GLOBE News Brief – April 2025 | | |
Dear GLOBE community,
April is here, and before we know it, it will be Earth Day. This year, Earth Day on 22 April also marks GLOBE’s 30th anniversary! It is a time to celebrate and reflect on all we have accomplished. GLOBE is built on a deep commitment to our Earth, the development of our youth, and the power of science to connect us across boundaries. GLOBE looks different than it did in 1995, and it will likely look different in another 30 years—that's to be expected. But what hasn’t changed are our core values and our commitment to science and to each other.
Our anniversary celebration will begin on 22 April with a broadcast at 12 pm ET (16:00 UTC) featuring a message from the GLOBE Program sponsors, highlights from all six GLOBE regions, IVSS and GLOBE student vlogger announcements, and much much more. Tune in to hear about a new GLOBE data challenge!
We will continue the celebration at the virtual GLOBE Annual Meeting in July, where we will look back on GLOBE’s impact over the past 30 years, recognize the great work from this past year, and look ahead to GLOBE’s future. We hope you can join us.
The GLOBE Implementation Office (GIO) is focused on providing opportunities for the GLOBE community to contribute to scientific research, and we are excited to announce two new collaborations. We are collaborating with NISAR, a joint NASA-ISRO (USA and India) mission that will be launched this year, to provide surface-based data across our participating countries. In addition, GLOBE community members in certain parts of the U.S. and Latin America will be asked to contribute data to tree and wildflower bloom research led by a NASA scientist. Details on both collaborations are below. If you have ideas for research initiatives that we should connect to GLOBE, please share them with us!
We are also seeking ideas and feedback on GLOBE instrumentation and the process of becoming a trainer and/or mentor trainer. Please share your thoughts by taking this survey by 25 April.
The GIO would like to recognize members of our community who are leveraging their participation in the GLOBE Program to engage in scientific exchange and diplomacy. Four GLOBE community members—Laura Altin, Christine Cote, Elida Moreno, and Mariana Savino—were selected as Global Diplomacy Initiative (GDI) Fellows at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) this year (read more below). Science is a great unifier, and we appreciate those who are supporting the field beyond GLOBE!
We at the GIO continue to be inspired by you and all the wonderful work you do. So, bring out the party hats and shout “HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, GLOBE” on 22 April!
If you have any questions or needs, please contact us by emailing help@nasaglobe.org.
| Rebecca Lewis and Becky Boger, GIO Co-Directors | | Earth Day Celebration (22 April) | | |
On 22 April, Earth Day, the GLOBE Program celebrates its 30th anniversary. Our 2025 Earth Day Broadcast: Celebrating 30 Years of the GLOBE Program will debut on the GLOBE YouTube channel at 12 pm ET (16:00 UTC).
Watch the broadcast to learn the following (and more!):
- How the GLOBE Program has impacted science, people, and communities in its 30 years
- Which students were chosen as the 2025–26 GLOBE Student Vlogger cohort
- Which International Virtual Science Symposium (IVSS) research project teams were selected to attend the 2025 GLOBE Student Experience
- The 2026 IVSS theme
- How to participate in a new GLOBE data challenge
| | 2025 Annual Meeting Update | | |
The 2025 GLOBE Annual Meeting will now be held virtually. A portion of the meeting will take place the week of 14 July, but more details about session dates and times will be shared soon. In the meantime, please consider submitting a session idea and/or nominating a GLOBE member for recognition.
Read the Call for Submissions to learn about the nomination process and presentation opportunities, including Regional Spotlights (flash talks, panels, small-group discussions, and poster sessions) and GLOBE Showcase Entries. The deadline for all submissions is 11 April 2025 at 11:59 pm ET (12 April 2025 at 03:59 UTC).
Meeting organizers will work with all selected presenters and facilitators to ensure their presentations are engaging and successful in a virtual format. If you have any questions, please email meetings@nasaglobe.org.
| |
Request for Input
The GLOBE Working Groups request your input on GLOBE instrumentation and training processes. The deadline to submit your thoughts is 25 April. Take the survey.
Updates
Read updates from all four of the GLOBE Working Groups: Education, Evaluation, Science, and Technology.
| | GLOBE Collaboration with the NISAR Mission | | |
NISAR is a joint NASA-ISRO (USA and India) mission set to launch this year. This satellite mission will monitor Earth’s changing ecosystems, surfaces, and ice masses—providing data to support agriculture, disaster management, water monitoring, and more. GLOBE is creating a new NISAR bundle that includes measurements for soil moisture, biometry, and phenology, which participants will use to collect ground-based data to contribute to the many research applications that NISAR data will support. Learn more and watch a recording from a recent GLOBE webinar.
| |
Pedosphere Protocol Data-Entry Forms Now Available
The GLOBE team is happy to release the first set of GLOBE Pedosphere data-entry forms for the GLOBE Observer app. Pedosphere site creation and all Soil Characterization protocols are now available to trained GLOBE educators once the GLOBE Observer app is updated for both iOS and Android. Learn more.
| |
Mission Mosquito
Upcoming Webinar
Webinar Recording
| |
Snow View Intensive Observation Period (IOP)
Your Observations "Snowball" into New Science Collaborations!
GLOBE educators, students, scientists, and citizen scientists in all six GLOBE regions captured land cover and snow data at over 3,500 locations during the Snow View IOP in February. Learn more about what students and scientists are learning from these data.
| |
Trees Around the GLOBE
Upcoming Webinars
Webinar Recording
| |
Urban Heat Island Effect (UHI) IOP
Upcoming Webinars
Webinar Recording
| | 2025 International Virtual Science Symposium (IVSS) | | |
The International Virtual Science Symposium (IVSS) team would like to thank the over 380 volunteer judges who have completed scoring and providing feedback on a record number of IVSS projects submitted to the 2025 IVSS! Be sure to watch the GLOBE Earth Day broadcast on GLOBE's YouTube channel on 22 April at 12 pm ET (16:00 UTC). The broadcast will celebrate all IVSS participants, announce the student research teams from each GLOBE region invited to join the Annual Meeting Student Research Experience, and reveal the theme for the 2026 IVSS!
