March 2020 GLOBE News Brief

GLOBE Welcomes New Partnering Country: Slovak Republic

On 31 December 2019, the Minister of Environment of the Slovak Republic, László Sólymos, and, on behalf of NASA, the Honorable Bridget Brink, U.S. Ambassador (U.S. Embassy Bratislava), signed an agreement to implement The GLOBE Program in the Slovak Republic. Špirála, Network of Environmental Education Non‑governmental Organizations (NGOs), will serve as the Country Coordinator.   “The GLOBE community welcomes the Slovak Republic as its newest participating country,” GLOBE Implementation Office (GIO) Director, Dr. Tony Murphy, said. “As we approach the 25th anniversary of The GLOBE Program, it is wonderful to see countries still excited about becoming participants in this global science and education program.”   “There is a great deal of enthusiasm surrounding the signing of this GLOBE agreement, as the Slovak Republic is bordered by five other countries, all of which are GLOBE countries. Hopes are high for school collaborations across this set of six countries,” Dr. Murphy said. “And so we all say ‘vitajte,’ or welcome, to the newest member of the GLOBE family, the Slovak Republic.”   The Slovak Republic is situated in the eastern part of Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the southwest, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. The Slovak Republic is the 123rd country to participate in The GLOBE Program.

News

GLOBE Implementation Office Hosts First Community Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force Meeting in Boulder, Colorado, USA

From 18-21 February, GIO hosted the first community Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force Meeting in Boulder, Colorado, USA. Community members from Argentina, Columbia, Croatia, Ghana, the Philippines, and the United States attended the event.   Event participants included 18 community members, three GIO staff members (Dr. Tony Murphy, Dr. Julie Malmberg, and Katie Chapman), and two facilitators from the University Corporation for Atmosphere Research (UCAR) Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and the American Geophysical Union (Dr. Carolyn Brinkworth and Dr. Jill Karsten). In addition, for part of the meeting, four UCAR/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Equity and InclusION (UNEION) Lead Learners participated (A.J. Lauer, Dr. Jeremiah Sjoberg, Josh Young, and Kristen Aponte).   The purpose of the meeting was for community members to come together and work on a plan for GLOBE program diversity, equity, and inclusion. The plan will be presented to the GLOBE community at the 25th Anniversary GLOBE Annual Meeting (which will be held in Washington, D.C., 12-16 July). The group will be meeting, via webinar, on a regular basis between now and the annual meeting to help ensure that the variety of voices of GLOBE community members are heard and valued.

As a fun highlight of the meeting, it snowed in Boulder! It was the first time that three attendees had ever seen snow!

2020 GLOBE International Virtual Science Symposium Reports Due 10 March!

Planning on participating in the 2020 GLOBE International Virtual Science Symposium (IVSS)? Reports are due 10 March! The IVSS is an exciting way for students from all over the world to showcase their hard work. With GLOBE, students learn the practices of science through hands-on investigations in their own communities, sparking their curiosity and interest in science. This often leads to inquiries that help solve real-world problems and further understanding of our global environment.   Information and Resources   Your reports are invaluable assets to the GLOBE community, as well as to present and future research, STEM, and scientific endeavors! Need more information on available resources? Check these out:  Instructions (How and What to Submit) Rubrics (By Grade Level) Badges (You Can Earn up to Four, including the Student Research Badge) Resources (To Help with Your Success in Completing Your Report) FAQs (Have a Question – Find an Answer)   All students who submit a project to the IVSS will receive feedback from judges and virtual badges on their school page. In addition, each project that receives a four-star student research badge, plus a minimum of two optional badges, will be eligible for a drawing to receive a stipend to attend the 25th Anniversary GLOBE Annual Meeting in Washington, DC, USA, in July 2020. (NOTE: Only students selected through the IVSS and the U.S. Student Research Symposia will be able to attend the 25th Anniversary GLOBE Annual Meeting!   If you have a question or need assistance, send an email to: ivss@globe.gov ! GIO is here to help! Volunteer Judges Needed! Judging Webinar: 30 March GIO is looking for volunteers to help score projects for the 2020 IVSS. Volunteer judges are STEM professionals, teachers, graduate students, and other interested community members who will assist in scoring student projects. (Judging consists of filling out a Google form with your scores and feedback; and it takes approximately 15-30 minutes to assess each project.)   To sign up to judge, click here . GIO will begin contacting judges in March.   There will be an informational judging webinar (which will be recorded) on 30 March, at 8:00 a.m. EST (1:00 p.m. UTC). Judging will take place between 30 March and 06 April 2020. To join at the time of the webinar, click here .   Timeline/Important Dates: Informational webinar: 30 October 2019 (To view the recorded webinar, click here.) Reports accepted: through 10 March Judging webinar: 30 March (12:00 p.m. EDT) Judging period: 30 March – 06 April Feedback and virtual badges shared: 22 April Drawing for stipends: 22 April   For more information on the IVSS, click here .

25th Anniversary GLOBE Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., USA: Presentation Applications Due 25 March

Presentation applications are now being accepted for the 25th Anniversary GLOBE Annual Meeting (Washington, D.C., USA; 12-16 July). There will be a poster session on 13 July for students and community members. There will also be oral presentations for community members on 14 July and 16 July.   If you would like to give an oral or poster presentation, please submit the form for each one. (Note: Students will be presenting their research only at the poster session, and only IVSS or SRS winners will be at the meeting this year. Please do not submit for an oral presentation for students.)

