Tag Archives: Oceanography

Earth Day Hero? This Guy Won’t Unsubscribe From the Oceanography Newsletter

While most people don’t seem to give two shits about climate change, one courageous student has proven his dedication to environmental activism by continuing to not unsubscribe from the Oceanography Newsletter.

Does he care that his email inbox is already crowded as is? Sure he does. But to Alexander Xiao ‘21, champion of the planet, knowing all the most up-to-date information about unsustainable fishing practices and plastic debris in the Pacific Ocean is all the reason he needs to stay subscribed.

“Sometimes I see emails with the subject line ‘Ocean-L’ and wonder if subscribing to this chain is even worth it,” Alexander said, “but I won’t unsubscribe and be like all those students okay with the prospect of ice-free Arctic summers by the year 2035.”

Nevertheless, he persisted. No matter the political, economic, and social obstacles that might lead someone to abandon their civic duty and remove themselves from the oceanography mailing list, Alexander remains committed to allowing undergraduate TAs to send him an email once or twice a week.

“What’s important is that everyone knows that I am a great person, and that I’m doing a big favor to the planet by sometimes skimming over this stuff. I’m not saying I deserve an award, but I’m also not saying I don’t deserve one,” concluded Alexander.

Cornell is lucky to have an environmental fighter like Alexander, and we hope one day his sacrifice of inbox cleanliness might even balance out the plastic water bottles he throws into the landfill trash can at Trillium every weekday.

Amazing! This Oceanography Professor Just Taught an Entire Class Underwater!

BAILEY HALL – It’s incredibly satisfying to be in a class where the professor is so committed to engaging their students and gives 110% every day. One of these classes on campus is Introduction to Oceanography, where instructor Bruce Monger just raised the bar again by teaching his entire 950-person class underwater.

Can you say “coolest professor ever”?

It’s not often you see a Cornell professor go the extra mile to make a lecture both educational and fun, but that’s just what Dr. Monger had in mind when he filled the massive 1300-seat Bailey Hall auditorium with millions of gallons of water. “I first came up with the idea when I was looking at the ocean a few months ago. I thought, ‘what better way to teach people about oceanography than to nearly drown them in a giant lecture hall’? Cornell is so far away from the actual ocean, so I figured this is probably the next best thing.”

We agree, Dr. Monger. Now if you could only convince our Italian professor to teach class in a room full of gondolas, we’d have no reason to skip class anymore!