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Twenty students from the International Environmental Policy course at Ithaca College attended the United Nations Framework on Climate Change Convention's 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) in December 2009. The delegation was accompanied by Susan Allen-Gil, chair of the environmental studies and sciences department, who fully prepared her students for this experience.
Among the five Ithaca College alumni who accompanied the undergraduates was Rick Otis '76, former deputy associate administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, who has advised the class throughout this semester. Some financial support for this international experience was provided through the Commit-to-Change program, funded through a generous grant from the HSBC in the Community Foundation.
This year, the Ithaca College delegation was also joined by an interdisciplinary research team from Dickinson College. The collaborative group's application to offer an "exhibit" at the conference was accepted by the United Nations. This group created a social media and public polling service called the POP COP15, or the Public Opinion Polls of the COP15.
Each day during COP15, the students posted a single question on climate change to the public by blogging, tweeting, e-mailing, and obtaining responses in person, and displayed the results online and in a public exhibit space at the convention. With a goal of a million responses per day, the objective was simple: to ensure that other voices were heard and widely held opinions were represented at the negotiations.