May 2020 GLOBE News Brief
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2020 International Virtual Science Symposium Stipend Drawing Winners
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Congratulations to the 2020 GLOBE International Virtual Science Symposium (IVSS) stipend drawing winners! A drawing was held on Earth Day, 22 April, and the following projects were selected (each project earned a 4-star student research badge – the highest ranking possible – and at least two other optional badges; this year, 76 projects qualified for the drawing):
The GLOBE Implementation Office (GIO) received 268 projects from 29 countries, including eight countries new to the IVSS. More than 130 judges scored the projects and provided constructive feedback to the students.
To learn more about the IVSS, and these projects,
click here
.
Congratulations to the drawing winners!
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2020 GLOBE Annual Meeting Update – Registration Remains Suspended
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GIO is investigating options to potentially postpone the Annual Meeting. We are actively working with funding agencies and partners to determine our course of action. At this point, meeting registration will remain suspended. We will provide updates as they become available.
Thank you for your understanding and please know that your safety is our top priority.
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Check Out Earth Day/25th Anniversary Greetings from GLOBE
Community Members Around the World
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On Earth Day 2020, GIO invited GLOBE community members to post Earth Day greetings or congratulatory messages commemorating The GLOBE Program’s 25th Anniversary on a common online wall – a “padlet” or message board.
To read, and re-read, these inspiring messages, simply
click here
.
GIO would like to thank you for taking the time to add your “voice” to encourage and support community members around the world, and to help celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day and the 25th anniversary of The GLOBE Program!
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Join the 05 May Trees Around the GLOBE Student Research Campaign Webinar “New Jersey Pinelands: The Nation’s
First National Preservation Area”
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The Trees Around the GLOBE Student Research Campaign webinar, “New Jersey Pinelands: The Nation’s First National Preservation Area,” will be held on Tuesday, 05 May, at 2:00 p.m. ET (6:00 p.m. UTC).
Congress created the Pinelands National Reserve (PNR) through the passage of the National Parks and Recreation Act of 1978. John Moore, Executive Director at the Institute for Earth Observations at the Palmyra Cove Nature Park, will discuss how the PNR is listed as the first National Reserve in the nation. (The PNR is approximately 1.1 million acres and spans portions of seven counties and all or part of 56 municipalities.) The reserve occupies 22 percent of New Jersey's land area, and it is the largest body of open space on the Mid-Atlantic seaboard between Richmond and Boston (Source: NJ Pinelands Commission). The PNR is also home to one of the nation's largest freshwater aquifers, 17.7 trillion gallons, and is home to numerous endangered species and plants.
To learn more about Trees Around the GLOBE Student Research Campaign webinars,
click here
.
To learn more about the Trees Around the GLOBE Student Research Campaign,
click here
.
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Check Out New Video Highlighted in Recent Blog, “Comparing Existing GLOBE Tree Height Data and ICESat-2 Satellite Data”
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GLOBE Community: Check out the recent Community Blog written by Brian Campbell, NASA Senior Earth Science Education Specialist, “Comparing Existing GLOBE Tree Height Data and ICESat‑2 Satellite Data.”
“While the Trees Around the GLOBE Student Research Campaign outdoor data collection has been suspended indefinitely in response to the worldwide pandemic, the campaign team has been working tirelessly to shift gears to a safe approach that does not involve field work,” Campbell said in the blog.
Campbell has put together a video that shows how students, teachers, and citizen scientists can compare existing GLOBE data for tree height and compare it to the tree canopy height data from the NASA Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite (ICESat-2) Mission.
“The online Open Altimetry Tool allows you to look and see when ICESat-2 flew over or near the location of the tree you have the GLOBE data for already,” Campbell said in the blog. “It is a fun and simple thing to do and helps you become a part of a larger NASA mission. You can also look at corresponding GLOBE Land Cover data, if it exists, for the same location.”
To learn more about the Trees Around the GLOBE Student Research Campaign,
click here
.
