What can you do about climate change?

Heidi Roop often finds herself serving as a diplomat for climate science. Whether she’s talking to the public as a U of M Extension educator, keynoting the Minnesota Ag-Urban Partnership forum, or testifying before a Minnesota House committee to secure funding for a new Extension program to help communities understand and prepare for extreme weather events such as flooding and droughts, she brings the perspective of someone who has done the groundwork.

 “I have a front-row seat to generating the science about climate change, and it can be really scary,” says Roop, who has studied the climate stories contained in lake sediment and ice cores from around the world. “But the future doesn’t have to be scary if we find common ground and come together as a community and collective.”

An assistant professor of climate science in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Natural Resource Sciences, Roop also directs the donor-supported U of M Climate Adaptation Partnership, which conducts research into climate change and works with communities across the state to apply that knowledge to manage their climate risks. In her new book, The Climate Action Handbook: A visual guide to 100 climate solutions for everyone, she offers numerous ideas for how we can prevent climate change from getting worse and prepare for the future. We spoke with her about her journey and her work and asked her to share tips for what we can do individually and as members of our community. Read the full interview.