Seminar: Engaging Students Virtually: COP26 and Beyond

In the past decade there has been a steady increase in experiential learning opportunities for undergraduate students, especially those that emphasize critical thinking. The COVID pandemic made moving to an online environment necessary and this is turn meant instructors had to consider novel ways of providing experiential learning opportunities to their students. In 2021 I attended the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow Scotland (COP26). Given the concern many students have about climate change and the future of the environment, I used the conference as an ideal setting to incorporate current events into my RNR 160 Wildlife Conservation and Culture course. I will share the outcome of having students participate in COP26 remotely and present a framework for developing an innovative, highly distributed Course‐based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) surrounding future United Nations Climate Change Conferences.