March 2019 News Brief

March 2019 GLOBE News Brief

Help GLOBE Celebrate Earth Day 2019!

Participate in the Trees Around the GLOBE

April Intensive Observation Period!

Help celebrate Earth Day 2019 (22 April) by participating in the Trees Around the GLOBE Campaign’s April Intensive Observation Period (IOP). IOPs are focused periods of time where participants are encouraged to collect large amounts of data and enter it in the GLOBE database. Data that are collected during the IOP will provide GLOBE students, scientists, researchers, and educators large amounts of concentrated data over a short period of time. The April IOP will be focused on Land Cover.

To learn more about the Trees Around the GLOBE campaign,

and how to participate in the April IOP , click here .

News

Follow GLOBE Students around the World with Google Voyager

Google Voyager photo of a person using the GLOBE Observer Mosquito Habitat Mapper

The GLOBE Zika Education and Prevention Project is pleased to present a new collaboration with Google Voyager! Google Voyager is a digital storytelling platform that uses Google Earth to take readers to specific locations around the world.

GLOBE’s story, “Stopping the Spread of Zika,” highlights global student involvement in the GLOBE Zika Education and Prevention Project. From the Zika Forest in Uganda to Killarney, Ireland, this story will take you on a GLOBE adventure where you will learn about the causes of Zika and what GLOBE students are doing to combat it!

To view the story, and start exploring , click here .

To learn more about the GLOBE Zika Education and Prevention Project, click here .

Director’s Letter to the Community Transitions from Print to Video!

GIO Director Dr. Tony Murphy in his video to the community

The monthly Director’s Letter to the Community has transitioned from print to video! You will now be hearing from GLOBE Implementation Office (GIO) Director Dr. Tony Murphy quarterly. These videos will provide you with news of current happenings in the GIO and throughout the community.

In future videos, Dr. Murphy will answer questions submitted by GLOBE community members. Dr. Murphy will select from among all questions sent to him, so if you have a question that you would like him to answer in the next quarterly video address, please send it to communications@globe.gov .

If you would like to be mentioned in the video, please include your:

name;
city/state and country; and
place in the community (teacher, student, scientist, etc.).

To view Dr. Murphy’s first quarterly video address to the community , click here .

(Transcripts of the video will be available quarterly. To read the transcript of the first address to the community, click here .)

It’s Time Once Again for the GLOBE Urban Heat Island Effect/Surface Temperature Student Research Campaign: 01-30 March

The Northern Hemisphere Spring and Southern Hemisphere Fall Urban Heat Island Effect/Surface Temperature Field Campaign has begun! It will run from 01-31 March. It is time once again to collect observations of surface temperature, clouds, and snow – and add to the extensive data set that students and scientists, including Dr. C (Professor Kevin Czajkowski at the University of Toledo) can use to study the urban heat island effect. Whether you are at an urban school, suburban school, or rural school, your observations are vital to this campaign.

To learn more about the campaign, including what data to collect and when,

and what to do and how to do it , click here .

“Early-bird” Registration for 2019 GLOBE Annual Meeting in Detroit, Michigan, USA, Ends 15 May! Deadline to Register is 01 July!

Graphic that reads, "Early Bird Registration"

“Early-bird” registration for the 2019 GLOBE Annual Meeting ends on 15 May. The meeting, which will be held in Detroit, Michigan, USA, will take place from 14-18 July at The Crowne Plaza Detroit Downtown Riverfront Hotel. The Student Experience (16-18 July) will be held at the Howell Nature Center. The deadline to register for the meeting is 01 July. Space is limited, so register soon!

The theme of the meeting, which will be hosted by Dr. Kevin Czajkowski and David Bydlowski, is “Intersections of Diverse Environments.” Detroit is a city positioned at the intersection of multiple types of diverse environments culturally, geographically, and economically – which is why the theme will be explored in multiple strands: Finding Nature in Urban Landscapes; Exploring Changing Environments; GLOBE and Technology; and GLOBE Gives Back.

To learn more about the GLOBE Annual Meeting (#GLOBE23) , click here .

To learn more about registration (including accommodations, air and ground transportation, invitation letters and Visa requirements, the UCAR Participant Code of Conduct, what to know about the area, and the cancellation policy) and event details , click here .

Coming Soon: New “GLOBE Teams” Page Will Allow GLOBE Account Holders to Create/Join Location-Based Teams

to Track Data-Collection Efforts

GLOBE Community: As a GLOBE account holder, you will soon be able to create and join teams of people, called “GLOBE Teams,” which will enable you to track your group’s data-collection efforts. This ability will allow you, and others, to search via your team’s name and find data associated with your team.

