& Response-Ability ClimateResponses
Exploring Appalachian State University’s Local-to-Global Focus on Climate Literacy
How it began
By Ben Coburn
So why are we talking about climate change? I mean, I thought it was global warming?! Who else thought that? Yes, it’s a little confusing, but not really.
Global warming is pretty selfexplanatory — simply, the globe is heating up — and this is leading to climate change. Climate change is relatively straightforward as well; it is the desta-
A Call for Climate Warriors
bilization of the climate that is caused by global warming. So why is this difference important? Well, it’s mostly important for those who don’t know why these changes occur. This change transpired because environmentalists, ecologists, and other scientists or biologists realized that the heating of the
See Climate Warriors, page 4
Photos courtesy of Appalachian State University;
Cover
photo by Lynette Holman
Climate Warriors: App State students join ranks
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globe is not the only repercussion we’re facing. According to a 2021 Cornell University review of 88,125 climate-related studies, 99.9% of these studies concur that climate change is mainly caused by humans — and it’s up to us to come up with solutions.
Essentially, look at it like this: Imagine the Earth is your child. And unfortunately, your child has been in a tough physical and mental state lately because you neglected it and refused to nurture it. So, in her rage and sorrow, she flooded some areas and extracted all forms of water from other regions. On top of that, her anger is boiling over, which causes an increase in temperature worldwide. That’s essentially what is happening now — and we need to take care of the Earth as we would a child.
But by applying this metaphor, or whichever way you look at it, there’s always some course of action to take. What would you do? Well, you would or should take care of it, and not abuse or neglect its importance, right? That’s what a Climate Warrior does. They take care of our world, almost as simple as that. Of course, there are plenty of components that go into being a Climate Warrior, but overall, a quick summary is that, “They nurture and preserve the World and the Land we have.”
The term Climate Warrior, as you may have noticed, bears a resemblance to war and conflict. A warrior is someone who is brave and experienced — someone who is willing to fight for something that they believe in. A Climate Warrior, in simple terms, is someone not afraid to fight the battle against climate change.
The University of California knows what it takes to be a Climate Warrior, and they’ve created a goal to create one million Climate Warriors by helping course participants understand the large and complex puzzle of climate solutions and inspiring them to think about which piece(s) of the puzzle they want help work on in their
future professional lives and communities. In November 2013, The University of California made it their mission to emit zero greenhouse gasses by the year 2025. This is truly impressive since UC is the first major university system that committed to this statement. They implemented what we call the “Bending the Curve” curriculum, which is a large portion of the curriculum in the Climate Responses & Response-Ability course at App State.
But what are some things that a Climate Warrior does on a daily basis to lessen their carbon footprint? Wow, I’m glad you asked that. Well, there are plenty of activities that can be done on a daily basis, like composting, using cold water for washing clothes and yourself, riding a bike to school or work, or at least getting a hybrid car (since they are quite prevalent now). Being a Climate Warrior doesn’t have to start with taking on the seemingly overwhelming task of systematic change; however, by taking the initiative to help the environment through individual choices and actions, those efforts speak volumes. Not everyone has the time to leave their lives to go help other people around the world struggling with climate change. But everyone can educate themselves, become climate literate, and help in their own small, but essential way.
If you’re interested in more ways that you can help individually, then you came to the right place. There are so many things
to do. For example, you can save energy in your home, so that means turning off heat, lights, electric appliances, and washing machines when you’re not using them. As I said before, switching to a plug-in car like an all-electric or hybrid can also be a vast improvement. Throwing away less food, and in fact, throwing the food into a composting container (outside, I recommend) will allow the carbon trapped in foods to be incorporated into the soil and not be released into the environment. Recycle everything you can, change to a low-carbon diet, and invest in new technologies like renewable energy (if you can afford it). Though renewable energy is expensive right now, it’s still a good way to reduce carbon emissions.
So now you know some small ways of fighting climate change individually. If you want to fight climate change with a large group of people, it’s best to look up non-profit organizations (like Climate Adaptation Knowledge Exchange or CAKE, Alliance for Climate Education or ACE, and Rainforest Foundation US) that support combating climate change. Regardless, you know ways in which to combat climate change on a smaller scale, and you also know that Climate Warriors are at the forefront of this fight against climate change. So overall, I hope this has given you an insight into how to combat climate change, and what is, or how to be, a Climate Warrior.
