Having participated in climate change-related courses at the ANU, what have been some of the highlights?

The diversity of topics within each course, for example in Climate Change Science & Policy, the variety of lectures from academics of various disciplines provided different perspectives on climate change and its implications. In Climatology, it's the labs that provide the most useful learning tool about synoptic analyses and looking at the profile of the atmosphere and understanding what it all means in terms of the Earth's climate system. In Weather, Climate and Fire, field trips were definitely the best part, and were a valuable learning experience.

For these three courses, the lecture content has been really interesting which has been enhanced by the fact that all the lecturers are really enthusiastic about their topic / field of science with explanations that apply the physics, chemistry and the maths in manner that is easily understood.

Have the courses met your expectations so far?

The three courses that I have done (Climate Change Science & Policy, Climatology and Weather ,Climate & Fire) have met my expectations. I have found them really interesting and useful in understanding physical concepts in a descriptive manner rather than in terms of mathematical equations that you get in the core science courses.

If you were asked to recommend ANU climate change courses to a colleague, what would you say?

If you're interested in science but don't want to stumble through all the hard core maths and derivations then these courses are great and provide a realistic and interesting area of science and are a great supplement to other science courses.

What do you expect to gain from studying climate change courses at the ANU?

I took these classes primarily because I have a personal desire to become a climate scientist and I feel that my physics classes didn't provide an in-depth explanation regarding atmospheric physics. These courses have provided substantial explanation about the Earth's climate system and climate change with applications to other disciplines and have provided me with a basis to continue to further study in Honours in this field of science.