August 2021 GLOBE News Brief
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GLOBE Presents a New Documentary Series:
Agents of Change
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We, at the GLOBE Implementation Office (GIO), believe that large global stories, such as the all-encompassing story of The GLOBE Program, can often be told best by narrowing the lens to focus on an individual or individuals who exemplify the best efforts of our community. These are the people whose dedication and good work make an impact on a community; “multipliers” who spread the work of GLOBE and encourage others to have an impact.
With funding from GLOBE’s sponsor, NASA; story guidance and series coordination from the GIO; logistical support from community members; the expertise of our talented crew; and the delightful participation of the “stars” of these films, GIO brings you:
Agents of Change
A Documentary Series of GLOBE Impact Around the World
Episodes 1, 2, and 3
(All three videos are available on GLOBE’s "Agents of Change" playlist.
Episode 1: GLOBE in Africa
In this episode, creative students in Ortum, Kenya, collecting environmental data using home-made weather instruments suddenly find themselves the beneficiaries of a new 3D-printed weather station.
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Episode 2: GLOBE in Latin America
In this episode, Luis, age 9, Buenos Aires, Brazil, develops a passion for exploring the habitats and life cycles of mosquitoes, and takes measures to eradicate the spread of mosquito-borne diseases in his community.
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Episode 3: GLOBE in North America
In this episode, students of the Mescalero Apache Reservation High School in New Mexico, USA, research air quality and find a way to protect their community from the devastating effects of breathing smoke from wildfires.
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Note. We have completed three videos that represent the impact of GLOBE in the Africa, Latin America and Caribbean, and North America regions… for starters. We are planning to complete this visual portrait of the impact of GLOBE in GLOBE’s three remaining regions: Asia and Pacific, Europe and Eurasia, and Near East and North Africa.
Enjoy!
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GLOBE Welcomes New Partnering Country:
Republic of Armenia
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In June, U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Armenia Lynne Tracy met with the Acting Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports (ESCS) Vahram Dumanyan; ESCS Deputy Minister Arthur Martirosyan; the newly appointed United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Armenia Mission Director John Allelo; and Officer of the U.S. Embassy in Armenia on political and economic issues Oleg Sokola in order to welcome the Republic of Armenia to the GLOBE community.
In an announcement issued by the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armenia, the Acting Minister expressed confidence that GLOBE, being an international scientific and educational environmental program, will encourage Armenian students and scientists to study the world environment, and that this agreement will contribute to the implementation of new joint initiatives, thereby contributing to the development of technological education in the Republic of Armenia.
Ambassador Tracy, confirming her willingness to continue and advance multilateral cooperation, highlighted the engagement of Armenia in The GLOBE Program. “Given the multiple climate challenges facing the world, the innovative and interactive methods of recognizing and protecting the environment offered by The GLOBE Program are more relevant today than ever,” Ambassador Tracy said.
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Acting Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Vahram Dumanyan and U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy congratulate Armenia for joining the GLOBE family of nations, at the gathering pictured below.
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The Republic of Armenia is the 126th country to participate in The GLOBE Program. “We look forward to Armenia building a strong program in science and education, with the support of the GLOBE Implementation Office (GIO) here in the United States and GLOBE’s Europe and Eurasia Regional Coordination Office in the Czech Republic,” GIO Director Dr. Tony Murphy said. “A big welcome from the GLOBE family of nations, Armenia!"
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GLOBE Thanks Everyone Who Participated in the
2021 GLOBE Annual Meeting!
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GIO would like to thank everyone who participated in the 2021 GLOBE Annual Meeting. Your continued dedicated participation in the program is the key to GLOBE’s enduring educational and scientific success.
"Anecdotal comments that I received from the outset of the meeting: community members were excited about the format, content, and overall organization of the meeting. As GIO’s second foray into virtual meetings, and from everything that I can tell, the meeting seems to be successful and certainly met the goals that we had developed for it.” GIO Director Dr. Tony Murphy said. “One of the aspects that we planned for here was that the meeting would be far more interactive than last year’s virtual meeting. And, as we all have been involved in so many virtual meetings in our everyday work, it was important to us that interaction would be increased significantly over the last meeting. We believe that we achieved that from the comments we have heard so far.”
