Climate Change Minor

Climate change is one of the most pressing issues of our time, and dozens of courses at Cornell explore the many facets of a warming world – from impacts on farming and food, to the causes of climate change, the potential of sustainable energy to replace fossil fuels, to the slow response of governments worldwide.  Now a new climate change minor, which launched in September of 2012, gives undergraduates the opportunity to explore climate change from varied disciplinary perspectives, while getting a firm grounding in the basic physical, ecological and social science as well as its interactions with history, philosophy and the arts. Based in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the minor is available to all Cornell undergraduates.

This minor is offered collaboratively with classes across campus coordinated by Peter Hess (BEE/CALS), Christy Goodale (EEB/A+S), Natalie Mahowald (EAS/ENG), Karen Pinkus (CompL/A+S), and David Wolfe (HORT/CALS). This coordinating committee can add or subtract courses from this list, based on proposals by professors or students.  The minor is administered by the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences.  Contacts: Curricular topics: Natalie Mahowald (nmm63@cornell.edu).  Administration: Savannah Williams (ss376@cornell.edu).

Many courses across Cornell deal with the multi-facets of climate change.  The minor is structured such that students without prerequisites can obtain the minor, thus enabling students from most any degree at Cornell to obtain the minor.

This minor requires 6 courses (18 credits) with three required courses, and three courses chosen from a broad list. At least 3 of the courses taken for the minor must be courses not used to fulfill major or other minor requirements.