GLOBE News Brief – March 2026 | | |
Dear GLOBE community,
After many months of uncertainty about the future of the GLOBE Program, we are thrilled to share that NASA will continue to sponsor the GLOBE Program through 2026 and beyond! We want to thank everyone for their patience over the past year as we awaited this decision.
There will be some programmatic shifts for GLOBE moving forward. One change is particularly exciting—the GLOBE Program now sits within NASA's Earth System Science Research Program's Enabling Capabilities portfolio, which will offer an opportunity for even more collaborations with scientists researching Earth’s systems at NASA. This means there will be more research applications for the data you submit! We will share further details in the coming months.
Amy Chen, NASA’s program manager of GLOBE, will be stepping down from her position at NASA at the end of March. We are so thankful for all of Amy's contributions to GLOBE and her dedication to the GLOBE community. We wish her the best of luck in her next endeavor! If you would like to send well wishes to Amy, we invite you to write a message in this Padlet. With Amy’s departure, we welcome a new NASA program manager, Dr. John Sullivan. We will introduce him to the community through future events and communications.
GLOBE recently surpassed 285 million measurements thanks to all of you! We are looking forward to celebrating our 31st anniversary alongside Earth Day and Citizen Science Month in April. Stay tuned for details on how you can join in the celebrations, but save the date for our Earth Day broadcast on GLOBE’s YouTube channel on 22 April at 12 pm ET/16:00 UTC.
There is still time to submit for a YLACES grant to support equipment needs (worldwide) and local science symposia (U.S. only)! The deadline is 31 March.
Best,
| Rebecca Lewis and Becky Boger, GIO Co-Directors | |
Celebrating GLOBE, Earth Day, and Citizen Science Month in April |
GLOBE Celebrates 31 Years on Earth Day
On Earth Day (22 April), we hope you will join us to celebrate the GLOBE Program's 31st anniversary through an Earth Day broadcast on GLOBE’s YouTube channel on 22 April at 12 pm ET (16:00 UTC). We'll share highlights from the past year.
2.50 Million Acts of Science
April is Citizen Science Month, and SciStarter has set an ambitious goal of 2.50 Million Acts of Science! On 3 April (and throughout the month), join GLOBE participants around the world in taking GLOBE Clouds observations. Connect your GLOBE account to SciStarter to be credited for your participation.
| 2026 Virtual Science Symposium (VSS) |
Celebrating VSS Participants
On 5 March, VSS participants received feedback on their 2026 VSS projects from an esteemed team of educators, scientists, and STEM professionals who served as volunteer reviewers. The reviewers were extremely impressed by the creativity and scientific problem-solving skills demonstrated in this year’s research projects and proposals. Participants received certificates and virtual badges in celebration of their hard work. Please join the GLOBE Implementation Office (GIO) in celebrating all GLOBE research teams who participated in the 2026 VSS—their research projects are truly inspiring!
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Upcoming Sessions: Register Today!
GLOBE Phenology: Designing Collaborative, Impactful Research Campaigns
29 April at 10 am ET (14:00 UTC)
Join us as we celebrate the impacts of global and regional GLOBE phenology campaigns and examine the strategies and approaches that contributed to their success. Learn more and register.
Designing Actionable Approaches and Resources for GLOBE Alumni Engagement (Working Session)
27 March at 9 am ET (13:00 UTC) | Register now.
Session Materials and Recordings
Please continue to visit the GLOBE Annual Meeting webpage for updates on GLOBE Learning Sessions, including new opportunities to participate and recordings of all past Learning Sessions.
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Updates to GLOBE SPARKS Course | |
The online course GLOBE SPARKS: Supporting Practice, Awareness, Research, and Knowledge for Science, created by GLOBE Mission Earth, has been updated to reflect the December changes to GLOBE accounts and training. Educators new to GLOBE or longtime members looking to refresh their knowledge can participate in the online course to learn more about the GLOBE Program. Learn more.
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2026 Aviation Skywatch Mission
Civil Air Patrol Volunteers Use GLOBE Clouds to Monitor Contrails
The Civil Air Patrol (CAP)—a nonprofit organization that serves as the civilian auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force to support search and rescue, disaster relief efforts, and aerospace education—has started a new mission in collaboration with NASA. Over 3,500 volunteers are expected to take part! They will use the GLOBE Clouds tool to report full cloud observations along with CAP members who are also collecting aircraft information from participating commercial airplane trackers. Learn more.