“In addition, given the challenges around time zones and creating this interaction, GIO began the meeting earlier in the morning (U.S. Mountain Time for staff) and planned to cover as much as possible in the next 5-6 hours, coming back later in the evening for networking sessions. I would like to thank all the GIO staff for being flexible in accommodating this change to previous meetings. In addition, a large number of presentations were pre-recorded to avoid both time and technology issues, and it also allowed these to be captioned for the diverse audiences that we serve in the community,” Dr. Murphy said.
“So given all this, as community members, you all heard updates from GIO, the technology team at SSAI, and again we featured the program sponsors in a Question-and-Answer session. The U.S. Partners and Country Coordinators met in joint session again this year to discuss further possible collaboration. Students from the International Virtual Science Symposium also had the opportunity to present their research through the Student Showcase.”
“However, what excited most people, I believe, was the number of Community Presentations that took place as part of the meeting,” Dr. Murphy said. “It again solidifies for me the great work that you all do wherever you are in a GLOBE country, and sharing your good work only makes the program and us all stronger. This is even more amazing given that we continue to face challenges, both personal and professional, with this pandemic.”
“Putting the annual meeting together, as GIO does each year, is no small task and we rely on you, our community, to be there to assist in specific tasks. This was never clearer than this year, and the success of the meeting was a result of this collaboration. I would like to thank all of you involved in the planning of this meeting, as well as presenting during the meeting; and the GIO staff for its dedication to ensuring it all came together, without YOU all this meeting could not happen. Finally, a huge thank you to all who attended the meeting, many for the first time, I hope that you found the meeting productive, engaging – and are looking forward to the next GLOBE Annual Meeting.”
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2021 GLOBE Annual Meeting Highlights
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The theme of the 2021 GLOBE Annual Meeting was “Adapting to a Changing GLOBE,” and was held from 12-16 July. In all, 352 registrants from 51 countries engaged in this virtual community endeavor. Participants got the chance to attend 55 sessions with a total of 114 speakers. Sessions were hosted live, and “on-demand” recordings were made available after the sessions.
Just to highlight a few of the sessions, there were three Keynote Speakers from across different organizations: Dr. Karen Bailey (University of Colorado, Boulder), who discussed Justice, Equity, Diversity, Accessibility, and Inclusion (JEDAI) and joy in environmental science; Dr. Assaf Anyamba (Universities Space Research Association and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center) who discussed the intersection of remote sensing, climate, and disease; and Dr. Rajul Pandya (American Geophysical Union’s Thriving Earth Exchange) who wrapped up the meeting with inspiring notes about community sciences. Participants also had the opportunity to connect in interactive sessions through networking/unconferencing, protocol trainings, the sponsor Q&A, and via breakout rooms.
Almost half of the sessions, 26 to be exact, were hosted by community members in the form of Lightning Talks, Report Outs, Workshops, Teaching Lessons, and Panels. These sessions were split into three strands: 1) A Welcoming GLOBE (during which presenters discussed how they bring diversity, equity, and inclusion into their work/school); 2) Responding to a Changing GLOBE (during which presenters discussed how their skills have adapted to the pandemic); and 3) STEM, Teaching, and GLOBE.
During the Student Experience, 40 students from 17 schools presented their high scoring 2021 International Virtual Science Symposium (IVSS) projects. The students were able to interact with each other during the four Student Experience sessions.
We, at GIO, enjoyed connecting with so many from the community, and feel as though this year’s meeting was a resounding success.
We look forward to seeing you at next year’s GLOBE Annual Meeting!
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GLOBE Mosquito Habitat Photo Challenge Is On!
Runs through 25 August
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The GLOBE Program would like to invite community members and citizen scientists from around the world to participate in the Mosquito Habitat Photo Challenge, which began on 25 July and will take place through 25 August. This challenge combines the use of GLOBE’s app, GLOBE Observer (GO), Mosquito Habitat Mapper (MHM) and Land Cover tools to document mosquito breeding habitats with photos.
