Anniversaries

On the importance of anniversaries

Humans are inclined to commemorate important life events; I’m no different. In fact, I have (at least) two very important ones coming up for me. One is a 50^th, one is a 7^th, and one I won’t reveal until the end.

As I was finishing the eighth grade in New York at John Jay Junior High School in Cross River 50 years ago this week, I was contemplating what to take in high school to further my long-term goal of becoming a Meteorologist, a goal which had begun on a Cape Cod vacation during Hurricane Donna in 1960. My guidance counselors knew next to nothing about science (that apparently has not changed much in many schools in the nation). I typed a letter and mailed it to the American Meteorological Society and received a very helpful reply (in the mail, still an important communication tool in those days) on becoming a meteorologist. In their brochure, which I probably still have somewhere (you’ll know what I mean if you’ve ever been in my office at home or work), recommended a course of study, and even a list of college programs that offered it. That was ½-way in to the storied history of #ametsoc, and I’m proud to be a long-time member and Fellow of that organization. I’ll see you in Boston in January for #AMS100!   

The second anniversary I want to commemorate here is the anniversary of the decision that would help the mark my departure from Florida State University and enter the world of community colleges. By 2011, I had telegraphed to my departmental and college administration (new Chair and Dean) my intent to retire soon to pursue other professional endeavors; I had stopped taking on graduate students and new undergraduates in my lab; they did not believe me, and I did not know quite what the future would bring, but I knew I had had enough of living in North Florida and working at an R1 institution which did not value (as much) the things that attracted me to pursue a career in higher education to begin with (e.g., teaching, equity, community engagement and outreach, integrity). I had long yearned to return to Oregon, where I lived for eight years while I pursued my graduate degrees and a postdoc. It is about this time that two important events also conspired to occur, which would present to me an important fork in the road ahead (always welcome, and sought, thanks to my  personal guru, Yogi Berra). 

The first was an invitation to participate in a transformational fellowship program run by the Society of Environmental Journalists (#SEJ) in partnership with the Knight Center for environmental journalism at Michigan State University. I was one of 24 scientists and 24 science journalists who would be brought together for a three day workshop in Cleveland on the banks of Lake Erie to examine how our communities could (and should) better speak to each other to inform the public about the science behind climate change. 

Up to that point, many climate scientists and journalists were doing some great work, but there were also many examples of very poor #scicomm, and I credit the organizers of that key meeting in Cleveland to helping a few dozen of us to engage in something that was truly inspirational. For a while, I guess, I was a reliable source for some journalists in Florida. But thankfully others who are much more active in climate science research and writing have stepped up in the last decade, and done great work. A great introduction to that work can be found all over Twitter and in blogs, not to speak of the peer-reviewed literature. Although that workshop was transformational for me personally (and not just because of the simultaneous three-story Grateful Dead exhibit at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame next door), it is not the most important aspect of this anniversary. That’s because, while I waited in the Akron airport for my flight home, I received a phone call from my future boss, offering me the opportunity to interview for the position of lead instructor in Earth & Environmental Sciences at Lane Community College in Eugene, where I still work today, only now serving as Science Dean. Many of my colleagues in Tallahassee were flabbergasted that I was really leaving, and in particular moving to Oregon!?

In leaving behind one university after working there for 25 years, and going to a community college, which is a type of place where my wife and all of my college-bound kids started their higher education (thank you, Linn-Benton Community College and Tallahassee Community College!), I rediscovered my passion for education. In doing so, I also apparently moved from the state which has increased its investment in higher education the least over the past 20 years (Florida) to the state which is ranked 49^th in that metric, Oregon (have to work harder on that one). However in spite of all of the positive things that I accomplished on behalf of my former department, institution and colleagues and students at FSU Meteorology (now a part of FSU EOAS), I think I’ve made a bigger impact here at Lane, and it has made a bigger impact on me in these 7 years.

By that I mean in particular the staff & faculty of the Science Division, who I worked with initially as colleagues. Technically and practically, I now manage them, but almost to a person the individuals in my division have the backs of our students and each other, and I’m proud to be contemplating what I believe will be the last job I’ve ever have. You see, at Lane, and at community colleges across this nation, the role of institutions like this is to provide opportunities for those whose fortunes do not necessarily offer access into higher education without substantial assistance — those who suffer from the influence of drugs, societal injustices, extended family pressures not to mention the proliferation of underrepresented populations within some of the most desirable careers in #STEM, including the health professions. The Lane students I've encountered work hard here and at life in general; nothing got handed to them.

I remain committed to that promise of equity to all and am now working at a place where, theoretically, that should exist. But Oregon must address improved access to these places, and that requires investments. These investments must recognize the contributions and sacrifices of employees and students from the past, developing the institutions into community-serving ones that launch enterprise, careers, and growth. They must also recognize that transformation is happening much more quickly in a global economy, and that society is asking institutions to be more resilient and nimble at the same time, and accountable for what little public money is invested. Not an easy thing at all! 

And now, its’ time for the last one. (You forgot that I had a 3^rd one, didn’t you?) This week I will enter my 65^th year as a human being (birthdays are named by the last day of that year!). It historically is also a number that represents a time to consider retirement. Also heating and cooling degree days (geek). I will be 65 when the 2020 Presidential election occurs. I was 21 in 1976, my first presidential election, and it was an exciting time to be a senior science major in college, taking also history and political science courses, post-Watergate, during the election cycle. It wasn’t as scary then as some paint things now, because the Vietnam debacle had ended, as had the Nixon presidency. But these times and 2020 do give me anxiety, in terms of the determined anti-scientific agenda of today’s administration and their #GOP enablers, particularly in the US Senate, which also spills over into a zealous favoritism of a single religious viewpoint couching all policy decisions. I look forward to the next year with both trepidation and hope, and am so proud of the young among us who are in many cases leading the fights for a sound environmental future, civil rights for all, and gun safety. They are taking on this fight because it will impact them. We’ve screwed up enough things for them. It is time to pass the baton; I'm optimistic that their energy, enthusiasm, and integrity will turn things around for humanity.

In the meantime, I continue to volunteer to help out where I think I can, occasionally offering local professional development through the GLOBE program, and advising the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) and the Lane Regional Air Pollution Agency, LRAPA. But I know that in the long run these efforts will pale compared to those contributed by young women named Malala, Kelsey, Emma, Alexandria, and Greta, and so many others.

Photograph of Yogi Berra courtesy of Wikimedia Commons; public domain image.

Education investment statistic reported in 2019 public talks by Oregon’s Education Commissioner, Colt Gill. 

Published 2 June 2019, slight revisions 3 June, Eugene, Oregon, USA, © Paul Ruscher.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.