If asked to describe the types of people who do science, chances are you may think of someone from a textbook, television shows and movies, to websites, news articles, and advertisements, among other information the media conveys about scientists. Often, these depictions are not wholly representative of those who actually practice science.
As such, we would like to give you an opportunity to explore the lives and works of real scientists to better understand who they are and how they contribute to our communities. In this series of “Get to Know a Scientist” assignments, we will feature scientists that perform work related to what you are learning in the course.
This week, you have explored some solutions to climate change. Solar energy is one of these solutions; however, there may be some unintended effects. In the first “Get to Know a Scientist” assignment, you’ll be exploring the work of Rebecca R. Hernandez. Her work is focused on examining energy sustainability and biodiversity.
Dr. Hernandez is a first-generation college student who started her academic career as part of the California Community College system at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, CA. She then went on to earn a Bachelor’s from UCLA, a Master’s from Cal State Fullerton before completing her Ph.D. in Earth Systems Science at Stanford.
Dr. Hernandez now leads a team of researchers https://www.aridlab.org/dr-rebecca-r-hernandez
Read this short article For The Love of Wild Things (https://www.ucdavis.edu/academics/women-stem/for-the-love-of-wild-things）
Read this summary (https://phys.org/news/2017-12-solar-energy-encroaching-potential-farmland.html)The full research article can be found here (https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.est.7b05110)
Listen to this short interview with Dr. Hernandez and read the short article (https://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/finding-further-places-for-solar-panels/?utm_campaign=Weekly%20Newsletters&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9wy0aPOYz6FZYO3fSTPrj-a-l_Lrz6SFnqVD6z_RklDVeFHxzzTDCGP0RTn46LVyirtg2S)
Listen to this four-minute https://archive.kpcc.org/news/2016/11/18/66016/using-old-landfill-sites-to-generate-solar-power/
Assignment Details
After reviewing the videos and articles, write a 300 word or more reflection with your responses to what you saw. Some topics you might wish to discuss include but are not limited to:
What was most interesting to you in reviewing these resources?
What are some of the strategies researchers are using to help maintain healthy populations in arid environments?
What new questions do you have after reviewing these resources?
What do these resources tell you about the types of people that do science?
Last Completed Projects
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