Fall 2025 Cornell Climate Steward Volunteer Training

When: September 10th – December 10th 2025
Sessions are 2 hours long, once a week on Wednesdays starting September 10th. See full schedule below.
Where: Virtual (possible in-person final meeting depending on your county educator)

To become a Cornell Climate Steward (CCS) volunteer, you must apply to the program with your county’s Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) office. The application is simple to fill out and can be done with the help of your CCE Educator. Email climatestewards@cornell.edu to be directed to your CCE Educator today. After filling out the appropriate application, volunteers will sit for a short interview with your CCE Educator to share why you would like to be a CCS volunteer. Once accepted to the program, you will join the 12 week course, focusing on science basics, communication, and adaptation and mitigation projects. During the course, you will be guided through designing your own volunteer project based entirely on your own interests and community. Once you complete the training, you will work on your volunteer project with the guidance of your CCE Educator and complete 40 hours of volunteer work within a year to become a Cornell Climate Steward and a champion for your community.

Schedule: Wednesdays 6:00-8:00 PM
Sep. 10: Program Orientation
Sep. 17: Background Science
Sep. 24: Impacts Part 1
Oct. 01: Break
Oct. 08: Impacts Part 2
Oct. 15: Working with Local Governments & Communities
Oct. 22: Intro to Mitigation
Oct. 29: Local Community Mitigation Strategies
Nov. 05: Intro to Adaptation
Nov. 12: Local Community Adaptation Strategies
Nov. 19: Effective Science Communication
Nov. 26: Break
Dec. 03: Planning Volunteer Projects
Dec. 10: Presentations, Recognition, Evaluation (possible in-person option)