As I wrap up my week in Glasgow, I found myself reflecting back on my time spent at Moravian. Not really knowing where exactly I wanted my career to lead to, I found myself registering for my final semester at the end of the Fall 2020 semester. I was torn between really just being exhausted from having to make the abrupt adaptation to a whole new learning system and quite frankly just wanting to get the degree over with, or expanding my horizons in hopes of finding a better sense of direction. But we'll get back to that in just a second.
That same semester [Fall 2020], I had decided to take the Climate Negotiations course that was offered, which is taught by both Dr. Husic and Dr. Binford, both of which are here with me at the COP26. The course taught quite literally what is in the name, negotiations about climate science and policy on different levels, along with additional topics. One week specifically, we had a guest speaker call-in to our class [via zoom] to speak about the cryosphere and how the specifics of the topic related to the class. Dr. Heïdi Sevestre, a French glaciologist who specializes in the dynamics of glaciers in the polar regions, while also spends time to focus on the interface of science-policy and communication. I was particularly looking forward to her talk, and I specifically remember being so intrigued by the topic that I went up to Dr. Husic after class ended to ask for her email. I was specifically interested in learning more about the mountain-building events in Antarctica. The rest sort of just fell into place from there; we contacted back and forth for quite some time after that, largely just sending scientific articles about Antarctica.
Backtracking to the first paragraph - when it came time to register for classes for my final semester at Moravian, I hit quite the roadblock after finding out that I could not get a seat in a geology course at one of the neighboring universities. Upon discussion with Dr. Husic, she asked if I would have interest in doing an independent study. Knowing that I had a particular interest in geology and really enjoyed Dr. Sevestre's talk about glaciology, she suggested that I reach out to her to see if she would be willing to facilitate an independent study. I remember feeling quite intimidated by the thought of it, but I took the shot and reached out. Shortly after, she responded quite enthusiastically and shared that she thought that was a fantastic idea, and wanted to set up a video conference to begin discussing the specifics. We chose the project to surround an introduction to glacial and geomorphological mapping [of Gandbreen, a surge-type glacier located on Edgeøya, one of the islands in Svalbard, Norway). This would involve both an introduction to glaciology, but also a concurrent introduction to Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technologies [I was taking the Moravian GIS course at the same time]. Going into the project, I knew very little on glaciology and absolutely nothing about GIS. So, I considered her to be my instructor in both glaciology and the geomorphological mapping aspects of GIS.
Dr. Sevestre would give me a chapter to read a week and we would touch base [remotely via zoom] every Friday to go over any questions I had, and to instruct me on the specifics to get ball rolling on the mapping aspect of the project. The project took off quite quickly, and the mapping portion of the project was done by the midterm-point of the semester. At that point, I knew practically all there is to know about surge-type glaciers. It was also at that point that I knew that this was my calling; i.e. glaciology was the field for me.
The way that the second half of the semester pertaining my independent study was structured was quite different than the first half, as Dr. Sevestre was actually going on the first all-female AND first carbon neutral research expedition in Svalbard (read more at https://www.climatesentinels.com). So, the remaining part of the semester consisted of putting together the research paper itself, and really tying everything together. I don't think I've ever been so motivated and enthralled to write a paper in my entire undergraduate career. In addition to that, I submitted an abstract to the Youth Environmental Alliance in Higher Education and proceeded to present about my research at their 3rd Global Virtual Conference. That abstract and presentation has since been officially published by the program. The rest of the semester flew by and soon enough, Dr. Sevestre touched back to mainland and we were able to conclude the independent study.
During our "last" video chat of the semester, Dr. Husic, Dr. Sevestre, and I touched base to go over the overall progress and took some time to reflect. Reflections upon the limits that can be surpassed by remote learning; remote in more than one sense. Remote due to the COVID-19 pandemic causing the GIS lab to be closed, so I had to remotely connect to a GIS desktop through a VPN. Remote because I could not be in Dr. Sevestre's presence - there was a whole ocean between us. Remote because I could not go out into the field to observe Gandbreen, so the use of satellite imagery and remote sensing were put in place. During that last chat, Husic and Sevestre began a discussion about the COP26 at the end of the year, and I remember thinking how cool would it be to not only attend such an important event, but to also meet my mentor.
Fast forward a few months [I graduated 😊], I found myself entering the world's largest climate summit. And with the heavy burden of knowing that this conference must be extremely proactive to minimize the devastating impacts that the climate crisis will continue to bring, I was also excited to network and explore new possibilities (and to meet Heïdi, of course).
And that's exactly what the week persisted of.
I had the absolute honor to meet my friend, inspiration, and mentor to all things glaciology, Dr. Heïdi Sevestre. I was able to network with scientists and other environmental professionals from all over the globe. I was able to hear the stories and perspectives from those who can't be heard from back home. All thanks to global collaboration.
With exciting opportunities to follow and some very exciting news about where I should end up for graduate school, I can give myself a fair amount of credit for having a fiery passion for the planet, however I also wouldn't be where I am without Dr. Husic and Dr. Sevestre.
Diane, Heïdi - if you're reading this, thank you.
My advice to students is to take your passion and run with it. Don't be afraid to take a leap, it may lead you to new horizons. And most importantly something that a high school teacher once told me and is going to stick with me for the rest of my life, no effort you make is ever wasted. Cheers.
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