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Blowing Snow Pilot Project
Submit Observations Through 31 March
GLOBE invites you to help NOAA scientists verify satellite imagery of blowing snow! The best time to observe blowing snow is when the snow stops falling and strong winds arrive. Find instructions on how to submit blowing snow observations through the GLOBE Clouds tool.
Learn More
Check out this recent NOAA article, "Satellites–And You–Are Helping Better Identify Hazardous Blowing Snow," which describes how GLOBE data are helping test run a new satellite product designed to detect blowing snow. Register for the 26 March GO Connect session to hear results from the pilot and ask NOAA scientist Bill Line questions about the work.
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Trees Around the GLOBE
Upcoming Webinar
Webinar Recording
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Trees, Land Cover, Mangroves, Carbon | This webinar featured 2026 GLOBE VSS presentations from students and educators from GLOBE schools in Colombia, Italy, and Uruguay, followed by a discussion on the NASA Moon Tree effort and how this ties into the Apollo-Artemis legacy and the new Artemis II Mission.
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GLOBE Observer Connect
Upcoming Webinar
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Using Your Blowing Snow Ground Photos to Verify a Satellite Product | 26 March at 12:00 pm ET (16:00 UTC) Join us for a session with Bill Line (NOAA NESDIS) and Christina Buffington (GIO and University of Alaska Fairbanks), who will share the results from the Blowing Snow pilot project, how it works, and how GLOBE observations can continue to support it.
Webinar Recording
| | Regional Campaigns and Highlights | |
Asia and Pacific
Events
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GLOBE Asia Pacific Science Festival | 18–21 May. This event will be hosted by GLOBE Partner Taiwan in Taoyuan, Taiwan. Stay tuned for more information.
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Europe and Eurasia
News
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GLOBE Europe & Eurasia Air Quality Student Conference | On 11 March, GLOBE Europe & Eurasia's Air Quality Campaign team hosted a webinar featuring 10 student research presentations, feedback and discussion of their results, and presentations by subject matter experts. Europe & Eurasia's Air Quality Group is a collaboration between Ireland (lead), the Netherlands, France, and Malta and has been supported by the Europe & Eurasia Regional Coordination Office.
View a list of planned 2025–26 Events & Campaigns for Europe and Eurasia Region.
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North America
Spring Phenology Campaign
The North American GLOBE community is encouraged to collect Green-Up data between February and June—whenever plant buds are changing from dormant to fully grown leaves in your location! Learn more and join the campaign.
News
Events
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NSTA Meet-Up | 15 April at 4:30 pm PT. If you are attending the 2026 National Science Teaching Association Conference in Anaheim, CA, on 15–18 April, you are invited to a GLOBE educator meet-up during the opening reception.
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Find more events and opportunities on the Events page of the GLOBE website. Read more Stars Stories under News and Events.
| | Additional News and Information | |
MacroBlitz Onboarding Training
The MacroBlitz project inspires and empowers people to make observations of freshwater aquatic macroinvertebrates and upload those observations to iNaturalist for science and learning. This virtual training will cover the basics of finding freshwater macroinvertebrates, uploading the observations to iNaturalist, and reviewing expanded macro-photography options in the field, especially when working with groups. There are two training opportunities. Register to attend on 2 April at 3 pm ET (19:00 UTC) or on 2 April at 8:30 pm ET (3 April, 00:30 UTC).
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Reminders
YLACES Grant Deadline is 31 March
YLACES grants equip new generations of scientists with instruments and supplies to facilitate environmental research and data collection. To learn more about YLACES and to apply for a grant, visit the YLACES website.
Upcoming My NASA Data Events
Are you interested in using authentic NASA Earth and/or environmental data to engage students with scientific practices and enhance their data literacy? Learn more and register.
GLOBE International STEM Network (GISN)
If you're not already a member, the GISN welcomes scientists and STEM professionals to increase participation across all six GLOBE regions. Visit the GISN webpage to learn more and apply for membership.
GLOBE Publications
Have you written a GLOBE-related paper? Submit your publication(s) and browse the collection of recent and past submissions.
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