GLOBE would like you to take photos of mosquito habitats, in either natural or artificial containers (using the MHM tool) and photos of the land around the habitat location (using the Land Cover tool). Photos submitted during this challenge will be used to create automated classification programs that can identify mosquito larvae and the environments they prefer. Such computer programs can help prevent outbreaks of mosquito-borne disease.
Scientists Need Your Photos!
For more information on the challenge, click here.
#MosquitoChallenge
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GIO Releases New White Paper: “A Descriptive Analysis of GLOBE Data Collection Prior to and During the COVID-19 Pandemic”
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GIO has released a new “White Paper” entitled, “A Descriptive Analysis of GLOBE Data Collection Prior to and During the COVID-19 Pandemic” (written by Ksenia Lepikhina and Assistant GIO Director Dr. Denise Yost). The paper takes a global perspective on data entry over the past several years, including during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The COVID-19 pandemic, and related public-health restrictions, affected the entire world and many activities; GLOBE community and student and citizen science data entry efforts were no exception. In the paper, GIO examined data entry trends over the last four years across all six GLOBE regions in order to identify baseline patterns and examine possible influences of COVID-19 restrictions. The paper summarizes and provides a broad, descriptive analysis of GLOBE data submissions based on data entry types, GLOBE regions, and selected protocols over time.
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Join 10 August Webinar: “At Ease with the Trees: Preparing for Student Investigations and Research Projects with the Trees Around the GLOBE Student Research Campaign Team, Session II”
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The Trees Around the GLOBE Student Research Campaign Webinar: “At Ease with the Trees: Preparing for Student Investigations and Research Projects with the Trees Around the GLOBE Student Research Campaign Team, Session II,” will be held on Tuesday, 10 August, at 12:00 p.m. EDT (04:00 p.m. UTC).
During this repeat special webinar, participants will be able to work directly, via breakout discussions, with the Trees Around the GLOBE Student Research Campaign team members to focus on several specific research topics for future student projects. These include:
- Land Cover and Land Cover Change for Student Research;
- GLOBE Tree Height Comparisons with ICESat-2 and GEDI;
- GPM Precipitation Data and How It Affects Trees; and
- What Can We Do to Support Your Plans for Student Research?
During this highly interactive webinar, participants will also learn about some specific NASA Missions, including Landsat 9, GEDI, ICESat-2, GPM, and ECOSTRESS (each have a vital alignment to trees and land cover). If you were not able to make it to the GLOBE Annual Meeting or to last month’s webinar session, or you want to focus preparation time with the Trees Team, this is the webinar for you.
If you are interested in joining the webinar, please send an email to Campaign Lead, Brian Campbell.
To learn more about the Trees Around the GLOBE Student Research Campaign, click here.
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Join 12 August GLOBE Mission Mosquito Webinar: “A Malignant Tale – 1793 Yellow Fever Epidemic”
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The GLOBE Mission Mosquito (GMM) webinar, “A Malignant Tale – 1793 Yellow Fever Epidemic,” will be held on Thursday, 12 August, at 02:00 p.m. EDT (06:00 p.m. UTC).
Imagine Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, in 1793. The growing city had a population of 50,000, of which around 2,000 people were black Philadelphians; 310 of whom were enslaved. The city was the center of government, trade, science, and medicine. The country was still trying to find its footing; the U.S. Constitution was signed only six years prior, in 1787. Then, tragedy strikes as Yellow Fever breaks out in 1793, killing 5,000 people, which was 10 percent of Philadelphia’s population.
Join a "Malignant Tale” to learn the details of how Caspar Wistar Haines and his family experienced the city-wide epidemic. Through their letters, discover the role of the Free African Society in taking care of Philadelphians during this time of need, and the sacrifices they made. Participants will make connections between this epidemic and today via these personal stories, the roles of essential workers, and the history of science and medicine.
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Trained in GLOBE? Interested in Becoming a GLOBE Trainer?
Apply Now!
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Are you trained in GLOBE? The new GLOBE Trainer application system is now available on the GLOBE website. Trained/verified GLOBE members who are interested in becoming GLOBE trainers can now apply by submitting an application and supporting documents.
Applications will be reviewed by your country coordinator, Regional Coordination Office (RCO) representative, and the GLOBE Education Working Group prior to being assigned a Mentor Trainer who will then work with you.