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Join the 02 April GLOBE Mission Mosquito Webinar:
“Meet Up and Do Science: Mosquito Menagerie”
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On Thursday, 07 May, at 2:00 p.m. ET (6:00 p.m. UTC), GLOBE Mission Mosquito (GMM) will be hosting a webinar, “Meet Up and Do Science – Mosquito Menagerie.” Participants will discover – and rediscover – resources available through GMM.
To learn more about GLOBE Mission Mosquito,
click here
.
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U.S. Community: Join the Weekly (Friday)
Watercooler Meet-ups for Teachers/Partners
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U.S. GLOBE Teachers and Partners: GLOBE U.S. is turning the monthly Watercoolers into weekly ones in order to share the varied ways that teachers and partners are using GLOBE in these unique times. Watercoolers, which began in April, will take place every Friday through the end of May. Each meet-up will begin at 3:10 p.m. ET, and is for United States GLOBE teachers and Partners from across the country.
If you are doing GLOBE, pleas
e
sign up here
to choose a time to share your methodology or ideas! Let's use this opportunity to strengthen our community.
Each week will start with a brief update from U.S. Country Coordinator Jen Bourgeault, and then a presentation or two from a GLOBE teacher or partner, with time for questions and conversation following. Drop in as you can!
To catch up on previous GLOBE Weekly Watercoolers,
click here
for the complete playlist.
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Keeping Up With GLOBE Star Stories? Read About Our Latest Stars!
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Have you been keeping up with the latest GLOBE Star Stories? GLOBE Stars are stories of projects, people, and extraordinary activities being conducted around the world in connection to GLOBE. GLOBE Stars are the bright lights that spark our imagination and inspire us with news of GLOBE at work in the world.
Some of our latest GLOBE Star Stories include:
- Primary School in Malta Begins “Whole-school” Journey with The GLOBE Program – In October 2019, the Gozo College Xewkija Primary School (Gozo, Malta) registered with The GLOBE Program for the first time. From November 2019 through February 2020, the students at the school began their “whole-school” journey with GLOBE.
- GLOBE Schools in Malta and Israel Reach Beyond National Boundaries in Collaborative Video Conference – On 11 February 2020, the GLOBE Country Coordinator of Israel, Rafaela Babish, along with the GLOBE Deputy Country Coordinator of Malta, Ramona Mercieca, coordinated a video conference with schools in Malta and Israel to celebrate The GLOBE Program’s 25th Anniversary – and to reach beyond borders in a collaborative learning endeavor.
- NASA Scientists Generate Interest in GLOBE Across the Philippines – In an effort to inspire young students to pursue careers in STEM disciplines, NASA scientists, engineers, and pilots recently travelled throughout the Philippines giving informational talks on their current airborne science mission CAMP2Ex.
Are you a GLOBE Star? Share Your Story!
Are you a GLOBE Star? If so, GLOBE wants to hear all about it! Send your story of people, projects, or activities to share on the GLOBE website.
To learn more about GLOBE Stars, and to use the Star template for submitting your
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GLOBE eTraining Program Celebrates Four-Year Anniversary
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Teachers: You no longer have to be part of a face-to-face workshop to become a contributing member of the GLOBE community. The eTraining Program (officially launched on Earth Day 2016) offers you a powerful portal where you can access the training materials you need to lead a classroom in data collection and lab procedures associated with a GLOBE protocol.
The eTraining Program also serves as an innovative introduction to the worldwide GLOBE community. There are now 49 eTraining modules available (including modules introducing The GLOBE Program and modules covering all four protocol areas) – awaiting the click of your finger!
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Now is a Great Time to Create/Join a “GLOBE Team”
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If you are a GLOBE account holder, now is a great time for you to create and join teams of people, called “GLOBE Teams,” which will enable you to track your group’s data-collection efforts. GLOBE Teams can be used to set up a competition, coordinate a community’s citizen science efforts, support an educational or corporate initiative, or simply enable a group of people to work together.