Even if you do not belong to a specific learning facility, you will now be able to associate your data with an entity that consists of friends, family, and coworkers. These GLOBE Teams can be made public, private, or closed to new members. (Member contact information will not be made publicly available.) Each group will be associated with a general location, such as a city, state or country. You can even join more than one group! The GLOBE Teams page will display the number of members and observations, and will provide a contact form to contact group managers.

Stay tuned for more information on how to access and work with this new GLOBE feature!

If you have any questions, please contact help@globe.gov .

Trees Around the GLOBE Student Research Campaign Announces GLOBE School Submitting the Most Measurements During January IOP

Trees Around the GLOBE January IOP Badge

During the January Intensive Observation Period (IOP) for the January Trees Around the GLOBE Campaign, 680 tree-height measurements were submitted by GLOBE students and participants. The GLOBE school submitting the most measurements was Ekonomsko-Birotehnicka I Trgovacka Skola (in Zadar, Croatia), where GLOBE teacher, Marina Sambolek Marina and her students submitted 325 tree-height measurements.

Every participant received a Virtual Tree Height IOP Badge. The GLOBE school with the most collected tree height data and additional protocol data received a Virtual Tree Height IOP Winner Badge, and a virtual one-on-one Q&A session with a NASA scientist, researcher, or engineer.

Shout-Out to Most Active Participants!

The GLOBE Program would like to give a big “shout-out” to the top most active GLOBE participants taking tree height, greenings, and land cover measurements for the campaign in January!

Tree Height:

M. Sambolek (Croatia)
Z. Klarin (Croatia)
S. Markovic-Zoraja (Croatia)
Veseljic (Croatia)
J. Razlog-Grlica (Croatia)
Louvar (Croatia)
J. Dubravica (Croatia)
G. Bracun (Croatia)
J. Bouwman (United States)
K. Mohammed-Ali (Trinidad And Tobago)
Vasylchyshyn (Ukraine)

Greenings (Green-Up/Green-Down):

M. Algarni (Saudi Arabia)
R. Gaidiene (Lithuania)
B. Safin (Croatia)

Land Cover:

P. Nelson (United States)
J. Bouwman (United States)
Y. Lee (Taiwan Partnership)
M. Balazinec (Croatia)
Prieto (Argentina)
H. Joubert (South Africa)
J. Moore (United States)
K. Mohammed-Ali (Trinidad And Tobago)
R. Brettenny (South Africa)

Join the 19 March Trees Around the GLOBE Campaign Webinar: “Our Connection to the Land: Trees and Forests Through the Eyes of the Salish Tribe of Montana”

Trees Around the GLOBE Campaign webinar shareable

On Tuesday, 19 March, the Trees Around the GLOBE Student Research Campaign webinar “Our Connection to the Land: Trees and Forests Through the Eyes of the Salish Tribe of Montana,” will be held at 9:00 a.m. ET (1:00 p.m. UTC).

During this webinar, Oscar Garza and his team will show how GLOBE protocols and citizen science have the potential to help efforts of many communities around the world in their task on language, culture, and landscape revitalization and preservation in a dual-learning environment.

Many indigenous cultures around the world possess a different perspective about forestry and our connection to the land. They hold a vast richness of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK). Much of that richness is embedded in the language. Oscar will be respectfully sharing experience from work done at Kalispel Language Survival School (K-4), and almost two years of Forestry college at Salish Kootenai College in efforts to revitalize the language in the Salish corridor.

To register for the upcoming webinar and to receive emails about future webinars,

click here . All the webinars can be joined at https://zoom.us/j/7578241037 .

If you missed previous webinars, click here .

To learn more about the Trees Around the GLOBE campaign, click here .

Join the March GLOBE Mission Mosquito

Education and Citizen Science Webinars!

GLOBE educators and citizen scientists (of all ages) – you are invited to join the following GLOBE Mission Mosquito (GMM) March webinars:

GMM Education Webinar #5 “Mosquito Season is Coming!” – Wednesday, 13 March, (2:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. UTC): During this webinar, participants will learn more about the environmental parameters that help us predict when mosquitoes will be active. GLOBE teachers and students from around the world will share their predictions, and will explain their reasons for making the predictions. Participants will also learn how to make larval traps to capture mosquito larvae safely, and will review the prevention precautions to take to ensure safety during active mosquito season.

To register for the webinar, click here .

GMM Citizen Science Webinar #3 “Citizen Science in Your Community” – Wednesday, 27 March (2:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. UTC): During this webinar, there will be reports on data collected so far by citizen scientists. There will also be presentations by guest scientists, including citizen scientists.

To register for the webinar , click here .

The goal of GMM is to create an organized citizen science community, primarily through formal education with targeted outreach to informal education, that will conduct and report local observations using the GLOBE Observer Mosquito Habitat Mapper App. Using the app, students and citizen scientists can identify potential breeding sites for mosquitoes, sample and count mosquito larvae, and (with optional equipment) examine and photograph a specimen to identify its genus.

