We were honoured to have a visit from, Dr. Stefania Amici, Technologist Researcher at Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, recently at the college as part of a talk about climate change and what we can do to limit it.

The recent Extinction Rebellion protest event that took place in London has helped bring awareness of climate change and its effects to a wider audience. The importance of educating young people of today could not therefore be more crucial.

The session started off with Maths tutor, and self-confessed science geek, Owen Burns talking to students about how climate change has affected the world in which we live in. This prompted a lively discussion from students discussing what has led to climate change and how changing attitudes can help to reverse it.

Owen commented: “It was a fantastic opportunity for learners at Greenbank College to get a taste of how scientists are monitoring our planet and finding what we could do to help. Students from a number of disciplines contributed to a though-provoking discussion on their concerns about the future of our planet and its native species, identifying threats and what they could do to promote a positive future.

I was very proud of the learners’ involvement, their awareness of the issues raised and the actions they promised to take. They also made Stefania feel welcome and we are certainly looking at ways we can get another cohort of learners involved in the near future.”

Stephania talked to the students about the work she has been involved in, particularly ‘Remote Sensing’ or looking at and investigating something from a distance, for example, using satellites to give a wider viewpoint of what is happening on earth. This could be to follow the flow of plumes of ash from volcanoes or monitoring forest and land fires which emit dangerous levels of CO₂ into the atmosphere.

Stephania said of the “It was a fantastic experience to share remote sensing from space insights with students and teachers. I enjoyed to show them how this technology can support and provide valuable information to understand our earth and tackling climate change issues. I was so pleased to see the students truly engaged and  interested.” 

Comments from students included: “It was very informative, not only on climate change but also the technology that is used to monitor it.”

“I enjoyed joining in with the talks and thought that it was very helpful and has thought me a lot about how to cut down on waste and how to help the environment and how to save the world.”

At the end of the session, the students were asked to write down one thing they will change about their lifestyle to help protect the planet. These were then used to make a Tree of Promises to be displayed in one of the classrooms at the college.

Interesting Links

https://fires.globalforestwatch.org

https://rl-project-fires.ingv.it

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