Each student is expected to research, present, and write-up a final project. The presentations will be about 15 minutes long and take place during the last three class sessions. The final project write-up should be about 15 pages long (other formats possible for non-standard projects—see instructor for permission). You may view examples of student projects from this course.
These projects may be done as individual projects, or by a team of two students. (Of course, a two-person project should involve about twice as much effort as two one-person projects).
The project deliverables are:
- Identify team and 2–3 possible topics
- Submit 1–2 page (or equivalent) project proposal
- Meet with staff at least twice about your project
- Present your project to the class
- Final project writeup
We are very open to the style and topic for these projects; they may involve any aspect of climate change, including aspects not otherwise covered in the course. The basic requirements are: it should be about climate change and it should be interesting!
We imagine that a project could be:
- A meaningful report, perhaps about a focused question relating to climate science, technological approaches to mitigation, policy options, psychology of responses to proposals, etc.
- A report describing novel (but perhaps preliminary) results which may be later developed into a peer-reviewed publication
- A computer program with writeup
- A blog
- Visual art or musical composition
- Safe and responsible MIT hack
- Video
You may also browse our list of project ideas. We encourage creative formats for the projects; however, the more creative or atypical the project, the more you should consult with the instructors.
The best projects might prompt action. You can imagine your audience as ordinary individuals (perhaps imagine your parents or the general public), scientists (your professors), institutions (MIT, other universities), corporations associated with carbon (car manufacturers, airlines, oil companies), or corporations associated with renewable energy (solar panels, wind turbines, …).
