Key Information on Upcoming Course Event
- Full time, 2 Week, Live Instruction Course
- July 15, 2024 – July 26, 2024
- Applications are closed for the 2024 course.
Computational Tools for Climate Science Course
We follow the motto “From Data to Action”, aiming to grow and empower the global community of climate scientists.
Join our innovative online program to learn cutting-edge techniques from climate science experts, implement them in guided Python tutorials, and collaborate on team research projects using real-world and modeled data to explore the social and environmental effects of climate change.
All our content is open source, feel free to browse our course book or the content used to create it.
Pre-Course Preparation
- You can see the full suggested prerequisites here.
- A Python pre-course is available from Project Pythia for students that need additional familiarity with Python.
Course Curriculum
The first day of the course curriculum will provide an overview of the climate system and xarray.
The next three days are centered on climate data. Students will use reanalysis products, remote sensing data, and paleoclimate proxy data to understand multi-scale climate interactions, climate monitoring, and variations in past marine, terrestrial, and atmospheric climates.
This will be folled by an introduction to the future of the climate system as predicted through climate modeling. Students will learn about climate models, how to interpret their projections of future climate and the standard framework for assessing socio-economic climate risks. They will also explore the pathways to mitigate those risks. During this time, students will also have a full day to work on their projects (not shown in diagram).
Finally, the course will cover the responses to climate change, including identification of extreme climate events (e.g. heatwaves, droughts, wildfires), and the use of climate data for tracking the impacts of climate change to inform adaptation measures.
Research Projects
To give students the confidence to apply their newly-won knowledge after the course, they will work in small groups (5-6 students) to pursue research questions of their own interest. These research projects will allow students to use climate data to investigate one physical earth-system in depth and evaluate the potential socio-economic impact of climate change. Students will work on one of the topics presented in the figure below and described in detail in the following paragraphs.
Research Project Topics
- Precipitation Variability and Extreme Events
- Arctic Sea Ice Change
- Heatwaves
- Ocean Acidification
Professional Development
As a part of their journey in Climatematch Academy, students and teaching assistants will be able to participate in professional development activities.
First, there will be Impact Talks on 1) climate justice, 2) equity in climate science, 3) open climate science, and 4) climate science communication. Pods will pick one, followed by facilitated group discussions.
Finally, student pods will be visited by a mentor who will share their own professional paths and offer career advice in a small-group setting.
Pricing
It is our priority to provide affordable, quality education in computational sciences to anyone anywhere in the world, and we must also make sure that our teaching assistants receive fair compensation for their work.
While we are supported by generous donations from a variety of foundations and industry partners, we strive to make our live courses sustainable by charging a small, regionally-adjusted tuition fee. This fee is (1) substantially lower than those of traditional summer schools, (2) determined by the location, career position, and funding status of each student individually, and (3) essentially in its entirety is used to pay our teaching assistants.
We do not want tuition fees to be a barrier for anybody, so fee waivers are available to students that need them without any impact on their admission. However, if you can pay even a part of your fee without hardship, we kindly ask that you do so. There is also an opportunity to pay more than your fee if you would like to help subsidize fee waivers for students with less financial means than yourself.
Dates
Our live course runs annually in July. We are considering the addition of a second live course in December/January, but a decision for next year has not been made yet.
Student and Teaching Assistant Roles
These roles are also outlined on our general courses page and in our Portal.
Students
Students have some experience with Python and have a foundational science background that is not necessarily in climate. Students work in small learning groups (“pods”) to complete coding tutorials and develop a research project – all under the guidance of our teaching assistants. We charge low, regionally adjusted tuition fees for students, and offer fee waivers where needed without impact on admission. To estimate the course fees based on your region, use our COLA Calculator.
Teaching Assistants
Teaching assistants have some knowledge of climate science and are experienced in python. Teaching assistants guide students through the tutorials and help them develop projects. As part of the application for teaching assistants, you are required to make a 5 minute video (longer videos will be penalized) using a pre-made tutorial. We want as many qualified teaching assistants as possible. Our best advice is to let your personality shine through and take your time moving through the material. This will ensure the content is clear and easy to follow. Please follow this link to the instructions on what to include in your video as well as detailed recording instructions.
Teaching assistants are paid, full-time, temporary, contracted roles. TA compensation is provided by this calculator.
Apply
Applications generally open three to four months before the course date. To check registration status and submit an application, visit our Portal, make a profile, and then apply for our course if it is available.