By Sarah Shapiro and Camryn Louder, Students in the M.S. in Sustainability Science Program, School of Professional Studies
The sun sets over the Hudson River on a crisp fall day, casting an orange glow through the windows over the 20 or so M.S. in Sustainability Science (SUSCI) students huddled over their laptops on the sixth floor of Riverside Church. Matplotlib graphs generated through Python displaying data on temperatures in Central Park or sea level rise light up the screens.
Climate science has such a high volume of data that it’s impossible to sort through it without assistance from a computer program. That’s why one of the few required classes for SUSCI students is Statistics, Data Analysis, and Coding for Sustainability Science.
“Sustainability Science students require a knowledge of computer programming for complex datasets, where it will be necessary to develop computer code in order to read in, analyze, and visualize the data,” says Michael Previdi, SUSCI lecturer and Lamont Associate Research Professor of Ocean and Climate Physics. Previdi teaches this course every spring semester. It is also offered each fall semester, when it is taught by Jim Davis, a Lamont Research Professor of Seismology, Geology, and Tectonophysics.
Students typically take the course during their first semester of the program. It accommodates a range of programming experience, some students have prior exposure through previous coursework or professional roles, while others are learning it for the first time.
Mike Previdi (left) teaches the coding class each fall semester; Jim Davis (right) teaches the course each spring semester.
“My undergraduate classes included the basics of MATLAB as well as Arduino, so Python is completely new to me,” says current student Rachel Condon, who studied engineering as an undergraduate. “Though I do not generate my own code for my civil/environmental engineering job, I use lots of modeling software. Understanding how the program processes information makes my job much easier when I encounter issues while importing data.”
Those who complete the class in their first semester often find that the knowledge and practical skills they gain can open up other doors throughout the remainder of the program. For example, second-semester student Camryn Louder applied these skills in another SUSCI course, Climate Science for Decision Makers: Modeling, Analysis, and Applications. “It really helped me visualize the variability within climate models and explore predictions of future global temperature and precipitation trends,” she says.
Computer programming may not seem like an immediate need for sustainability science use cases, so we asked Previdi why he started teaching the course and its importance. He recalled, “During the first couple of years of the program, Jim Davis and I realized that SUSCI students might benefit from having a working knowledge of computer programming and a refresher on important math concepts that they would encounter during their coursework.” That insight led to the creation of a course that combined both programming and foundational mathematics.
When asked what he found most enjoyable about teaching Python to SUSCI students, Previdi said: “I’ve been rewarded by the look on a student’s face letting me know that they’ve understood a new concept I’ve just explained. That look alone makes the whole teaching experience worthwhile for me.”
“I especially enjoy when a student who has little to no programming experience at the start of the semester is able to, at semester’s end, write code to successfully solve complex computing problems,” Previdi continued, adding, “This is a clear indication to me that the student is leaving my course with a new skill that they can then apply in the future.”
Views and opinions expressed here are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Columbia School of Professional Studies or Columbia University.
About the Program
The Columbia University M.S. in Sustainability Science program, offered by the School of Professional Studies in partnership with the Climate School, prepares students for management and leadership positions in which they help organizations address environmental impacts. Students learn strategies to respond to the ever-changing environment and predict future environmental changes—and the impact on corporations, not-for-profits, and the public.
Designed by Research Faculty at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in collaboration with Columbia’s Earth Institute, the program develops a new generation of scientific leaders through a cutting-edge curriculum led by the world’s top sustainability scientists, the majority of whom are Lamont Research Professors. Graduates are well prepared for management and leadership positions, armed with the scientific expertise to drive meaningful environmental change and lead organizations in a rapidly evolving sustainability landscape. With the flexibility to choose from a variety of courses, students can tailor their education to career goals, while New York City serves as a living laboratory for sustainability innovations and connects them with employers actively seeking program graduates.
Learn more about the program here.
