Department of Political Science and Geography, Old Dominion University, 7035 Batten Arts and Letters, Norfolk, VA, USA.
Climate, Atmospheric Science, and Physical Oceanography Department Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, San Diego, USA.
Int J Biometeorol. 2017 Sep;61(Suppl 1):93-106. doi: 10.1007/s00484-017-1408-z. Epub 2017 Jul 19.
The International Society of Biometeorology (ISB) has covered significant breadth and depth addressing fundamental and applied societal and environmental challenges in the last 60 years. Biometeorology is an interdisciplinary science connecting living organisms to their environment, but there is very little understanding of the existence and placement of this discipline within formal educational systems and institutions. It is thus difficult to project the ability of members of the biometeorological community-especially the biometeorologists of the future-to help solve global challenges. In this paper, we ask: At present, how we are training people to understand and think about biometeorology? We also ask: What are the current tools and opportunities in which biometeorologists might address future challenges? Finally, we connect these two questions by asking: What type of new training and skill development is needed to better educate "biometeorologists of the future" to more effectively address the future challenges? To answer these questions, we provide quantitative and qualitative evidence from an educationally focused workshop attended by new professionals in biometeorology. We identify four common themes (thermal comfort and exposures, agricultural productivity, air quality, and urbanization) that biometeorologists are currently studying and that we expect to be important in the future based on their alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Review of recent literature within each of these thematic areas highlights a wide array of skill sets and perspectives that biometeorologists are already using. Current and new professionals within the ISB have noted highly varying and largely improvised educational pathways into the field. While variability and improvisation may be assets in promoting flexibility, adaptation, and interdisciplinarity, the lack of formal training in biometeorology raises concerns about the extent to which continuing generations of scholars will identify and engage with the community of scholarship that the ISB has developed over its 60-year history.
国际生物气象学学会（ISB）在过去的 60 年中，针对基本和应用的社会和环境挑战，涵盖了广泛而深入的内容。生物气象学是一门连接生物与其环境的跨学科科学，但人们对该学科在正规教育系统和机构中的存在和位置知之甚少。因此，很难预测生物气象学家社区成员，尤其是未来的生物气象学家，帮助解决全球挑战的能力。在本文中，我们提出了以下问题：目前，我们如何培训人们理解和思考生物气象学？我们还提出了以下问题：生物气象学家在当前有哪些工具和机会来应对未来的挑战？最后，我们通过以下问题将这两个问题联系起来：为了更好地教育“未来的生物气象学家”，以更有效地应对未来的挑战，需要什么样的新培训和技能发展？为了回答这些问题，我们提供了一个教育重点研讨会的定量和定性证据，该研讨会的参与者是生物气象学领域的新专业人员。我们确定了四个当前生物气象学家正在研究的共同主题（热舒适和暴露、农业生产力、空气质量和城市化），并且根据它们与联合国可持续发展目标的一致性，我们预计这些主题在未来将很重要。在这些主题领域内，我们回顾了最近的文献，强调了生物气象学家已经在使用的广泛的技能集和视角。ISB 的现任和新专业人员指出，进入该领域的教育途径存在高度差异，且在很大程度上是即兴的。虽然变异性和即兴性可能是促进灵活性、适应性和跨学科性的优势，但生物气象学缺乏正规培训，令人担忧的是，在未来的学者中，将有多少人能够识别并参与到 ISB 在其 60 年历史中所建立的学术社区中。