Even if you do not belong to a specific learning facility, you can associate your data with an entity that consists of friends, family, and coworkers. (Parents can even share in their child's data-collection efforts with their child's school.) This ability will allow you, and others, to search via your group’s name and find data associated with your group. A team may be open to anyone or it may be restricted to those who are invited to join through a referral code. (The private teams are often based in a community, such as an after-school program, library or museum club, or corporate team. Open teams will be visible to all users.) You can even join more than one group!
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Forbes Magazine Article, “6 Resources To Teach Kids About Weather and Climate During the Coronavirus Shutdown”
Highlights GLOBE Resources
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Von Karman eddies shown on the National Weather Service JetStream website.
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A recent article, “6 Resources To Teach Kids About Weather And Climate During the Coronavirus Shutdown,” written by Marshall Shepherd and published in Forbes on 02 April, highlights GLOBE program resources available now for students studying from home.
“While some schools continue with digital or online learning, other districts may not have that capacity so parents may be looking for educational resources,” Shepherd said in the article. “I am the director of the University of Georgia’s Atmospheric Sciences program and the former president of the American Meteorological Society (AMS). From these lenses, I am well aware of the fact that weather and climate are very popular subjects among K-12 students (adults too).”
In addition to highlighting GLOBE resources, Shepherd highlights additional study-from-home resources, including:
- JetStream, an online weather school, produced by the National Weather Service;
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) resources, including the Young Meteorologist Program;
- American Meteorological Society (AMS) resources, including Project Atmosphere, Project Ocean, and DataStreams programs;
- NASA resources, including NASA S’Cool, Earth Observatory, Worldview, and Climate Kids; and
- University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) resources, including UCAR Community Program (UCP) Comet MetEd modules.
“I clearly could not list all of the great resources out there, but I did include several links that have comprehensive listings,” Shepherd said in the article.
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Introducing the GLOBE Observer “Clouds Wizard”
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In April, GLOBE Observer (GO) launched the new “Clouds Wizard.” The application encourages members of the GLOBE community, as well as all citizen scientists, to use their mobile phone to make measurements of the world around them.
The new GO Clouds Wizard is a tool that walks users through the process of identifying cloud types. The interactive wizard will make it easier for users to more accurately identify clouds through the use of a series of “yes/no” questions. The final results are sent to GLOBE and compared with NASA's satellite data to provide ground-based observations that align with satellite flyovers. To date, more than 150,000 users have submitted over 700,000 clouds measurements with the GO app.
Remember, always follow guidelines from your local officials regarding current pandemic-related conditions, and only participate in GLOBE activities or use the GLOBE Observer app if it is safe to do so.
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NASA GLOBE Clouds Offers Virtual Connections/Personalized Videos
for Students
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Teachers: Have you read the latest GLOBE Community Blog, ”GLOBE Clouds Offers Encouraging Videos for Your Students,” by Marilé Colón Robles, lead for the GLOBE Clouds Team at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia?
“The NASA GLOBE Clouds team is offering virtual connections or personalized videos (previously recorded) for your students,” Robles said in the blog. The videos cover a variety of topics including:
- Career Connections (Path to NASA)
- The Impact of Your Observations
- Clouds and Cloud Types
- Earth's Atmosphere and Climate
- Clouds and Atmospheres on Earth and Other Planets
- Cloud Types in Masterpieces/Landscape Paintings
- Any Topic of Your Choice
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NASA GLOBE Clouds Family Guide – In English and Spanish
(Guía Para Familias)
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The NASA GLOBE Clouds team has put together a family guide filled with activities and resources that are great to do as a family from your home. (El equipo NASA GLOBE nubes ha preparado una guía para familias llena de actividades y recursos tremendas para realizar haceren family en tu hogar.)
