I didn't really change the scope of the research much, except for being limited on what variables I can perform data analysis on - for example, neither my mentor nor I could find great data for marine carbon dioxide / dissolved inorganic carbon concentration, so we had to cut that part of the study. This changed my understanding of climate/earth science and environmental research in general, as I previously assumed that the scientific data are all already present and the only thing lacking is policy enactment. However, all the data I used are still from models, meaning they do not reflect real-world physical ocean conditions and growth.

The data I used are from my mentor, as he has the most experience with oceanography data. An underestimated resource is textbooks, since I'm fairly new into the hard sciences it's always helpful to have something as basic as a textbook to refer to. The one I used was "Marine geochemistry: ocean circulation, carbon cycle and climate change". I also used Codeacademy and other online R language manuals for my coding.

This sounds like a really interesting and important aspect of research! I wonder how you quantify and define 'civil society' - is it just everything except for the government, or are there more important pillars that define the 'civil society'. Also, will your paper have any outcome on influencing or advising future actions of any CSOs, or is it a purely academic analysis?

My research on phytoplankton in future oceans looks at species evolution affected by climate change and the marine organismal responses to climate change. It is a part of the year-long lab project that my lab at Lamont focuses on by culturing numerous phytoplankton species in incubators that simulate climate change conditions (temperature, CO2, and sometimes light). I am contributing to this year-long project by helping out inoculation, transferring, optical density measurements, media making, and other lab work. I am also a part of the computational aspect of the project, using R-language data analysis to find out the temperature conditions of the time and locations in which phytoplankton blooms take place. This will help the lab to choose conditions appropriate for marine ecology/evolutionary ecology experiments, which is the topic of a paper that my PIs and I will co-author and publish soon. This project is significant because it models the changes in biomass (and, consequentially, the carbon cycle and/or ocean pH) in oceans as climate change occurs, which is an inevitable future, providing more scientific data about how to adapt to global change.

Gersely, I'm so glad you brought up the point about how not every stage of our research will have an ethical issue. I feel the same way! I'm excited to learn more about what philosophical perspectives can offer on the concept of refugeeness, since this is very relevant throughout all areas of the world. To what extent are refugees alienated from the areas they reside in, or do they also shape the meaning of that area's cultural and geological landscape?

What are some of the ethical issues that you are grappling with in your research? What are some of the ways in which you are responding to these questions?

My project involves mapping phytoplankton growth using the NASA CbPM ocean colors dataset and with a hands-on portion, investigating the optimal temperature, pH, and CO2 conditions for phytoplankton growth. One ethical issue with the hands-on portion is whether phytoplanktons can be grown (and left dying) for the utilitarian sake of experiments by humans, especially for a cause like anthropologically induced climate change. I'd resolve this dilemma because the goal of our project is to create a framework for future scientists to model the impacts of global warming on marine biological carbon sequestration, which has far more beneficial impacts than the harms of phytoplankton deaths.

As you continue your research, have you considered alternative viewpoints in your investigation? If so, how have these alternative viewpoints enriched or changed your project?

I have considered different factors that can impact phytoplankton growth, such as the isopycnals in oceans (density layers). Ocean water density can have an impact on where deep chlorophyll maximum occurs, where most phytoplankton growth takes place. However, after consulting with my PI, we concluded that this would not be a significant factor to alter the experiment because marine water density is almost uniform at the photic zone, where light can penetrate the ocean and allow photosynthesis to take place. Therefore, we decided to focus on the more important factors, like temperature, pH, and CO2.

Erica, I totally agree with what you said about needing collaboration between multiple disciplines and scholars to solve global problems. I'm curious as to how teamwork plays a role in your project, especially given how interdisciplinary your project is and how big your team is.

The Laidlaw program fosters interdisciplinary collaboration, crucial for tackling global challenges like climate change. By connecting scholars from diverse fields such as urban studies, physics and food security, history, and medical science, the program promotes innovative solutions. Conversations within the Laidlaw community have made me realize the various ways that climate change can impact human beings. For instance, while my focus may be on marine science and biological carbon sequestration, insights from the mapping historical New York project could enhance my understanding of the different communities of coastal residents that climate change can impact. Similarly, sustainability perspectives could offer holistic approaches in medicine, social sciences, and humanities. Embracing interdisciplinary collaboration enriches research, especially on an undergraduate level like the Laidlaw program.

I love the way that you phrased how the society today tend to identify and favor 'natural leaders' and give them more responsibilities and praise, as if it's granted. I totally have the same feeling and I'm glad to see someone who felt the same! I agree that it's important to focus on the often overlooked people on the team, as they might be applying different types of leadership too. Good luck with your research!