17 Dec 2020

Is anyone else FREAKING OUT about climate change?! I mean, it’s looming over us like a big, scary monster and Earth is heating up like a furnace! It’s scary to think about and for some of us, we’re doing our absolute best to play our part.

We compost. We recycle. We catch public transport. We listen to Greta Thunberg and we BYO metal straws. But how can we actually make a difference?

While all this is a great start, you can actually turn your passion into practice through a one-of-a-kind degree in climate science and adaptation at the University of Newcastle.

And when I say one-of-a-kind, I mean, truly one-of-a-kind. This degree is the only undergraduate degree in Australia to offer a specialised pathway into a career in climate science and adaptation.

By the end of it, you’ll understand climate science, be qualified to assess climate risks, and be able to create adaptation strategies that reduce the economic, environmental, and social costs of climate hazards. To put it simply, you’ll be a bloody hero!

There’s also a tonne of career options that spans all sectors of the climate science and climate risk management space. You could help account for climate variability and change to ensure water/food security even when there is a drought, minimise current and future impacts associated with extreme weather events (e.g. floods, fires, storms, cyclones), minimise the impact big companies have on the environment, prevent air and water pollution, or even help form policy. If you really want to spice it up, there’s a broad range of elective pathways you can choose from to align with your career goals, including public health, education, politics, and even legal studies (if you aspire to be like Marshall Erikson!).

The University of Newcastle also ensures their students get hands-on experience through relevant field-based activities and work-integrated learning where you engage directly with industry, government and the not-for-profit sectors, to really give you a taste of it all!

The impacts of climate change combined with limited natural resources is expected to cause major challenges for sustainability over the next few decades (in the same places/sectors it is already happening). This means the time for a focus on climate science and adaptation has never been greater.

So if you’re up for the challenge and you’re keen to save the world, check out the University of Newcastle’s Bachelor of Climate Science and Adaptation. Not all heroes wear capes!