What’s next
QEP focus is on teaching climate literacy
By Ben Brady and Ashna Hairston
In May of 2022, Appalachian State’s QEP Steering Committee chose a new university-wide Quality Enhancement Plan that will be implemented in Fall 2024 and will carry out through 2029. The selected topic, “Climate Literacy and ResponseAbility,” entails a solutions-oriented and introductory general education climate literacy course applicable to all
departments, a variety of careeroriented and upper-level climate courses, opportunities for students to participate in transdisciplinary climaterelated research and activities, and co-curricular justice and local-to-global centered engagement events, according to the university’s QEP website.
See QEP, page 7
Photo courtesy of Appalachian State University
QEP: Quality Enhancement Plan provides new mission
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App State biology professor Dr. Shea Tuberty was selected to be the director of the QEP through its tenure. He noted the importance of implementing climate change discussions across all university curriculums.
“We’re all emitting carbon, and we’re all a part of the problem,” Tuberty said. “We all have to find a way to make what we do and what we know play a role in it.”
The proposal aims to include funding for university staff to implement climate-solutions based engagement for all students, with the hope that they will garner the knowledge and skills to consider climate responses in their subjective fields. With so much doom and gloom surrounding climate change discourse, Tuberty said, the new QEP aims to emphasize positive climate responses.
“We’ve realized the way forward is really about solutions,” Tuberty said. “Making it a positive aspect of the climate change effort is to leave students with hope and ideas for how they can play a role in the solutions. How big or small doesn’t matter, we just have to try to be a part of that solution.”
Tuberty’s personal research is centered around water quality and sustainability, and how it relates to climate change. He contributes to the App Aqua Group, an interdisciplinary research group, along with his graduate students. Tuberty noted the significance of considering water sustainability and climate change especially in the High Country.
“We have some of the most amazing water resources in the world here in the High Country,” Tuberty said. “The group to which I belong, with my graduate students here, is aiming to understand more about what climate change is doing to our particular climate patterns here and what that means as far as intense rains and flooding and how the biological side of the stream is responding to it.”
With many nature-based local industries, ranging from fly-fishing to skiing, and with the ever-increasing importance of climate change knowledge and action, Tuberty hopes that the new QEP will emphasize climate change literacy at App State.
“Unfortunately, like so many things these days, climate and climate change have been politicized,” Tuberty said. “I think that there’s probably some number of colleges and/or their faculty that are a little afraid to go there just because they might create a little more conflict in their classroom.”
The motive for enhancing climate change education at App State is a progression that moves from the curriculum of the past. According to a survey among 302 Spring 2019 graduates, across 60 majors, 43% reported a lack of climate change content in their education. Laura England, who has supported the initiative as practitioner in residence of sustainable development, stated that the new QEP will not only expand climate change education across the university, but will engage students with a more positive outlook on the conflict.
“Expanding what climate literacy course offerings in GenEd with an eye to these particular goals and student learning outcomes will help to close these gaps in student learning that are central to our institutional mission,” England said. “Existing coursework largely focuses on the causes and consequences of climate change, but students also want to know how to respond in positive ways.”
Tuberty stated reasons for a general lack of emphasis on climate change education, such as certain areas not being affected by the consequences of climate
change, or a general anxiety around climate change that can deter discussions around it. He noted that the healthiest and most impactful ways for communities to consider climate change responses is to consider that people can make changes through solutions.
“I think that what we really want to achieve with this is giving folks hope and giving them ways to solve climate change,” Tuberty said. “I want to leave every student at App hopeful that they can make a difference and they can do that individually, but also through leadership, and taking on a role in their communities or their jobs where they can help others understand what their roles are and what they could be.”
The university’s QEP initiative aims to spread climate literacy across both the general education curriculum and major-specific curricula, and it ultimately strives to promote climate change solutions in students’ careers as they move on from App State.
“The vertical model we propose provides opportunities for student learning geared to the priorities of our institutional mission and specifically contextualizes student learning to their disciplines,” the QEP proposal states. “Graduating climate-literate workers and leaders will be a tremendous service to North Carolina and the world, and will establish App State as a national leader in educating for resilience and justice in an age of global change.”
