Think Globally, Teach Locally
By Dr. Ingrid Zabel, Climate Change Education Manager and Dr. Don Haas, Director of Teacher Programming
December 13, 2024
For decades, PRI has been committed to teaching about our changing climate—the science behind it, the threats that climate change poses, and what we can do about it. We have provided professional development workshops for thousands of K-12 teachers, and PRI’s websites, which prominently feature climate change content, now get over one million unique views each year. In our most recent fiscal year, our climate change-themed videos alone had almost 50,000 views, and close to 1,200 people of all ages took part in our live, hands-on climate change education programs funded by the Park Foundation. These programs focused on climate change and its effects here in Tompkins County.
Examples of some of PRI’s climate change education programs. Clockwise from top left: Cornell University faculty speaking at PRI's Science in the Virtual Pub; children at the Cayuga Nature Center's summer camp devising and testing ways to adapt a garden to heavy rainfalls; high school students exploring flood solutions at the Cayuga Nature Center; Weird Weather Saturdays – summer public programs on climate change; (left) a high school student measuring tree size to determine carbon sequestration and (right) teachers running a greenhouse effect demonstration in a professional development workshop at the Science Teachers Association of New York State conference.
One might wonder if all of this matters now that the incoming Federal administration seems poised to deemphasize climate education programs. In fact, it matters more than ever. Climate change education is one of the most important actions we can take—learn more about that here—and as federal priorities may shift, the responsibility to advance climate education shifts to the state and local level and falls increasingly to organizations like PRI.
PRI is ready to take on this challenge. We have recently established a new Center for Climate Change Education at PRI, drawing attention to our long-respected work in climate change and energy education. The creation of the Center emphasizes these efforts and clarifies public perceptions of what we do. The Center’s mission is to provide and support action-oriented climate change education everywhere, grounded in the understanding that humanity faces a climate emergency, and that action-oriented education is fundamental to addressing this emergency. The Center advances climate education through developing educational materials, exhibits, professional development, and programs for diverse audiences. It ensures access to accurate, up-to-date climate science supported by grants from NSF, NOAA, the Park Foundation, Cornell’s Atkinson Center, a generous endowment from an anonymous donor, and contributions from donors like you.
A sampling of publications and resources from the Center for Climate Change Education at PRI. Shown here are the books The Teacher-Friendly Guide to Climate Change and The Science Beneath the Surface: A Very Short Guide to the Marcellus Shale; the scholarly article, “How a Multidimensional Ecology Education Approach Can Enhance College Curricula to Implement the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals;” PRI’s YouTube channel, and PRI’s very extensive website Earth@Home.
We pride ourselves on reaching people nationwide with our climate change education programs and resources— such as the U.S. regional climate information in our award-winning book The Teacher-Friendly Guide to Climate Change. But we are especially well-positioned to help New York State teachers teach about climate change and to help the public here in Tompkins County and more widely in New York State understand climate science and climate action. We have led many state and local projects in the past, and through these we have built strong connections with teachers, informal educators, other organizations, students, and the public.
There are promising developments related to climate change education in New York State. At the December meeting of the Board of Regents, the Regents approved legislative and budget priorities for 2025-2026. Amongst those priorities was a budget appropriation for $536,500 that would fund two new staff in the State Education Department for climate education and begin the rollout of expectations for climate change to be taught across the grade span and across the curriculum, formally beginning in the 2026-2027 academic year. The need for teacher professional development will be substantial across the state and PRI is poised to support that effort.
Our climate is changing here and now, and that’s a serious problem that requires education on a massive scale. Help fulfill our action-oriented mission by visiting the Center’s website to learn from our resources, participate in activities, and apply those lessons to protect our environment. Consider supporting us at PRI’s donation page. Let’s keep building climate change education together, starting right where we are.