This September, the Cornell Climate Stewards training program will launch across six counties in New York. The program will equip residents of Tompkins, Dutchess, Ulster, Monroe, and Seneca counties, as well as residents of New York City, to take action to address climate change in their communities through educational outreach and community climate action projects. The 12-week curriculum was developed as part of a collaboration between Cornell University and Cornell Cooperative Extension Tompkins County (CCE Tompkins) and was modeled on Extension’s successful Master Gardener and Master Composter volunteer programs.
The Fall 2021 Cornell Climate Stewards Training will be held weekly via Zoom starting on Thursday, September 9th. In each of the first 10 weeks, trainees will cover a specific climate change topic, with additional outside readings, videos and group activities designed to develop skills needed to lead and educate their communities in climate science, adaptation, and mitigation. Throughout the course, trainees will design and work toward a community climate action project that they will present and discuss in the final two class sessions.
Applications for the training are still open, but filling up quickly. Applications can be found online on your county’s website and are due by Friday, August 27. For more information, please contact the appropriate Climate Stewards team member for more information.
- Dutchess and Ulster Counties CCE: Carolyn Klocker (cak97@cornell.edu) and Melinda Herzog (mmh62@cornell.edu)
- Monroe County CCE: Christina Das (cmd325@cornell.edu)
- New York City CCE: Ana M. Cañas (ac2649@cornell.edu)
- Seneca County CCE: Ave Bauder (bauder@cornell.edu)
- Tompkins County CCE: Rachel Zevin (raz47@cornell.edu)