Rebecca “Becky” Wood, interdisciplinary studies and English major, has earned an all-expenses-paid trip to Greenbelt, Md., for a two-day training workshop at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
At the workshop, scientists will talk to participants about the impacts of climate change and how to communicate those changes to the general public.
To be appointed to the program, Wood had to go through a lengthy application process including submitting proposals for campus events she could hold to alert OU students to climate changes. Citizens Climate Lobby-OK in Norman passed on the application to Wood.
“We encouraged her to do it, because we thought she’d win, and she did,” said Catherine Hobbs, Woods’ former English professor. “I really thought she’d be competitive, and she proved me right.”
The group passed on applications to several OU students, but Wood was the only one to see the process until the end. Wood is president of OUr Earth, an OU student group dedicated to environmental education.
As a part of being named to the NASA program, Wood will be trained as a climate speaker and will be required to organize and lead two climate-awareness events at OU during the next two years.
“I’ll be getting training from NASA scientists, there will be a panel and they will be giving workshops, leadership training, speech trainings as well as lobbying trainings,” Wood said. “I’ll be learning how to give presentations to large groups as well as going to representatives and talking to them about climate change.”
This article appears in Oct 19-25, 2011.