Think, Do, and Communicate Environmental Science

A student's guide to setting up and conducting environmental research projects, including how to analyze data and write research proposals.

Tara Ivanochko (Author)

9781108437578, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 13 May 2021

250 pages
15 x 23 x 1.5 cm, 0.36 kg

'a valuable accessory resource for both upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses in ecological or environmental science' Christopher J. Whelan, The Quarterly Review of Biology

Many students find it daunting to move from studying environmental science, to designing and implementing their own research proposals. This book provides a practical introduction to help develop scientific thinking, aimed at undergraduate and new graduate students in the earth and environmental sciences. Students are guided through the steps of scientific thinking using published scientific literature and real environmental data. The book starts with advice on how to effectively read scientific papers, before outlining how to articulate testable questions and answer them using basic data analysis. The Mauna Loa CO2 dataset is used to demonstrate how to read metadata, prepare data, generate effective graphs and identify dominant cycles on various timescales. Practical, question-driven examples are explored to explain running averages, anomalies, correlations and simple linear models. The final chapter provides a framework for writing persuasive research proposals, making this an essential guide for students embarking on their first research project.

Foreword Ralph Keeling
Introduction
1. Reading papers to find the science, not the answer
2. Communicating science visually
3. Matching scales and processes
4. Collecting environmental data
5. Writing research questions
6. Aligning your question with your data
7. Working with environmental data
8. Isolating individual signals from a composite dataset
9. Differentiating signals from noise
10. Characterizing your data
11. Comparing datasets
12. Developing simple environmental models
13. Writing a science proposal
14. Writing an abstract
Appendix: Working in Excel
Glossary
Epilogue
Index.

Subject Areas: Data capture & analysis [UNC], Environmental monitoring [TQD], The environment [RN], Scientific equipment, experiments & techniques [PDN], Science funding & policy [PDK]