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New GLOBE Blog Shares Evaluation Working Group Resources
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In alignment with the 2021 GLOBE Annual Meeting, Dr. Nektaria Adaktilou, a member of the GLOBE Evaluation Working Group, posted a new blog. “The Evaluation Working Group members are excited to share with you all the resources developed by this group during the past years, from 2014 to present. On this webpage, you can find:
- surveys for protocol training in atmosphere, hydrology, soils, and land cover;
- a survey for students' attitudes towards science;
- a presentation about what the group does and how evaluation can benefit The GLOBE Program;
- a presentation of interviews with GLOBE teachers at the GLE in Ireland; and
- a one-pager that can be used when communicating with potential funders.
“The GLOBE Mission EARTH team has shared with the broader community the following tools that you can also find on this webpage: a pre-and post-test for students in atmosphere and hydrology; a needs assessment survey for GLOBE teachers; and a post-implementation survey for GLOBE teachers.”
“The latest addition to this list of resources has been the Alumni survey and the related report. Our goal was to reach out to GLOBE Alumni to get feedback on how the program has affected them, and how and in what ways they would like to remain engaged in the program. This survey will shortly be added as a google form in order to collect more responses.”
“A big thank you to all the wonderful colleagues that have contributed to the development of these materials! We hope that these resources will be helpful to you. Please contact us about any ideas or comments you may have and share feedback you collect when using the resources”
To learn more about the GLOBE Working Groups, click here.
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As always, GLOBE continues to work to ensure that your “use” of the website, and associated apps, is as user-friendly as possible.
- The week of the GLOBE Annual Meeting (12-16 July) marked the release of a number of changes and additions to The GLOBE Program’s app, GLOBE Observer (GO). The app now includes a redesign of the Mosquito Habitat Mapper (just in time for the Mosquito Habitat Photo Challenge, which continues through 25 August). New features include a more visual larva identification key that will make it easier to determine if the larvae are one of three types of mosquitoes that most often transmit disease.
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GO can now also be connected to SciStarter (for those who track their citizen science contributions across multiple citizen science projects with this online citizen science hub, this is available under the settings icon; just log in to SciStarter from GO, and have all of your GO measurements credited to your SciStarter account).
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For protocol-trained GLOBE users, a new capability is available that allows you to enter data for all of GLOBE’s atmosphere protocols. With this capability, you will see a new “GLOBE Atmosphere” graphic at the top of GO’s home screen. This will lead you to the new data entry system (initially for atmosphere protocols only). Using this interface, you will be able to enter atmosphere protocol data, create sites and observations, and edit and delete previous atmosphere measurements. The new data entry system simplifies data entry, allowing you to easily choose or create sites at your location as you enter your measurements. (A matching desktop version is available here. A quick guide on the new data entry system is available here, and a step-by-step tutorial is available here.)
If you have any questions, or need assistance with any of these enhancements, contact the GLOBE Community Support Team (CST) at: globehelp@ucar.edu.
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GLOBE Website Refresh Continues
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Have you noticed anything different about the GLOBE website recently? In our continued efforts to implement GLOBE’s educational mission, and to serve our community, GIO has been working to refresh the web content. The goal of this ongoing effort is to ensure that you have an enhanced user experience, and are provided with the most up-to-date information regarding changes and improvements taking place at GLOBE.
While browsing the website, you may see pages with more recent images, more precise navigational instructions, and language that provides clarity and presents a consistent tone across the entire website. Take a look for yourself at a few of the updates:
Let us know what you think!
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Keeping Up with GLOBE Star Stories? Read About Our Latest Star
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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. These GLOBE Stars are the bright lights that spark our imagination and inspire us with news of GLOBE at work in the world.
Read our most recent Star Stories:
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GLOBE Argentina Students Win Argentine Junior Water Prize. In May 2021, GLOBE Argentina students Marianela P., Juan W., and Lucio M., from the Science Club Huechulafquen won the Argentine Junior Water Prize (organized by the Argentine Association of Sanitary Engineering and Environmental Sciences). The students will represent the country in the Stockholm Junior Water Prize competition organized by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) within the framework of World Water Week.
