Cara travels to Alaska to study climate change
Having returned from a two-week trip to Alaska as an Irish Ambassador for Ben & Jerry's climate Change College, Bray resident Dr. Cara Augustenborg said that she had an amazing and uniquely interesting experience on her mission for knowledge about our changing environment.
Cara was selected over hundreds of entrants to represent Ireland as part of an international youth programme to find innovative climate change solutions and put them in to practice. A group of journalists, including a team from MTV, followed the chilly fact-finding expedition.
We were all over Alaska,' she said. And every day we met different scientists and learned about different aspects of climate change.'
Every evening while away, Cara and seven other ambassadors wrote a nightly blog about their experiences, which can be found at http//caraa.ccc.yournewspage.com.
The ambassadors worked under the direction of polar explorer Marc Cornelissen, who is the curator of the Climate Change College.
They investigated such issues as bird populations affected by climate change, methane out of lakes and while there they spent time with the local Inupiat people, an Eskimo tribe native to Alaska.
They have a very traditional way of life,' she said, adding that she made a short film about them entitled People of the Barrow.'
They are tough and very dependent on their environment to get food.'
She remarked that she had made life-long friendships while travelling, with people with a shared concern for the earth who inspired one another's research in a variety of ways.
We all went hoping to bring something back to infuse our own work with life,' she said. I met people with whom I will never lose contact.'
American Cara, who lives on the seafront in Bray, continues to work on her own campaign to encourage people to set up and run their own ideas on green DIY in their own homes.
She has launched a website, www.greendiy.ie, and has already been encouraged by plenty of positive feedback and contributions to the site.
It's all about getting the word out about the website and the information it contains,' said the post-doctoral researcher at UCD.
The Ben & Jerry's Climate Change College is a partnership between polar explorer Marc Cornelissen and Ben & Jerry's, supported by WWF International.
Eight young people from all over the world, aged between 18 and 30, will develop their own climate change campaign throughout the year, through a series of practical workshops, lectures and internships with leading industry professionals.
I was shocked to discover that climate change is having a dramatic effect on people right now,' said a concerned Cara. It won't wait until our children's lifetimes, it's happening in our own lifetimes.'
For more information visit www.climatechangecollege.org.
