New Climate Change Fluency Minor Will Train Non-Scientists in Climate Literacy
Students from across the University of Maryland can now incorporate climate science into their career preparation.
The University of Maryland’s Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science (AOSC) will offer a new minor in climate change fluency beginning in spring 2026.
The minor equips students with the climate literacy necessary to assess scientific evidence and policies related to climate change and apply it to their careers. The minor is open to all undergraduate students except AOSC majors, but it is designed and intended to include non-science majors.
“When I picture the potential audience of students, I felt like they wanted to know more about climate change, but the classes were inaccessible to them because of math and science prerequisites,” said Alexandra Jones, an assistant clinical professor and director of the AOSC undergraduate program at UMD. “What excites me most is being able to offer something that's truly accessible to every student on campus.”
The goal of the minor is to train a climate-literate workforce beyond scientific disciplines. This includes future journalists who will cover climate change, architects who will navigate building and zoning regulations altered by rising sea levels, investment bankers who will assess climate risk for companies, international relations students who will work on climate migration and public health practitioners who will combat diseases that expand their range on a warming planet.
AOSC chair Sumant Nigam hopes the minor will equip students with skills in critical scientific thinking, which they can use to assess claims of climate change attribution or denial in their major fields of study.
“The educational mission is to reclaim the space that science has relinquished over the years to other disciplines that are not equipped to discuss climate change science,” Nigam said. “Students will gain a more nuanced, science-infused perspective, so that people are not talking so glibly about climate change.”
The new minor requires a series of two core courses: AOSC 123: “Causes and Consequences of Global Change,” then AOSC 365: “Climate Change—Cutting through the Noise.” Designed for non-science majors, these required classes have no science or math prerequisites.
In “Causes and Consequences of Global Change,” students will study the fundamental science behind climate change. They will also learn to identify credible sources and leave with tangible actions they can adopt to adapt to and mitigate climate change.
“No matter what your future plans in life are, climate change will affect you. It will affect your career, living choices and the products you can buy and use throughout your life,” said Jeff Henrikson, a lecturer and senior faculty specialist in AOSC who teaches the course.
The second course requirement, “Climate Change—Cutting Through the Noise,” is a new course offering for spring 2026 that integrates climate science with international policy.
“Most people do not have a scientific background in weather or climate change, but they pervade so many aspects of our economy, our government responsibilities and our lives,” said the course’s instructor, Lars Peter Riishojgaard, an AOSC professor and director of the Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center at UMD.
The course leverages Riishojgaard’s professional experience holding leadership roles at the World Meteorological Organization.
“Many things may not seem connected to climate change, but in the unstable world that we're in right now, they end up having a very strong fingerprint of climate change on them,” Riishojgaard said.
Climate change fluency minors are required to take at least three electives, at least two of which must be at the upper level. Offered through AOSC with cross-listings in the Department of Geology and the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, this coursework may explore the ocean’s role in the climate system, climate change mitigation, climate data visualization, climate attribution of extreme events and more. In addition to officially approved electives, students can petition to have one other relevant course credited toward the minor requirements.
Henrikson hopes that the minor will create a pathway for non-science students to continue engaging with science and scientific thinking beyond their general education requirements.
Nigam agrees. He has been ideating around this minor since he became department chair in 2020. The academic exploration it encourages is a central value in the UMD undergraduate education, he said.
“Climate change is all around us. It’s impacting everyone in different ways. It behooves undergraduates to open their minds to new knowledge and new disciplines and get a more informed view of climate change,” Nigam said. “This minor is their chance.”
