At 16, Katya Kondragunta has already lived through two disasters amped by climate change. First came . Ash and smoke forced her family to stay inside their home in the Bay Area city of Fremont, for weeks.
Then they moved to Prosper, Texas, where she dealt with .
鈥淲e鈥檝e had horrible heat waves and they鈥檝e impacted my everyday life,鈥� the high school junior said. 鈥淚鈥檓 in cross country ... I鈥檓 supposed to go outside and run every single day to get my mileage in."
Kondragunta says in school she hasn鈥檛 learned about how climate change is intensifying these events, and she hopes that will change when she gets to college.
Increasingly, U.S. colleges are creating climate change programs to meet demand from students who want to apply their firsthand experience to what they do after high school, and help find solutions.
鈥淟ots of centers and departments have renamed themselves or been created around these climate issues, in part because they think it will attract students and faculty,鈥� said Kathy Jacobs, director of the University of Arizona Center for Climate Adaptation Science and Solutions. It launched a decade ago and connects several climate programs at the school in Tucson.
Other early movers that created programs, majors, minors and certificates dedicated to climate change include the , , , the and the . Columbia, the private university in New York City, with a graduate degree in climate and society, and has related undergraduate programs in the works.
Just in the past 4 years, the public , , Nashville private university , , the and others have started climate-related studies. Hampton University, a private, historically Black university in Virginia, is , and the University of Texas at Austin will offer .
The fact that people is one factor. The Biden administration鈥檚 , the largest climate investment in U.S. history, plus growth are also increasing interest, experts say.
In these programs, students learn how the atmosphere is changing as a result of burning coal, oil and gas, along with the way crops will shift with the warming planet and the role of renewable energy in cutting use of fossil fuels.
They dive into how to communicate about climate with the public, ethical and environmental justice aspects of climate solutions and the roles lawmakers and businesses play in cutting greenhouse gases.
Students also cover disaster response and ways communities can prepare and adapt before climate change worsens. The offerings require biology, chemistry, physics, and social sciences faculty, among others.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not just 鈥榦h, yeah, climate, global warming, environmental stuff,鈥欌�� said Lydia Conger, a senior who enrolled at Utah State specifically for its climate science studies.
鈥淚t has these interesting technical parts in math and physics, but then also has this element of geology,鈥� she said, 鈥渁nd oceanography and ecology."
When higher ed institutions put their programs together, they often draw on existing meteorology and atmospheric sciences studies. Some house climate under sustainability or environmental science departments. But climate tracks need to go beyond those to satisfy some incoming students.
In Kennebunk, Maine, high school junior Will Eagleson has lived through storms that caused coastal destruction. The sea level is rising in his hometown. As the 17-year-old considers college, he said to get his attention, schools must 鈥渘arrow it down from environmental and Earth science as a whole, to more climate change-focused programs.鈥�
For Lucia Everist, a senior at Edina High School in Minnesota who is frustrated at her own lack of climate education so far, schools need to go deeper on the human impact of climate change. She cited disproportionate impact on Black, Latino, Indigenous and low-income neighborhoods.
鈥淚 looked a lot into the curriculum itself,鈥� the 18-year-old said of her college search. Everywhere she applied, "I made sure had the social aspect just as much as the science aspect.鈥�
Climate students need to learn everything from healthcare to how to store clean solar and wind energy, said Megan Latshaw, who runs Johns Hopkins University鈥檚 master鈥檚 programs in its Environmental Health and Engineering department. The school has a graduate degree in energy policy and climate, and also offers two certificates that include the term climate change.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the flooding. It鈥檚 the heat waves. It鈥檚 the wildfires. It鈥檚 the air pollution that鈥檚 generated when we鈥檙e burning fossil fuels. It鈥檚 allergies. It鈥檚 water scarcity, and people who may have to flee where they鈥檝e lived for their entire life,鈥� Latshaw said. She noted the university looks into weaving climate change into its schools of public health, engineering, education, medicine, nursing and more.
Another factor may be that many colleges around the country face and less public funding, pushing them to market new degrees to stay relevant.
Many small, private colleges have over the last decade with fewer students graduating from high school and more . The same pressures are affecting large public universities systems, which have to close gaps in budgets.
鈥淭here is definitely some part of academia that just simply responds to consumer demand,鈥� said John Knox, undergraduate coordinator for the University of Georgia鈥檚 Atmospheric Sciences program, who is considering whether the school should offer a climate certificate. 鈥淚n the end, I鈥檓 worried more about our students succeeding than marketing something to somebody."
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This story has been corrected to reflect that Vanderbilt University is not an Ivy League school.
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Associated Press news editor Michael Melia in 老澳门六合彩开奖记录资料icut contributed to this story.
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Alexa St. John is an Associated Press climate solutions reporter. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, . Reach her at [email protected].
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The Associated Press鈥� climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP鈥檚 for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at .
Alexa St. John, The Associated Press
