Enhancing the Impact of Gen Ed-level Environmental Science at Penn State Using Drawdown Solutions

With the goal of improving understanding of carbon cycling to a non-STEM, collegiate-level audience, we have developed an interactive video series to explain the impact of Drawdown solutions in local to regional-scale communities. Initial development is aimed at students of EARTH 100, a Gen-Ed level environmental science course at Penn State University. Students will be able to navigate through the series whilst making decisions as to what solution categories and solutions they would like to implement. Currently, students can choose to make authoritative decisions either at the campus scale, as President of Penn State, or at the state scale, as Governor of Pennsylvania. For both decision pathways students attempt to meet a specific greenhouse gas reduction whilst staying within an allotted budget, and so optimizing tradeoffs between economic and environmental priorities. Furthermore, the timescale of carbon reduction is tracked and contrasted with a four-year election cycle, over which results are demanded by university stakeholders and voters, respectively. Students can use any combination of the following incorporated solutions: Smart Thermostats, Insulation, LED Lighting, Solar Farms, Methane Digesters, Cogeneration, Geothermal, Reduced Food Waste, Composting, Bioplastics, Afforestation, Bamboo, Perennial Biomass, Trains, Mass Transit, and Electric Vehicles. Success is achieved once the minimum level of reduction is met within the allotted budget. With this series, we will enhance the undergraduate curriculum at Pen