To learn more about the campaign, and to view archived webinars , click here .

Participating in the 2019 IVSS? Get the FAQs!

Projects Due 10 April 2019

Are you participating in the 2019 GLOBE International Virtual Science Symposium (IVSS) and have some questions ? Get the FAQs here !

GISN Members/STEM Professionals: Step Up and Help Judge!

The GIO is seeking GISN members, STEM professionals, GLOBE alumni, GLOBE teachers, and other GLOBE community members willing to help judge IVSS projects. Are you ready to step up and help? Then please fill out the form on this page !

IVSS Timeline:

The 2019 IVSS Timeline:

Informational Webinar: 25 October 2018
Reports Accepted: 01 January 2019 to 10 April 2019
Due Date for Student Reports: 10 April 2019
Judging Webinar: 25 April 2019
Judging Period: 26 April to 05 May 2019
Feedback and Virtual Badges Shared: 17 May 2019
Drawing for Stipends: 17 May 2019

Reports will be accepted from 01 January through 10 April 2019.

To download the IVSS shareables, click here !

For more information on the 2019 IVSS, click here !

U.S. Community: Join the Upcoming Teacher Watercooler Meet-up: 13 March

U.S. GLOBE Teachers: Join the GLOBE Professional Learning Community (PLC) and hear how other GLOBE teachers use GLOBE with their students during a Teacher Watercooler meet-up at 7:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday, 13 March.

At this Watercooler, participants will be able to connect with other GLOBE teachers, and will hear how Connecticut teacher Sue Dougherty and her students use GLOBE. (A professional development certificate is available).

Share your story at a Teacher Watercooler! For more information , click here .

To register for the 13 March Watercooler , click here !

U.S. High School Sophomores/Juniors: 2019 Summer Internship Opportunity in STEM Enhancement in Earth Science (SEES) Program – Deadline 15 March

U.S. Sophomores/Juniors: The United States GLOBE program is accepting applications for a GLOBE intern at the STEM Enhancement in Earth Science (SEES) 2019 Summer High School Intern Program.

Selected interns will learn how to interpret NASA satellite data and work with scientists and engineers at the University of Texas at Austin Center for Space Research.

HOW TO APPLY

Submit your online application by 15 March 2019. The application includes essay questions that you must answer as part of the application. (You may wish to answer the questions on a separate document and then cut and paste your answers into the on-line application.) You will need to respond to each of the following questions in the application (there is a 250-word maximum for each question):

Why would you like to be selected for the SEES program?
How will your experience in this program impact your plans for the future?
Share any important academic or life experiences in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics).

Include, in the application, the name and email address of a GLOBE teacher who will submit your letter of recommendation.
Prepare a short introduction video showing who you are, where you are from, and how GLOBE activities have influenced you in a positive way, or given you skills that are valuable for an academic team research setting.

When submitting a video, remember that you are submitting a link (URL) to your video (such as on YouTube.com, youku.com, tudou.com, some other video hosting site, or your own website), not the video itself. Do not secure your video with a password. (It is recommended that you make the video unlisted.)

Please email your video link URL to Jennifer Bourgeault at usglobecc@gmail.com with the words “SEES Intern Video 2019” and your last name in the subject line by 15 March.

For more information on this internship opportunity, click here .

U.S. Middle School Educators: Scholarship Opportunity to Attend the GLOBE Weather Short Course at April 2019 NSTA Conference in St. Louis, Missouri, USA

U.S. Middle School Educators: The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) is offering a scholarship (approximately $250 in value) for ten teachers to attend the GLOBE Weather Short Course at the NSTA (National Science Teachers Association) Conference in St. Louis, Missouri, on Saturday, 13 April. Participants will walk away with a comprehensive middle school weather unit grounded in NGSS. (Note that travel expenses will not be covered, so teachers who are not from the St. Louis area will need to plan accordingly.)

Course Description

GLOBE Weather: A New NGSS-Based Middle School Unit – Participants will experience a new, free unit about the science of weather that combines activities, data analysis, modeling, and weather measurements using GLOBE program protocols. The curriculum will help students understand NGSS-based weather concepts (such as the uneven heating of Earth, local and global atmospheric circulation, and air mass formation and collision) as they investigate weather patterns and extreme weather events.

Interested in the scholarship, please apply by March 8, 2019 , using the link below. If more than ten qualified applications are submitted, ten names will be randomly draw on March 11, 2019. You will receive notification whether or not you received the scholarship by March 12th.

*UCAR will pay the registration fees associated with the short course and Saturday’s attendance at NSTA.

To apply, click here .

Questions? Contact Emily Snode-Brenneman at emilysb@ucar.edu.