Shea Tuberty is a professor of biology and director of Appalachian State’s Quality Enhancement Plan. View the video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/DVIbi7ytK0E
Response-Ability
By Ben Brady
Laura England, a practitioner in residence within Appalachian State’s Department of Sustainable Development, has been with the university for over a decade. In the past few years, her focus has shifted toward climate literacy and development, and the ways in which climate change education can be implemented across all sectors of the university’s curriculum.
Course provides a path of hope
England arrived in Boone with the intention of continuing to work in the non-profit sector of outreach in regard to environmental sustainability. Instead, she was first recruited to teach an environmental science course.
“And as they say, the rest is history,” England said. “I fell in love with
See Course, page 10
Matt’s Scott’s visit to campus at the beginning of Earth Month in 2023 had a big impact! Between his public talk (at right) about his work as director of storytelling and engagement at Project Drawdown and sessions with 10 participating classes from across campus, Matt connected with more than 400 students while at App State. View the video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/jXCbru-xpZ0
Course: Learning to respond to climate change
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teaching, which I think is a form of outreach. I love working with students and I get to teach about the science that informs sustainable development, ecology, environmental science, and global change.”
As her teaching career progressed, she had an increasing interest in the state of the climate and the rising concerns around climate change. This progressed further based on the changes she observed in the climate of the High Country.
“There are a lot of observations after 13 years of living in this area that year by year, things are changing,” England said. “The lived experience of climate change is real and it’s observable.”
England noted that much of the curriculum focused around the causes and implications of climate change, effectuating a sense of hopelessness. Her concern focused on the lack of discussion around how communities can respond to climate change.
“We have a lot of coursework that does focus on the causes and consequences of climate change, both in the natural sciences and in the social sciences, but we had far less content in our courses across campus
that really do focus on, well, what can we do?” England said. “I have been both sort of working on an individual level in my own teaching and then working in collaboration with other faculty in trying to get support and resources to do that on a campus-wide basis.”
One result that stemmed from this effort was the initiative, Climate Responses and Response-Ability, a course implemented in the Spring of 2022 that focuses on responses to climate change instead of just the consequences of the issue.
The hybrid course was adapted from a similar course offered through the University of California system, and it has extended to 17 departments at App State with the goal of teaching climate literacy, mitigation and adaptation.
“We have a group of faculty who are teaching it now, each bringing their own teaching style and disciplinary lens or lenses to working with their own student population,” England said. “I’ve learned so much from those colleagues and tried a lot of new things in my own teaching as a result of that.”
England said that one of the main motivating factors of getting into this component of climate work was her role as a mother of
a fifth-grader and an eighth-grader.
“I’m constantly thinking about the future world that they are going to graduate into and live in, as family members, as community members, as professionals,” England said. “I really want it to be the best kind of world for them and for all the kids in their generation and beyond.”
Another project centered around climate change solutions that England leads is the Climate Stories Collaborative, which is focused on a community-based learning curriculum.
The initiative is based on the Climate Narrative Project at the University of Iowa that was inspired by historian Jeff Biggers, who England invited to visit App State in 2017.
“We took his central idea and adapted it in different ways to work on this campus, and within a handful of years, we had faculty from 25 departments that were involving their classes in the Climate Stories Collaborative,” England said. “We would together put on a showcase at the end of the academic year of student coursework that all of the other projects were communicating about climate change and using some form of creative expression.”
Laura England is a practitioner in residence within the Department of Sustainable Development. View the video on YouTube:
Against the Grain
By Colin Trinity
Just down the road from Boone, in Zionville, North Carolina, Holly Whitesides and her crew prepare for a standard day at Against the Grain farm. As Holly goes over what the crew needs to take on today with her husband Andy, chickens cluck and ducks quack. Holly speaks over the duckling to her right, “We need one person in the greenhouse and three people in the field.”
Local farm practices sustainability
The farm consists of multiple fields where lines of crops grow in covered and uncovered areas on the farm. Some crops are in greenhouses and some are under large white structures referred to by Holly as tunnels. These tunnels provide relief from weeds and exposure to the elements.
See Against the Grain, page 13
Photo by Colin Trinity
Against the Grain: Farm focuses on biodynamics
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The elements have been something Holly — a Minnesota native — has learned to deal with over the past decade, “We grow more things under tunnels. That really helps us. We’re less susceptible to weather extremes like a lot of rain or a lot of drought because we can irrigate consistently in the tunnels.”
