GLOBE News Brief – February 2025 | |
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Dear GLOBE community,
With the new year well underway, we want to take this opportunity to thank all of you who contribute to the GLOBE community and make it the warm and inviting place that it is. As Dr. John Francis reminded us all at last year’s Annual Meeting, kindness is the key to making our world a better place! We appreciate the opportunities we have to connect to the members of our community and show one another kindness and support.
It's exciting to see GLOBE in action. GLOBE events—from campaigns to intensive observation periods to webinar learning opportunities—are occurring around the world all the time. Read about a few of them below.
Speaking of GLOBE events, we anticipate launching registration for the 2025 GLOBE Annual Meeting soon! We hope that many of you will join us in the Washington, D.C., metro area in July to celebrate GLOBE’s 30th anniversary in person. In addition, our application period for the 2025–26 cohort of GLOBE Student Vloggers is open; please encourage young GLOBE participants to apply now (applications close 28 February).
If your region experiences snow in February, we invite you to join our new Snow View Intensive Observation Period (IOP)! This IOP is taking place during the whole month of February, and we are excited to gather these data and report on the IoP’s results.
We do want to share news of a few events that have been cancelled this month. NASA is committed to reviewing and ensuring compliance with U.S. presidential actions regarding U.S.-funded programming and activities. At this point, this means GLOBE will need to pause some meetings and activities, including the GISN Professional Network Hours and Biosphere Teacher's Guide Community Workshop. We will reschedule activities as they are approved.
Thank you to everyone who helped recruit judges for the International Virtual Science Symposium (IVSS). We had a record-breaking number of people apply to be judges. Let's make a record-breaking number of research submissions! The deadline for students to upload research reports to participate in the IVSS is 5 March. We continue to offer webinars related to the symposium and the 30 Years of GLOBE Campaign. Learn about upcoming and past webinars below.
We also appreciate hearing from all of you about the amazing things you are doing related to your engagement with GLOBE. Please stay in contact with us and share your GLOBE news and Stars Stories so we can share your great work on our website, in the monthly News Brief, and on social media.
Thank you for all you do to bring GLOBE experiences to participants and to enrich the program. If you have any questions or needs, please contact us by emailing help@nasaglobe.org.
| Rebecca Lewis and Becky Boger | |
Welcome New Working Group Members | |
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Thank you to all members of the GLOBE community who submitted applications for open Working Group positions. We appreciate your enthusiasm and desire to engage with the wider GLOBE community. After careful consideration, the following candidates were selected for the open positions:
Science
- Shaikha BuAli, North America, USA
- Claudia Cecilia Caro Vera, Latin America and Caribbean, Peru
Technology
- Ghadeer Abdulaziz Khudadah, Near East and North Africa, Kuwait
Evaluation
- Neil C.C. Chen, Asia and Pacific, Taiwan Partnership
- Reem Hasan Dahnous, Near East and North Africa, Jordan
- Kevin O’Connor, North America, Canada
- Paul Randrianarisoa, Africa, Madagascar
- Magdalena Waleska Aldana Segura, Latin America and Caribbean, Guatemala
Congratulations to our newest Working Group members! We encourage all those who were not selected in this round to consider applying in future years. Please contact Jackie DeLisi, deputy director of Community Engagement and Support (CES) and the GIO Working Group manager, if you have any questions.
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30 Years of GLOBE: Comparing GLOBE Data Past and Present
The 30 Years of GLOBE Campaign continues! Start participating today by collecting and submitting GLOBE data or joining a campaign webinar. Be sure to fill out the Campaign Participation Form to learn how to receive your official 30 Years of GLOBE Campaign logo badge.
Upcoming Webinars
Make Your Data Talk: Transforming Data into Visual Stories
6 February at 10 am ET (15:00 UTC)
Peder Nelson, GLOBE Observer Land Cover science lead, will share how to create a seasonal, animated GIF of a GLOBE study site using Landsat time series images. He will discuss how to use time series animations as a way to understand and describe local change and reveal patterns and processes that are often hidden within a single image.
NISAR Mission and Earth’s Changing Ecosystems
6 March at 10 am ET (15:00 UTC)
Kyle McDonald, NASA-ISRO SAR (NISAR) Mission project scientist and professor of Earth and atmospheric sciences at the City College of New York will talk about how the NISAR Mission is using radar to monitor Earth’s biomass, natural hazards, sea level rise, and groundwater in an effort to help manage resources and prepare for and cope with natural disasters.
If you missed a past campaign webinar, view the recordings on the 30 Years of GLOBE Campaign playlist.
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Snow View Intensive Observation Period (IOP)
Does your region typically experience snow in February? You can observe and photograph what’s happening in your region—snow or no snow—with the Cloud, Tree, and/or Land Cover tools on GLOBE Observer. All you need is a ruler and a camera! Learn more and join in!
