Photo: © Natural History Museum of Utah “The Utah FORGE display within the ‘Climate of Hope’ exhibit.
February 21, 2024
By: Sarah Buening
On November 11, 2023, the Natural History Museum of Utah (NHMU) showcased its newest permanent exhibit: “A Climate of Hope.” Located on the museum’s fifth story, this addition focuses on climate change in a unique way. Lisa Thompson — an Exhibit Developer with NHMU and a driving force behind “A Climate of Hope” — described how the exhibit aims to “change the way climate change is communicated” by embracing solution-oriented and rational optimism.
Utah FORGE is proud to be featured among the display’s examples of modern energy innovators. It is our hope, as well as NHMU’s, that people walk away from “A Climate of Hope” with greater confidence in our ability to build a clean energy society.
“A Climate of Hope” was carefully curated to meet the needs of Utah’s community members. Before the pandemic in 2020, the museum ran tests with visitors to gauge what they most wanted to see in an exhibit about climate change. Responses overwhelmingly indicated a desire to focus on building a better future. Thompson accredited part of this desire to the fatigue many people experience when climate change is communicated solely through a bombardment of data. It was clear that visitors wanted something different than what they had seen before.
With that in mind, the museum built “A Climate of Hope” as part of an adaptive, ongoing research project on best practices in climate communication. Lynne Zummo, NHMU’s Curator of Learning Sciences, is in charge of a four-year study to understand visitors’ learning process as they experience “A Climate of Hope.” The study’s results will inform changes to the exhibit over time as it’s continually adapted to better empower climate learning and engagement.
Engaging with the public about climate change can prove challenging, however, and that’s what makes this research so necessary. No two people will approach the climate crisis in the same way, and not everyone feels motivated to mobilize in the ways we might hope. A Yale research project studied this phenomenon and created the concept of “Global Warming’s Six Americas.” The “six Americas” identifies six categories of audiences within America that respond to climate change in different ways. People tend to be: alarmed, concerned, cautious, disengaged, doubtful or dismissive. Expanding climate change understanding means catering to each group and knowing how to communicate with each. Ideally, the contents of “A Climate of Hope” will help people bridge the gaps between their fear, hope or dismissal of the issue.
When it comes to wind, solar and geothermal, money and markets are flowing together in an impressive and significant way, and the positive impact of these projects in Utah is going to continue at breakneck speed.
Steve Handy quote featured above Utah FORGE’s display
To combat data fatigue, the exhibit first strives to foster a much-needed sense of peace. When entering “A Climate of Hope,” visitors are greeted by an aspen grove room — complete with a panoramic view of aspen trees and the sound of leaves rustling in the wind.
Photo: © Natural History Museum of Utah
In this room, visitors are encouraged to communicate how they feel via a list of emotions displayed on a screen in front of them. The choice of aspen trees, as Thompson said, was no accident. Singular aspen trees exist not as individuals, but as a mere part of a much larger organism. The trees are unified by an interconnected root system, with the largest living organism on earth being Utah’s very own 106-acre Pando aspen grove. Like aspens, Utah communities need to come together and act as one to achieve climate solutions.
Photo of Liberty Park Pond - from the Utah State Historical Society
For Utahns to do this, they first need to recognize the tangible impacts of climate change that are relevant to them. After leaving the aspen grove, visitors land in the “Hotter Drier Smokier” section of the exhibit, where Thompson says one photo has had a particular impact on long-time Utah residents. It features people ice skating on the Liberty Park Pond in the 1930s — before shorter, warmer winters made it unsafe to do so anymore. Although the loss of an ice skating space may seem minor, the image has resonated with visitors who were made to realize how their local climate has changed markedly throughout their lifetimes.
This area also highlights how climate change impacts people differently within Utah. For instance, Utah’s air pollution and inversion episodes disproportionately impact those with pre-existing health conditions. This information, as well as a series of interviews displayed under “Results May Vary,” introduces a critical element of climate justice and equity to the conservation. There are even tools provided in the exhibit to help parents teach their kids about climate change. One play table uses the “Earth’s blanket” metaphor as a digestible way to communicate global warming to children.
The rest of the exhibit leans heavily into the idea of “rational hope” presented in Katharine Hayhoe’s novel, “Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World.” In Hayhoe’s words, rational hope is a solutions-focused approach which “looks the crisis in the eye.” So having acknowledged the climate consequences experienced by Utahns, the next step is to learn about the solutions we have available to us. This begins with a stand of updateable panels portraying examples of green projects in Utah. As stories get filtered out, Thompson said that the museum will create a companion website to hold the exhibit’s archived stories.
Photo: © Natural History Museum of Utah
The “Innovators Needed” section is also update-able, with new innovators featured yearly. This section highlights examples of clean energy innovation in Utah and emphasizes the economic viability of renewable technologies. Here, Utah FORGE is featured as “advancing a hot trend in clean energy” through the development of geothermal energy as a more accessible, affordable and constant source of clean power. Exhibit items donated from FORGE include a gneiss core extracted from one of the site’s monitoring wells — a 1.7 billion-year-old piece of metamorphic rock taken from its 460 degree Fahrenheit home 1.8 miles underground — and a polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) drill bit replica courtesy of NOV ReedHycalog. Because drilling costs are the main barrier to developing geothermal plants, Utah FORGE’s reduction of drill times by 50% is a great source of optimism.
Before leaving the exhibit, visitors pass through a final “Connect Around Climate” area that calls to action those who might not know how to engage with climate issues. It shows that each of us have opportunities at the community scale to create real change, whether it’s through having conversations with those around us, communicating with our representatives, volunteering our time or aligning with advocacy groups. The outro guarantees that no one walks away from “A Climate of Hope” without a little more inspiration for involvement.
Although climate change is an unfortunate reality of our time, we can’t afford to have people mull in hopelessness. Settling for defeat does nothing for modeling the kind of clean energy future we can still create — and are in the process of creating. Utah FORGE is honored to be a part of NHMU’s efforts to advance climate solutions, and we’re sure that many “A Climate of Hope” visitors will join us in the cause.
Spanning more than 45 square miles, The Geysers in northern California is the largest geothermal power plant complex in the world. For over a century, its steam has powered innovation, clean energy, and communities across the region.
Before it became the world’s largest geothermal power-producing site, The Geysers was known as the “Gates to Hades,” drawing visitors with its healing waters, steam vents, and wild legends.
One of the many obstacles for hopeful settlers is the need for power and heat on these barren landscapes. Some geologists and other scientists theorize that geothermal energy may be the answer.