Holly says that she has really had to learn and adapt to the rapidly changing climate. Some crops are dying out because seasons are changing at different paces than previous seasons. This is all a result of climate change. But even though Holly and her crew have needed to take steps to prevent climate change from affecting their farm, Holly’s mindset towards climate change remains pretty calm.
“Day to day I’m not really concerned because there’s not a lot I can do about it from moment to moment. I just have to stay the course.”
Stay the course she does. Climate change is happening regardless, so instead of worrying about it she tries to give her farm the best chance to survive it. She points to the one thing on the ground that
seems abundant at Against the Grain: soil.
“Ultimately what it goes back to all the time over and over is the biology of the soil and the health of the soil. And that is really creating. So the things that we do, one of the main things we do here on the farm is we build compost. We also cover crop.”
Cover cropping is essentially using crops to enrich the soil by covering the soil with the introduced crop. Cover cropping is a way to recycle the crops into soil, but it is also a great way to save money on fertilizer. The crops seem to like it, along with the animals.
“We have pigs, cattle, chickens, ducks.” She points to a brown duck waddling up the gravel road outside the greenhouse.
Against the Grain grows many crops, but their vegetables are their calling card. There are rows of tomatoes, lettuce, ginger, and many other kinds of greens lining the greenhouses on the property.
Holly describes the health of the farm in three ways, “the financial health of the farm, the biological health of the farm, and also the social or community health of the farm.” In order for Against the Grain to be functioning at a high level, all three of those must be taken care of.
Holly’s business has grown over time and
so have the number of employees. What started with her and her husband envisioning farming in the North Carolina countryside has turned into a full-on business.
“We are working toward a five-day work week as farmers, which is like a really big deal for us as we started with an eightday work week.” But even though some business owners take the weekend off, Holly is never off the clock.
“She is usually here. Like almost always,” one of her staff says after a dirt-filled handshake.
Holly’s dedication to excellence in organic farming shows in how hard each of her staff work for her. In a greenhouse, six workers are on their hands and knees performing their duties to make sure the crops are properly taken care of. Holly’s husband comes by in his lawn mower to check on everyone. Things seem to be in order. Like usual.
When Holly, inspired by the examples of small organic farmers in the Midwest, bought the property twelve years ago with her husband, she had one thing in mind: to make a positive impact on the community. Against the Grain has provided produce and opportunities for education and outreach in the community ever since.
Holly Whitesides is co-owner of Against The Grain farm in Zionville. View the video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/tcOv4OLJ3ZU
Local to Global
By Lynette Holman
In 2017, I decided that the communication department needed a study abroad program in The Netherlands. I had never led a study abroad program, but had managed to bring students to New York and Washington, D.C. and had kept everyone happy and safe. I figured, “I’ve got this!”
My husband and App adjunct, Philip, and I set about teaching Intercultural
App State study abroad students document Dutch sustainable culture
Communication and Photojournalism to a group of 16 students during the summer of 2018. Covid put a stop to our next planned session in 2020, but the three-week summer program came back in 2023 and 2024.
In an effort to better align with App State’s QEP on Climate Literacy, future
See Local to Global, page 15
The 2018 crew |
Photo by Lynette Holman
Local to Global: Dutch offer climate change lessons
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“Documenting Dutch Culture” programs will expand students’ knowledge of world geography, colonialism, eco-friendley design and living, and conditions, issues, and events related to Dutch culture with a focus on sustainability. As such, it will augment their awareness of the complexity and interdependency of world events and issues.
In particular, the program will increase their understanding of historical and environmental forces that have shaped the current world system and address key competencies in sustainability (SC):
• Values thinking,
• Systems thinking,
• Futures thinking, and
• Interpersonal/collaborative competence.
This program will increase students’ knowledge of how the Dutch lead in matters of flood-resistant engineering and architecture, flood and water management, and sustainable agricultural and food production practices. Since most of the country is below sea level, the Dutch have long engineered windmills, dykes,
and polders to control flooding and create farmland that it uses to maintain its status as the second-largest exporter of agricultural products in the world.
In response to the great flood of 1953, the Delta Works was built. Students will visit the Maeslantkering to see how it protects Rotterdam from floods.
