On Monday November 27th, our students from the environmental class attended the IBS Conference on Climate Change and Human Migration.
The main goal of this conference was to discuss aspects of climate-induced human migration and to determine how climate predictions can help assess and mitigate impacts of climate-driven human displacement. The conference was organized by the Institute for Basic Science (IBS), the IBS Center for Climate Physics, the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, Seoul, the APEC Climate Center, and Pusan National University. It brought together in one room and one location many global leaders on the topics discussed. These speakers joined the conference from countries like the USA, the UK, and Germany to name a few.
Our students tremendously benefited from the opportunity. They will be able to use the information from their notes and cite it for the research papers that they have been writing on world Environmental Problems/Solutions. The information from the speakers will be useable for virtually all of the students in their projects and presentations.
Pusan National University, who invited our school to attend, mentioned how impressed they were by the active participation of our students. All an all a win-win situation and we are certainly grateful for the opportunity.
Below are some of the quotes from our students on the opportunity to participate in such an event:
During this conference, I felt like a grown up. This conference/presentation was far different than the normal high school lecture. I felt like a college student. A lot of authoritative and highly educated people attended to this conference, which was quite scary for me. I tried my best to stay humble and respectful, in order to avoid embarrassing myself and avoid hurting school reputation (I was representing BFS). In addition, the lecture itself was a bit challenging for me. It was hard for me to keep up with speakers and what they talked about. Additionally, I loved the food they served for us. Delicious…
Recently, the BFS HS science classes had an amazing opportunity to visit the IBS Conference on the Climate Change. More than 20 students participated and had an a chance to talk to the world experts in the wide spectrum of scientific fields, regarding the climatic threat that the global community is facing today. The BFS community is grateful to the Pusan National University and the IBS for organizing and giving an opportunity to the Busan Foreign School science department a chance to attend this conference.
This Climate Change Conference was an amazing opportunity to learn about environmental science from world experts. We learned about their studies and researches and their analysis of their findings. Climate change affects humans in many ways. It affects our health, change in the environment such as rise of sea level or droughts, and it largely affects migration and culture. To the conference speakers, I would say that the speakers were all well-prepared and analytical about their studies. Their presentation slides supported what the speaker was saying and was easy to understand. The graphs and data tables were helpful for better understanding and graphics were well-presented. To my friends, I would say that this was a great chance to learn about science. It also was a great chance to learn how to give effective presentations.
As Mrs. Branch stated, the conference was a very special opportunity provided by the organizers to the environmental science class in order to learn about a part of a segment that we are currently learning in class. I enjoyed this experience because I was able to connect some o the terms that I learned in class to the research that the professionals did. In addition, I respected this opportunity because it was very interesting to listen to the lectures of professionals live. I would like to say to the conference speaker and organizers a thank you for allowing the class to experience such a special opportunity to learn more about the environmental problems. In addition, I would like to say to my friends that this was a very memorable experience because I never seen a presentation live and it was interesting to see how the conference was ran.
To the rest of the school or to all the parents and teachers, I would say that it was a great experience to go to this conference because I felt like a grown up. I was all dressed up professionally, and heard lectures that is similar to lectures in colleges. To the conference speakers, I would like to say that it was cool to see them letting the audience to ask questions in the end and answering them respectfully. I was a bit scared at first because I was one of the people who were representing BFS, but I think I did well trying to keep myself focus on the conference. To my friends, I would tell them to take environmental science next year for the conference because this really is a good and interesting experience.
I would say to school that , I learned that how the scientists really discuss with others to find solution. Moreover, I felt that came up with solution is a really hard process and it takes many time. I also learn how to present professionally and how to make good presentation. I will suggest my friend to go to conference to learn about climate issue detaily and start to feel concern about these issues and contributes to solution.
This conference was about the current issues with climate change and how it affects our world. I was able to get an experience at a real conference which made me feel very professional and adult-like. The way we had to be seated and had the information presented to us made me feel like I was important and worth being presented to. I would like to thank the conference speakers for an experience that not only helped me understand climate change more, but also gave me an insight look at the professional world. I would recommend my friends to take any opportunity to go to a conference because it really is a good and educational experience.
To attend this IBS conference was a pleasure of mine because I have learned many things about climate change, more than before. I never thought that climate change would be linked to human migration. Being at the conference helped open my perspective on many things. I would like to thank the conference speakers for delivering a very insightful speech, and the organizers who invited us. I am also very proud of my classmates because they asked a lot of great questions.
During this conference, I was able to experience a whole new world in my life. Moreover, I was able to see and annotate how other higher class scientists and people conferenced and presented their ideas and informations. I felt as if I was a scientist, writing notes about the climate change and human migration. It was a huge experience for me to go into a huge, unbelievable conference where thousands of smart people gather up and share their thoughts and datas. However, I was worried if I was hurting the school’s image due to my limited skills but gave me confidences towards my goals and dreams. Also, I was having difficulties with several presentations but I was able to understand towards the end of this conferences. I really wanted to attend the other several conferences because it was very fascinating and I was able to learn more than I though I could. In addition, the food was amazing which made a perfect field trip in 2017. Thank you Mrs. Branch and Mr. Duwe for taking us to the wonderful conference in my life. I hope to have further field trips like this. Thank you!
By attending the conference, I learned how to think scientifically and analytically because of the questions that were asked by other professionals. The questions they asked were so critical and thoughtful. Moreover, by attending the conference, I felt like I am really part of this conference to solve the problem: climate change. Lastly, I learned to wear formally when attending the conference to show respect. To the conference speaker, I was so amazed and surprised by how intellectual they were and how knowledgeable they were with this part. To my friends, I really recommend you to attend the conference by any chance because it is really helpful.
Overall, this conference was fairly entertaining and thought-provoking. The speakers introduced lots of ongoing issues backed by the most recent information they were able to achieve from their researches. The conference also gave me the impression that, these speakers are humans after all, and they can be fairly biased or prejudiced in one way or another. After all, they are trying to “sell” their arguments to the audience. If I could say one thing to the speakers (assuming I’m in a high enough position to give them orders), I would tell them to improve their public speaking or just hire someone to present the findings for them. To my friends, I would encourage them to attend at least one of these meetings, as you may be able to find internship opportunities and broaden your connections to recognized figures.
I really enjoyed being at this conference as I was informed by the various aspects of climate change that I have not learned before. It felt as if I was introduced to the real world surrounded by professional people who are passionate about their research. The conference has inspired me to learn more about the sciences and to help contribute to the community like the presenters at the conference. I would like to tell them that their research is fascinating, especially Dr. Stocker’s analysis of the air and CO2 concentration findings from ice cores in Antartica. I would like to tell my friends to attend a conference as it will illuminate them about various subjects at a higher level of instruction.