English Department Students Partner with Climate Adaptation Science

This semester, English undergraduate and graduate students were able to practice their creative writing skills outside of a classroom workshop. Graduate students Anne Schill, Mckayla Beauchamp, Dax Glove, and Basil Payne, as well as undergraduates Chloe Scheve and Ella Stott, were invited by Climate Adaptation Science (CAS) master’s students to collaborate on a project. 

English Assistant Professor Amber Caron mentored the writing students after the idea was pitched by climate adaptation science professors Kyra Clark-Wolf and Anna Miller. Their students had been developing the interactive Utah Climate Access Portal, which allows Utah residents to explore the current impact of climate change across the state, as well as future projections.

One of the CAS students, Matt Pena explained why the group reached out: “Communication is such an essential part of science, and a main goal of our project was to help bridge the communication gap between scientists and non-scientists. We eventually realized that if we wanted to accomplish this, we needed help from writing experts. While us scientists are often good at telling you the information and the data, writers are great at telling you why this data matters, and they’re able to craft stories and sentences that get you emotionally invested in the data in a way we never could — and trust me, we tried!” 

Each student took on a different area of Utah and wrote about a unique effect of climate change. On April 8, the online tool was updated with a story tab, where users can read short works of fiction from the perspective of Utahns navigating climate change 40 years from now. 

“We chose to work with creative writing students because UCAP's goal — helping Utahns understand climate change — works best when we combine climate data with engaging stories,” reflects CAS student Daivd Pineda Pinto. “The creative writing students created relatable characters and scenarios in real Utah locations, all based on our scientific projections. This partnership let us show climate impacts through stories instead of just data, making science easier to understand and remember.”

Chloe wrote about the fires in Pine Valley. She notes, “I believe that scientific data, especially on the climate, needs to be made more accessible to the general public, and this project gave me the opportunity to write into that accessibility. Stories stay with people, and being able to interpret data through story is one of the oldest tools of language.”

Basil, who wrote about the heat at Arches National Park, found the project to be very timely. They comment, “I never feel like I’m doing enough to help, but being a part of this project has shown me that I can make a difference in the world, and I can use something I love to do it!” 

For Amber, choosing to take part in the project as a writing mentor was “an easy decision.” She adds, “Here was an amazing opportunity for our students to bring their expertise as writers into a larger conversation happening not just at USU but across the state. It’s been an amazing collaboration. I hope it’s just the beginning.”

The stories can be found on the Utah Climate Access Portal website.