Students will also learn about how the Dutch lead in farming innovations. Specifically, students will learn about vertical farming methods and production of alternative protein sources. They will visit and document the Protix production facility (https://protix. eu/) — Protix is a Dutch company that specializes in insect ingredients for food and feed. U.S.-based Tyson Foods and Protix have entered a joint venture for the construction and operation of an insect ingredient facility in the United States. Upon completion, it will be the first at-scale facility of its kind to upcycle food manufacturing byproducts into high-quality insect proteins and lipids which will primarily be used in the pet food, aquaculture, and livestock industries.
Students will also visit and document The Floating Farm (https://floating.farm/), which minimizes food supply disruptions
by integrating farming into urban environments. In addition to increasing resilience to flooding, The Floating Farm contributes to the global sustainability agenda. The structure and activity of the farm has a direct or indirect positive impact on 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Students will also visit and document the Schoonschip (https://schoonschipamsterdam.org/en/), the most sustainable floating neighborhood in Europe.
Climate change education for study abroad students is more than just an academic pursuit. It’s a vital tool for equipping the next generation with the knowledge, skills, and perspectives needed to tackle one of the greatest challenges of our time. By immersing themselves in cultures that are leading the way in sustainability, students not only gain valuable insights but also become part of a global movement toward a more sustainable future.
Let’s empower these students to become change-makers, to document, to share, and to act. Because when students understand climate change through diverse lenses and innovative solutions, they don’t just learn about the world—they learn how to change it.
Ian Dzilenski (far left on page 14) created a vlog of the 2018 Documenting Dutch Culture program. View the video on YouTube: https://shorturl.at/U2cmZ
Climate Responses
& &Response-Ability
In addition to lectures at CIEE’s office in Amsterdam, students embrace experiential learning through program activities For example, the students visit De Ceuvel, a community workplace founded on sustainability. In 2012, the initiative reclaimed an abandoned shipyard full of toxins. While planted greenery heals the soil, each house boat features entrepreneurs and artists (https://deceuvel.nl/en/).
Photo by Haley Whitley
Photo by Nicole Evans
Photo by Lynette Holman
Photo by Sylvia Rockman
Amsterdam Daily
Life in Amsterdam Exploring Schoonschip
Adorned with windows and greenery, three picturesque residences float on a peaceful canal on a clear summer day. Taken June 15th, 2023.
By Haley Whitley
Photo by Marwa Farid
Photos courtesy of Lynette Holman
The 2024 crew
The 2023 crew
Ben Brady (he/him/his) is a graduating senior and journalism major from Raleigh and has spent four years with The Appalachian student newspaper. Following graduation, he will be working as a Content and Design Specialist at Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation.
Ben Coburn (he/him/ his) is an English creative writing major (and communication minor) who was born in Raleigh, N.C. He attended Caldwell Community College before transferring to Appalachian State in the fall of 2022. After college, his goal is to become an established fiction writer.
Finding a niche
Ashna Hairston (she/ her/hers) is a senior with a major in journalism and a minor in marketing. She’s from Charlotte, but has fallen in love with the mountains and everything involving Boone. She is extremely thankful for this opportunity to watch a legacy be built with the QEP initiative.
Colin Trinity (he/him/his) is a graduating senior at Appalachian State majoring in journalism. He is originally from Washington D.C. and loves to write, watch sports, and get outside. He has enjoyed his time at App and is looking forward to new opportunities in the future.
Communication students share climate stories
By Dr. Lynette Holman, Professor of Digital Journalism
After arriving at Appalachian State Univerity in 2010, I worked hard to grow our digital journalism curriculum so students would learn multiplatform and multimedia storytelling. In addition, I have been fortunate enough to be a part of App State’s Climate Stories Collaborative and to pursue my own research in media effects and climate change storytelling. It has been my privilege to join the ranks of faculty across the university in teaching Climate Responses &
Response-Ability to our communication students. Our first small, but mighty class of four conducted their own research and reporting to bring you these stories about App State’s efforts to promote climate literacy across campus.
In addition, I have led a study abroad program, Documenting Dutch Culture, that extends the mission of our climate literacy QEP to examine how the Dutch are responding to climate change. I hope that students feel inspired by these programs.