must have a working conception of the causes of climate change, the policy that informs the causes, and the social factors in between. The goal of this research is to understand how students develop their understanding of climate change and find the areas they fall short in.This study was mixed methods, utilizing a survey that has both quantitative and qualitative questions. Participants were recruited through presentations as well as through professors. As of writing this abstract, seventy-nine students have responded to the survey. Likert questions were analyzed using a data analysis program, and qualitative questions were analyzed using a code method.Students were found to have a good understanding of climate change issues but lack a solid understanding of green policy and the industries that influence climate change. Nearly 70% of students could not correctly identify a local industry. 80% of students did not trust current climate change policy. Students also seemed to be disheartened and disenchanted by the policy, showing a lack of trust in the government. With these students coming up to be the next generation of leaders, trend-setters and pioneers of the future, preparing them for what’s to come is incredibly important. Climate change mitigation should have started thirty years ago, but we still can fight to preserve our world. Arming students with the knowledge of how to have an impact on local, state, and federal politics is important, as well as the knowledge of what industries have a direct impact on their well being.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Program. Vol. 57, No. 6, 2025

doi: 10.1130/abs/2025AM-7181

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