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Opportunities for Teachers
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NASA STEM Educator Webinars
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The
NASA STEM Educator Professional Development Collaborative
(EPDC) is presenting a series of
webinars
open to all educators. All pre-service, K-12, and informal educators, as well as university faculty, are invited to join NASA education specialists to learn about NASA missions, activities, lesson plans, educator guides, and online resources that integrate NASA and STEM into the classroom.
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An upcoming webinar, “
N
ASA GLOBE Observer: Mosquito Habitats and Vector-borne Disease
,” is geared toward educators in grades 3-12. On Thursday, 28 May (1:00 p.m. ET), the NASA EPDC at Texas State University will present a one-hour webinar. In many parts of the world, mosquitoes are more than just a summertime nuisance. Their ability to carry and spread disease to humans causes millions of deaths every year. Using the GLOBE Observer Mosquito Habitat Mapper, citizen scientists will be able to add their observations to the data base. Multiple STEAM activities and resources will be introduced.
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U.S. Teachers: American Meteorological Society Offers New Certified AMS Program
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U.S. Teachers: The Certified American Meteorological Society (AMS) Teacher (CAT) Program was established by the AMS to recognize and support educators actively engaged in raising Earth science literacy. CAT specifically connects K-12 educators to AMS, which strengthens their connection to the atmospheric science community and its resources.
The CAT Program provides an incentive for continued professional growth for Earth science educators, ensuring that CATs remain up-to-date on new developments in Earth science and teaching standards. It offers K-12 educators opportunities to enroll in AMS Education Program courses to enhance their knowledge of weather, ocean, and climate science.
All active, in-service K-12 teachers and informal educators (i.e. museum docents, education center employees, aquarium tour guides, etc.) are eligible to become Certified AMS Teachers (CATs) through the AMS if they have a degree in atmospheric or related science and/or have completed two of the AMS Education Program’s Professional Development Courses. Educators who have a degree in atmospheric or related sciences and those that have completed two of the AMS Education Program’s courses more than five years ago must also upload a lesson plan with their application.
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U.S. K-12 Teachers: Deadline to Apply for Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching Short-Term Program, Cycle 2, is 11 May
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U.S. K-12 Teachers: Applications for the Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching Short-Term Program for U.S. Teachers (Fulbright DAST), Cycle 2, is 11 May – for projects taking place between October 2020 and May 2021.
The Fulbright DAST provides an opportunity for outstanding K–12 teachers from the United States to take part in a two-week to six-week professional development experience overseas. Fulbright DAST sends expert U.S. K–12 teachers and educators to participating countries to support projects identified by U.S. embassies and Fulbright commissions in schools, teacher training colleges, government ministries, or educational nongovernmental organizations.
The Fulbright DAST is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, with funding provided by the U.S. Government and administered by IREX. It is governed by policies established by the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.
For more information, and to apply for the program,
click here
.
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Upcoming 2020 GLOBE Teacher Training Workshops
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Some of the upcoming GLOBE teacher training
workshops
include:
- New York, New York, USA (American Museum of Natural History): 30 March – 12 June (potential restricted attendance)
- Hilo, Hawaii, USA (University of Hawaii): 18 July (open to all)
No training workshops in your area? Check out GLOBE’s protocol
eTraining
.
(In order to enter GLOBE data, GLOBE users must complete the necessary training either by attending a GLOBE workshop or by completing the required online eTraining modules. Once your training is complete, you will be ready to start entering your measurements – and will be joining a community of thousands of teachers around the world!)
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Congratulations to the eight GLOBE countries celebrating anniversaries of successful GLOBE implementation during the month of May:
Denmark – 23 years
29 May 1997
Guinea – 22 years
14 May 1998
Iceland – 23 years
30 May 1997
Mongolia – 23 years
06 May 1997
Spain – 22 years
05 May 1998
Turkey – 25 years
05 May 1995
Ukraine – 21 years
27 May 1999
United Kingdom – 24 years
01 May 1996
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