Tara Ivanochko - Think, Do, and Communicate Environmental Science

Think, Do, and Communicate Environmental Science

Many students find it daunting to move from studying environmental science to designing and implementing their own research proposals. This book provides a practical introduction to help develop scientific thinking, aimed at undergraduate and new graduate students in the earth and environmental sciences. Students are guided through the steps of scientific thinking using published scientific literature and real environmental data. The book starts with advice on how to effectively read scientific papers, before outlining how to articulate testable questions and answer them using basic data analysis. The Mauna Loa CO 2 dataset is used to demonstrate how to read metadata, prepare data, generate effective graphs, and identify dominant cycles on various timescales. Practical, question-driven examples are explored to explain running averages, anomalies, correlations, and simple linear models. The final two chapters and the epilogue provide a framework for writing, summarizing, and evaluating persuasive research proposals, making this an essential guide for students embarking on their first research project.

Tara Ivanochko is an associate professor of teaching and Director of Environmental Science in the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of British Columbia. She is also Academic Director of the UBC Sustainability Initiative. Her research focuses on marine palaeoclimatology and the reconstruction of environmental systems on timescales from 10,000 to 100,000 years. A passionate educator, she has also developed a multi-year curriculum to actively engage undergraduate students in authentic scientific experiences, and has incorporated learning portfolios and community-based learning into the Environmental Science degree.

Think, Do, and Communicate Environmental Science

Tara Ivanochko

University of British Columbia

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Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781108423458

DOI: 10.1017/9781108526104

Tara Ivanochko 2021

This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.

First published 2021

A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Ivanochko, Tara, 1972- author.

Title: Think, do, and communicate environmental science / Tara Ivanochko, University of British Columbia, Vancouver.

Description: Cambridge, UK ; New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020040231 (print) | LCCN 2020040232 (ebook) | ISBN 9781108423458 (hardback) | ISBN 9781108437578 (paperback) | ISBN 9781108526104 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Environmental sciences Research. | Environmental sciences Research Methodology. | Environmental sciences Research Data processing. | Environmental literature. | Technical writing.

Classification: LCC GE70 .I93 2021 (print) | LCC GE70 (ebook) | DDC 550.72 dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020040231

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020040232

ISBN 978-1-108-42345-8 Hardback

ISBN 978-1-108-43757-8 Paperback