Beyond Doom and Gloom: Teaching & Learning about Climate Change as Polar Scientists
Join us online for 'Beyond Doom and Gloom: Teaching & Learning about Climate Change as Polar Scientists' on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, 8 am AKT | 10am MT | 12pm ET!
What would it mean to respond to climate change with connection instead of fear? The Polar Science Early Career Community Office (PSECCO) is excited to host Alicia Christensen from the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) Center for Education, Engagement and Evaluation (CEEE) to discuss key strategies and activities for nurturing emotional well-being and empowering polar early career scientists to take positive action in the face of climate change. By employing these strategies, early career scientists can move beyond the feeling of doom and gloom towards a feeling of empowerment and educate others about climate change in a way that inspires hope and optimism. Participants will walk away with mental health resources. Content will be developed by CIRES CEEE, with the event hosted by PSECCO.
To register for this event, visit this webpage.
Please reach out to psecco@colorado.edu if you have any questions.
About the Presenter
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Alicia Christensen is the Associate Director for Workforce, Career Development and Student Research Experiences at CEEE. She currently manages the Research Experience for Community College Students (RECCS) program as well as several other research experience programs. She supports the team's programming for life-long learners and the Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network (CLEAN), where she coordinates educator professional development and resources, including around climate mental health. She is passionate about connecting students from educationally under-served communities with the natural world. Before joining CIRES, Alicia served as the outreach programs manager for Denver Zoo and program coordinator for the Science and Math Investigative Learning Experiences Program at Oregon State University, where she facilitated a summer bridge to college program for entering OSU freshmen, teacher professional development, and undergraduate and graduate courses around the nature and communication of science. Alicia holds a M.S. in Marine Resource Management, focused on marine education, and spent 7 years before and during her M.S. teaching in informal learning environments, including two aquariums. Alicia is an enthusiastic ocean lover and can be found exploring some coastline when not in Colorado.
FAQ for virtual PSECCO-hosted events
All participants are expected to follow PSECCO’s community guidelines throughout the entirety of the event.
We highly encourage participants to have a working camera that is on during events, as it allows for better engagement. However, a camera is not a requirement to attend PSECCO events unless otherwise stated in the event description.
- Many of the events that we host are recorded. All recorded events are made available after the event on the Center for Education, Engagement and Evaluation (CEEE)’s YouTube channel in a PSECCO playlist to be viewed, within approximately one week of the event. All relevant links/resources are also made available after the event.
- Some of the events that we host heavily rely on real-time engagement or are discussion-based. These events are often not recorded. People will benefit most from these events if they attend them in their entirety.
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If you know that you can’t attend the event anymore, please cancel your registration by emailing psecco@colorado.edu no later than 48 hours before the event. This enables those who may be waitlisted to attend the event and also helps the PSECCO team accurately plan for the event.
- Upon registering for an event, you will receive a confirmation email from Constant Contact with a meeting link.
- We send pre-event reminder emails 2 weeks, 1 week, and 1 day prior to the event. The meeting link is hyperlinked in each of these reminder emails.
- If you are unable to access the meeting link through these methods, please email psecco@colorado.edu no later than 24 hours before the event.