The Master in Global Environmental Change class of 2011 is made of a small group of 10 students from 10 different countries, each with our own culture and beliefs and yet, we are tied together by our interest climate change. Like any field of study, global environmental change comes with its own language. In just a few short weeks, we’ve started to integrate terms like “virtual footprint” and “harvest strategies” into our daily conversations. There are acronyms like WTO (World Trade Organization) and UNFCCC (the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) to learn and discuss. We have begun to dissect data that is essential to understanding climate change using programs that some of us had never used before. We’ve looked towards the past to better understand how we have gotten to this point and now we are using our new skills and tools to see where we are heading.

Although we were familiar with the overall topic of climate change before, we are now peeling back the layers of this complex issue as we look towards realistic solutions. We face constant reminders of the urgency of our environmental situation and yet, we have also found inspiration from working alongside those who are as excited about this topic as we are. We look forward to sharing our progress through our term and especially sources of inspiration that we find from the innovative people, companies and non-profits involved in this dynamic field of study. Stay tuned!

Our MGEC group biking near Madrid Rio