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Thanks to Their Stellar Performance in the 2020 and 2021 IVSS, GLOBE Students Learn that “School” Reaches Beyond Limits of Locality. “Observing is not looking,” said GLOBE teacher Claudia Romagnoli. "As W.I.B. Beveridge writes in ‘The Art of Scientific Inquiry,’ ‘It is important to realize that observation is much more than just seeing something; it also involves a mental process’ – and the students from Pujato, a small town in Santa Fe, Argentina, seem to have it clear.”
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 new easier-to-use template for submitting your GLOBE Star Story, click here.
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Dates for 2021 North American Regional Meeting (NARM) Announced:
12-14 October
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The dates for the 2021 North America Regional Meeting (NARM) have been announced: 12-14 October. The U.S. Partner Forum Meeting will take place during the meeting, from 12-13 October. The meeting will be fully virtual this year.
Stay tuned for more information!
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Opportunities for Teachers
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NOTE: U.S. opportunities are often highlighted in the News Brief simply because we are more aware of them through our local media; however, if there are opportunities for GLOBE students and/or teachers in your region that you would like us to highlight in the coming months, please send the information to: globecommunications@ucar.edu. Thank you!
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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.
An upcoming webinar, “NASA STEM Amusement Park Physical Science,” is geared toward educators in grades K-12. On Thursday, 12 August (01:00 p.m. ED), the NASA EPDC at Texas State University will present a one-hour webinar. Explore how the physics of motion applies to aeronautics while engaging in STEM engineering design challenges. Amusement parks are one of the best places to feel firsthand what astronauts experience while in space. Learn how roller coasters and other rides help teach forces of motion and energy transformations (PE and KE). Calculate the average speed of the marble (s = d/t, where s = speed, d = distance, and t = time). We will learn how design a roller coaster at home or at school.
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GLOBE U.S. In-Service/Pre-Service Teachers: Natural Inquirer Opportunity Offers Stipends for Blog/Social Media Posts
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U.S. GLOBE Pre-service and In-service Educators: Do you use GLOBE protocols, learning activities, or books? Do you use the Natural Inquirer journals or activities? If you answered YES to either question, there is an exciting opportunity for you!
The GLOBE Program, in partnership with the USDA Forest Service, is looking for K-12 pre- and in-service educators to write a blog or social media post (Pinterest, Twitter thread, etc.) connecting an issue of the Natural Inquirer with GLOBE protocols and/or learning activities. These crosswalk resources will be published on the GLOBE website and shared with educators in both communities. Stipends for published pieces are available!
Share this flyer with your networks, or use as a classroom assignment with your
pre-service teachers.
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YLACES Offers Awards, Scholarships, Grants – and Support – for Science Education
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Youth Learning as Citizen Environmental Scientists (YLACES), based in the United States, offers awards, scholarships, grants, and support – all to assist and reward the implementation of inquiry-based, experiential science education where students do science and contribute to understanding of our environment through recognition and financial reward programs.
Those working with youth to do research projects through environmental citizen science are invited to submit proposals for support to help their efforts. Grants range from support for taking simple measurements to teacher professional development and working for pervasive inclusion of student research projects in science teaching.
In addition, support is provided for prizes recognizing student achievement and effective teaching; for infrastructure necessary for contributing, storing, and sharing data and methods; and for science fairs/symposia that assess student work.
For more information on YLACES, and the specific types of assistance
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Congratulations to the ten GLOBE countries celebrating anniversaries of successful GLOBE implementation during the month of August:
Cape Verde – 21 years
09 August 2000
Ethiopia – 16 years
24 August 2005
Gabon – 18 years
11 August 2003
India – 21 years
25 August 2000
Japan – 26 years
29 August 1995
Macedonia – 23 years
24 August 1998
Niger – 16 years
11 August 2005
Rwanda – 18 years
21 August 2003
Seychelles – 04 years
25 August 2017
Sweden – 26 years
23 August 1995
The GLOBE Implementation Office would like to thank these countries for their ongoing educational and scientific contributions to The GLOBE Program!
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Past issues of the GLOBE News Brief are available in the online. (On the drop-down menu under “Category,” simply scroll down to “News Topics” and select “News Briefs.”)
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