The GIO is grateful to all the educators, scientists, and STEM mentors who supported student research projects and helped make this year’s IVSS a success. Thanks to your support, over 400 student research teams participated and will receive valuable feedback on their work on 22 April. Thank you for inspiring a love of science and scientific discovery in GLOBE student researchers!
| |
Events
Citizen Science Month | April GLOBE Observer Connect
Join the GLOBE Observer team on 10 April at 8 pm ET (11 April 00:00 UTC) to learn about how to connect your GLOBE observations to SciStarter to participate in Citizen Science Month and discover where to find mosquito larvae as the season gets underway. Learn more and register.
Read a related blog post, The Mosquito's Story and You, about the importance of mosquito larvae observations.
March GLOBE Observer Connect | Webinar Recording
In the March webinar, the GLOBE Observer team discussed why tree type is an important observation on the GLOBE Observer app. Watch the recording for all the details.
New Data Collection Opportunity
Observing Wildflowers in California and Arizona, USA for NASA Research
GLOBE Observer is asking for GLOBE land cover observations of wildflowers from 24 March to 1 June in parts of Arizona, California, and Nevada. NASA scientist, Dr. Yoseline Angel, requests photos of wildflowers to help her identify blooms in satellite data. By analyzing how the blooms look in the data, she can then identify blooms at other places and times. Learn more.
| |
New Cohort of Vloggers to Be Announced on Earth Day
Watch the GLOBE Earth Day broadcast on 22 April at 12 pm ET (16:00 UTC) for the announcement of the new 2025-26 GLOBE student vloggers!
Student Vloggers Offer Tips on Using GLOBE Protocols!
Watch the latest series of student vlogs, which offers student perspectives on using the GLOBE protocols.
| | GLOBE International STEM Network (GISN) | |
Scientists and STEM Professionals—Get Involved!
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. Join the GISN network to:
- Build your personal international science network
- Access professional development opportunities
- Share your science
- Collaborate on international research projects
Visit the GISN webpage to learn more and access the membership application.
| | Regional Campaigns and Highlights | |
Africa
News
Event
Stars Story
| |
Europe and Eurasia
Stars Story
| |
Near East and North Africa
Stars Stories
| |
North America
Campaign
The North American Phenology Campaign
From 1 February to 30 June, students will observe and report plant green-down and green-up, have opportunities to meet scientists, and share the results of their investigations.
Events
Stars Story
|
| |
Find more events and opportunities on the Events and Calendar pages of the GLOBE website. Read more Stars Stories under News and Events.
| | Additional News and Information | |
Congratulations to These New UNITAR Fellows
Congratulations to Laura Altin, Croatia country coordinator, Elida Moreno, GLOBE Paraguay country coordinator, and Christine Cote, GLOBE United States educator (shown below, left to right) for being accepted into the prestigious Global Diplomacy Initiative (GDI) Fellowship program at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR). Laura, Elida, Christine, and Mariana Savino (announced in our March News Brief) will participate in the spring 2025 cohort, which runs from 12 March to 27 June 2025.
| |
Clouds Quarterly Update
The spring 2025 NASA GLOBE Clouds Quarterly Update is now available! The Clouds team is celebrating 5 years of quarterly updates! Here are some highlights from this issue:
GLOBE Clouds Observer Superstar
Citizen scientist Om Prakash Gupta from India was first highlighted in 2022 for making more than 9,000 GLOBE cloud observations, which were compared with satellite data. Is Om still making observations? Read to find out.
Fog: Friend or Foe?
Revisit a discussion from 5 years ago about the difference between an “overcast” sky and an “obscured” sky.
| |
NASA/GLOBE PM2.5 Low-Cost Sensor Workshop
GLOBE Mission Earth invites the GLOBE community to attend the NASA/GLOBE PM2.5 Low-Cost Sensor Workshop. The virtual workshop will be held on 7–9 May. The goal of the workshop is to facilitate a dialogue between scientists and practitioners who use PM2.5 Low-Cost Sensor (LCS) data in their research and science communities working with localized networks. Learn more and register.
| | |
Congratulations to the GLOBE countries celebrating anniversaries this month:
- Australia: 30 years (21 Apr 1995)
- Austria: 30 years (20 Apr 1995)
- Benin: 30 years (28 Apr 1995)
- Bolivia: 30 years (22 Apr 1995)
- Canada: 28 years (07 Apr 1997)
- Chile: 27 years (16 Apr 1998)
- Costa Rica: 29 years (22 Apr 1996)
- Croatia: 30 years (12 Apr 1995)
- Czech Republic: 30 years (20 Apr 1995)
- Ecuador: 29 years (22 Apr 1996)
- Kuwait: 26 years (12 Apr 1999)
- Norway: 30 years (5 Apr 1995)
- Poland: 28 years (22 Apr 1997)
- Romania: 29 years (11 Apr 1995)
- South Korea: 30 years (21 Apr 1995)
- Switzerland: 27 years (22 Apr 1998)
- Tanzania: 28 years (1 Apr 1997)
- United States: 30 years (22 Apr 1995)
- Uruguay: 30 years (21 Apr 1995)
| |
GLOBE Program Logos for Clothing and Accessories Available Online
Are you interested in having the GLOBE logo added to clothing and accessories for your GLOBE team? Lands' End makes it possible! To get started, go to the Lands' End store, click on the product, choose the size, and then select Apply Logo(s).
| | | | |