Upcoming Webinars
Webinar Recording
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Urban Heat Island (UHI) Intensive Observation Period (IOP)
Upcoming Webinars
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2025 International Virtual Science Symposium (IVSS) | |
Don't Miss the Deadline
The IVSS project submission deadline is 5 March. The GLOBE community can’t wait to see how students use GLOBE protocols and data to conduct research in their local communities aligned to the theme “30 Years of GLOBE: Understanding the Past, Present and Future.” It’s not too late to develop a research project with data from the GLOBE database—be sure to check out these featured resources for ideas, presented by the 30 Years of GLOBE Campaign and GLOBE partners.
Visit the IVSS webpage to submit projects and learn more about project requirements and resources. If you missed it, you can view the How to Submit an IVSS Project webinar for a walkthrough on submitting IVSS projects and an overview of resources to support students with their projects.
If you missed an IVSS webinar, view the recordings on the 2025 IVSS playlist.
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Thank You, IVSS Judges!
The GIO would like to thank the more than 500 judges who signed up to score and provide feedback on IVSS projects this year! The IVSS team will reach out directly to volunteers with more information about scoring projects.
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GLOBE Observer Webinars
Eclipse Results Are In!
Please join GLOBE Observer Connect on 13 February at 12:00 pm ET (17:00 UTC) for a conversation with Marilé Colón Robles and Ashlee Autore about what they discovered when analyzing your April 2024 eclipse data. Learn more and register.
January Connect Webinar Recording Available
The GLOBE Observer Connect webinar on 30 January was a conversation with Tina Harte Ballinger, project lead of GLOBE Goes to Camp. She shared a newly released series of activities designed to bring GLOBE into a camp setting. View the recording.
Summer Fun for ALL Ages
Join STARnet and the NASA Earth Science Education Collaborative on 4 March at 1 pm ET (18:00 UTC) to discover some creative ideas for your 2025 summer library programs. Learn more and register.
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In Search of Student Vloggers from All GLOBE Regions
The application is now open for the 2025–26 GLOBE Student Vlogger program. Do you have a student with a passion for science? This program enables students to share their GLOBE experiences through vlog-style videos that are posted to GLOBE’s YouTube channel.
Having representation from all of GLOBE’s six regions enables us to highlight how we collect data from around the world. Two students from each region will be selected to participate. Selected students will be announced on Earth Day (22 April) 2025. Don't let your students miss out on this great opportunity.
The application deadline is 28 February. View the requirements and apply.
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GLOBE International STEM Network (GISN) | |
Expand Your Professional Network with the GISN!
The GISN—an international coalition of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professionals—is seeking new members to broaden active participation across all six GLOBE regions. Visit the GISN webpage to learn more and access the membership application.
If you are an active GISN member, please take a few minutes to complete the Annual GISN Member Survey to update your information for 2025 and report on any GISN-related activities you have completed over the past year.
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Regional Campaigns and Highlights | |
Africa
Event
21–23 April | 2025 GLOBE Africa Regional Meeting
The meeting will be held in Serrakunda, The Gambia, and will be followed by a 3-day teacher training workshop.
Stars Stories
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Asia and Pacific
News
5th Asia and Pacific Virtual Wetland Symposium
Eighty-two participants from eight GLOBE countries attended the symposium on 31 January. The symposium featured insightful student research on water quality, soil health, wetland conservation, and ecosystem restoration. Presentations covered a variety of topics, including the role of aquatic insects in assessing water quality, the environmental impact of microplastics, fish conservation efforts, and soil invertebrate species diversity.
Event
13–17 April | 2025 GLOBE Asia and Pacific Regional Meeting
The meeting in Christchurch, New Zealand, will feature status presentations from country coordinators, Working Group updates, training sessions, and discussions on future activities.
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Europe and Eurasia
Events
Stars Stories
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Near East and North Africa
Stars Stories
GLOBE Oman:
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Additional News and Information | |
GLOBE Clouds Quarterly Update | |
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Here are just a few things to discover in the Winter 2024 Clouds Update:
- View the winning GLOBE Clouds photos from last quarter and take the new poll to choose the best Clouds photos entered this quarter.
- Read the answers to the Ask Us Anything questions: How do clouds form? How much rain does a cloud hold?
- Meet Rose Kelly-Lyons, children’s librarian at the Queens Public Library, who has been collaborating with the GLOBE Clouds team to bring clouds-related activities to young learners.
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GLOBE data have been used in many scholarly works, including theses, dissertations, and peer-reviewed papers. Submit your GLOBE publication(s) and browse the collection of recent and past submissions.
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GLOBE Eclipse Workshop Engages Educators in Earth Science Research (2024, Bulletin of the AAS). Authors: Rosalba Giarratano, Matthew Nyman, Jessica Taylor, and Heather Fischer.
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Review of Earth Observation Techniques and Citizen Science Approach for Biodiversity Hotspot Study (2024, International Information and Engineering Technology Association). Authors: Yashraj Patil, Rani Fathima, Brian Campbell, Dorian Janney, Shilpa Hudnurkar, and Harikrishnan R.
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Congratulations to the GLOBE countries celebrating anniversaries this month:
- Netherlands: 30 years (28 Feb 1995)
- New Zealand: 25 years (29 Feb 2000)
- South Africa: 28 years (17 Feb 1997)
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