xNY: New York (2019)
Cycle for Science New York is launching in 2019 in tandem with Cycle for Science Netherlands as part of our first “Cycle for Science: GLOBAL” initiative!
Lesson
Cycle for Science New York will launch a brand new curriculum on understanding how glaciers shape the landscape and respond to climate, and how natural climate variability differs from human-caused climate change. Cycling through the Hudson Valley, which was covered by the Laurentide Ice Sheet 20,000 years ago, we will teach students how ice moves, builds and erases landscapes, and how understanding the past can inform our predictions of the future. The classroom-portion of the lesson will use a variety of hands-on activities to demonstrate natural climate cycles, glacier flow, and how glacier geology is formed. After, we will take students outside and look at evidence of the Laurentide ice sheet like glacial striations, glacial erratics and meltwater channels (like the Hudson River). Students will learn that the land is history, and that evidence of the massive changes that happen in Earth’s geologic cycle remain in their backyards. We will disentangle natural changes from current, anthropogenic changes and discuss the future of ice on earth. By comparing the pace of natural climate cycles with the devastatingly quick human-driven processes, we hope to inspire students to help lead climate change adaptation in their own communities.
DIY "glacier goo" instructions (from CReSIS), a "glacier goo" experiment in action (from Mariana Esteves of Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory), and a glacier (taken by our very own Elizabeth Case in Glacier Bay during her 2019 summer field research).
Team
The trip will be led by Cycle for Science’s co-founder, Elizabeth Case, who is now working on her PhD in Glaciology from Columbia University. Elizabeth will lead a tour of graduate students and postdocs from the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory.
Tentative Route
This trip will start with a lesson in New York City on Monday, October 7, and cycle 20 miles each day to arrive in Poughkeepsie, NY on Friday, October 11. Here is a tentative route of this trip:
Join us!
Are you an early career scientist living nearby, and interested in joining this trip? Please reach out to us at wecycleforscience@gmail.com for more information.
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