YLACES Offers Awards, Scholarships, Grants – and Support –

for U.S. Science Education

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. (Are you a member of 4-H or Girl Scouts? YLACES offers grants for equipment to individual chapters, councils, and State organizations.)

For more information on YLACES,

and the specific types of assistance YLACES provides, click here .

U.S. Community: Join the GLOBE Mission EARTH’s Satellites Student Conference 01 May in Toledo, Ohio, USA

U.S. Community (K-16 students and their teachers): Join the GLOBE Mission EARTH Satellites Student Conference on 01 May (9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.). The event will take place at the University of Toledo in Toledo, Ohio, USA. Register by midnight on 12 April to qualify for the $10 student scholarship.

Students will present their research papers in a poster session. Awards will be given to the best research projects in each grade category.

For more information, contact Sara Mierzwiak at sara.mierzwiak@rockets.utoledo.edu

For more information on the GLOBE Mission EARTH campaign, click here .

Tech Update

Photo of a computer keyboard, with one key reading "Update"

The GLOBE Program's website offered several enhancements during the month of February!

Website:

A new language selector tool using Google Translate (for Spanish and Dutch) is now available in the Vis/ADAT section on the website. (Additional languages will be added soon.)
A Google Translate disclaimer was also added to Vis/ADAT.

Looking Forward

The technology team is working on giving GLOBE Observers the ability to create and manage special groups with which they can associate their data. (These groups will be called "GLOBE Teams." See full article above.) In addition, a production version of the API Out should be available for users in March 2019.

Are you 15-30? Global Environment Outlook (GEO) for Youth

is Looking for Peer Reviewers

Are you 15-30 years old? The United Nations’ Global Environment Outlook (GEO) for Youth is looking for reviewers. You don't need to be an expert or a student of environmental science! This report is for youth from different backgrounds and interests, and you can help GEO for Youth understand if the report is interesting, understandable, and right to the point.

GEO for Youth is a project set up by and for youth. The aim is to translate high-level, scientific messages on the state of the environment to youth, define how to create and access sustainable jobs for the future, and identify daily actions that can lead to a sustainable change.

It is meant to stimulate dialogue within the youth community on environmental themes and issues, as well as to educate and provide capacity-building tools to foster active youth commitment for achieving sustainable development. More than 40 young authors from different parts of the world are working on writing the report and they have now finalized a draft that is ready for peer review.

If you are interested, or you would like more information, please email adele.roccato@un.org .

For more information about GEO for Youth , click here .

Opportunities for Teachers

(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: communications@globe.gov . Thank you!)

NASA STEM Educator Webinars

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, “ Explore Space Technology: Space Communication-Speaking in Phases ,” is geared toward educators in grades K-10. On Thursday, 28 March (5:00 p.m. ET), the NASA EPDC at Texas State University is providing a one-hour webinar. Participants will explore STEM technology and discover NASA resources on waves science, phase modulation, binary code, rhythms, signals, and noise. Participants will also review NASA Space Communications and Navigation (ScAN) programs.

U.S. Teachers: Deadline to Apply for Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms Program is 07 March

U.S. Teachers: The deadline to apply for the Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms Program (TGC) is Thursday, 11:59 p.m. ET, 07 March.

The Fulbright TGC is a year-long professional development opportunity for U.S. elementary, middle, and high school teachers to develop skills for preparing students for a competitive global economy. Fulbright TGC equips teachers to bring an international perspective to their schools through targeted training, experience abroad, and global collaboration.

The Fulbright TGC Program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, with funding provided by the U.S. Government and administered by IREX (International Research and Exchanged). It is governed by policies established by the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.

For more information, and to apply for the program, click here .

Opportunities for Students

U.S. Summer STEM Research Opportunities

U.S. Community: Now is the time that summer research programs are announcing their 2019 deadlines . Click here and browse by institution, disciplinary categories, or by geography .

Upcoming 2019 GLOBE Teacher Training Workshops

Upcoming GLOBE teacher training workshops include:

Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA (GLOBE at University of Sioux Falls): 08-09 March (open to all)
Denver, Colorado, USA (MULTI STEM Hands-on Math with Climate Data): 09 March (open to all)
Boulder, Colorado, USA (March Mosquito Madness, Inclusive Science and Science Instruction): 15 March (open to all)
Fort Payne, Alabama, USA (Little River Canyon Center): 20 March (open to all)
Watsonville, California, USA (GLOBE Secondary Teacher Workshop/Elkhorn Slough Reserve): 30-31 March (restricted attendance)
Denver, Colorado, USA (MULTI STEM Train-the-Trainer): 04-06 June (restricted attendance)
Denver, Colorado, USA (MULTI Summer STEM Institute): 05-06 June (restricted attendance)

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!)