Timeline: Presentation applications due: 25 March  Presentation acceptance notification: 08 April Presenter confirmation of time and attendance at the Annual Meeting: 24 April   For more information, and the link to the form, click here.   Book Your Room Now!   The meeting and room block are located at The Mayflower Hotel, Autograph Collection. The standard non-smoking room rate with group discount is $225 USD per night. This rate remains the same during the dates of our annual meeting for one to four people per room. The deadline to reserve a room on this room block is: 18 June, 6:00 p.m. EDT.  Rooms in this block are limited, so please make your reservations early. The discounted rooms that are part of this block may run out prior to the room block deadline.   Deadline to register for the meeting is 26 June! To keep up with meeting information, click here . If you have questions about the meeting, please contact: meetings@globe.gov .

March GLOBE Urban Heat Island Effect (UHIE)-Surface Temperature Student Research Campaign Has Begun!

The March UHIE-Surface Temperature Field Campaign is on! 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. Czajkowski (“Dr. C,” Director of the Geographic Information Science and Applied Geographics Lab at the University of Toledo, Ohio, USA) can use to study the urban heat island effect.   The campaign – which now takes place in October, December, and March – is focused on looking at the impact urbanization has on the Earth’s surface temperature and how the surface temperature changes the dynamics of the Earth’s atmosphere.   December 2019 UHIE-Surface Temperature Field Campaign Wrap-up   The December 2019 GLOBE UHIE-Surface Temperature Field Campaign wrapped up with 4,248 observations submitted from 126 schools. Over 50 percent of the data was submitted in the final two weeks of December.   In a recent “wrap-up” blog, Dr. C. noted that this is a 150‑percent increase from last year. “There are focus areas with many schools participating, including the Great Lakes, Croatia, Saudi Arabia and Oman, and Taiwan. And, there are first-time participants from Brazil, South Korea, and India,” he said. “There is a lot of data that could be used in student research projects.”   To read the blog, click here . To learn more about the campaign, click here .

Coming in April: Trees Challenge 2020: Make Every Tree Count

In order to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day and the 25th anniversary of The GLOBE Program, GLOBE Observer is hosting a month-long citizen science challenge in April 2020. Volunteers are invited to measure the height of as many different trees as possible using the Trees Tool in the GLOBE Observer App. The individuals, schools, and registered teams that measure the most trees will be recognized as top observers in the challenge.   Miss the 19 February training webinar? The webinar was recorded, so you can access an information package that includes information about trees and NASA science, connections to local tree science relevant to your community, ideas about how to manage a Trees Challenge, learning activities, and other resources.    To access the webinar, click here . To learn more about this challenge , click here . To learn more about GLOBE Observer, click here .

Join the GLOBE Water Bodies Intensive Observation Period (23 March-17 April) Informational Webinar on 03 March

Thanks to the success of the 2019 Water Bodies Intensive Observation Period (IOP), the GLOBE community is now hosting this event twice a year. The next IOP will run from 23 March through 17 April. All GLOBE countries are invited to join in this data collection and research endeavor.   During the IOP, participants will identify a water body close to their schools or towns, and collect and enter data using GLOBE hydrosphere protocol bundles: Water Quality Bundle , Rivers and Lakes Bundle , and Oceans Bundle .   Schools that participate can earn virtual badges, and have them displayed on their school profile. Regional Coordination Offices will issue a GLOBE certificate of appreciation to each school that participates in the IOP.

Informational “Pre-IOP” Webinar There will be an informational, pre-IOP, webinar on Tuesday, 03 March, at 10:00 a.m. EST (3:00 p.m. UTC). The webinar will include: an overview of the IOP by GLOBE Africa Regional Coordination Office Director Mark Brettenny; a discussion of the IOP protocols by Dr. Francis Wasswa Nsubugwa; a discussion of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and IOP alignment with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by Killian Christ; a discussion of IVSS research possibilities by Dr. Becky Boger; and a discussion regarding increasing participation and encouraging collaboration by Rogeline Brettenny. At the time of the webinar, click here to join. New Water Bodies Discussion Forum The Water Bodies Discussion Forum is open! The forum can be used by teachers to post about student research; and to share results, photos, and stories of their water bodies. This is also a great tool for the organizing team to reach out and contact the community – including sharing “invites” for webinars, encouraging data entry, and so on.   Join today! Simply: sign in to globe.gov; go to the “Water Bodies Collaboration Community” (https://www.globe.gov/web/water-bodies/overview/community); and click “Join Community”   To learn more about the Water Bodies IOP, including how to participate, click here . For additional information, check with your Regional Coordination Office or contact Mark Brettenny at: mark@globe.africa.org .

Top Trees Around the GLOBE Campaign Data Champions and Land Cover IOP Results for January

The GLOBE Program would like to congratulate the top most active Trees Around the GLOBE Student Research Campaign participants taking at least 10 measurements for tree height, land cover, and greenings measurements in January.    Tree Height (1,551 Total Measurements/Observations from 710 locations): Bielecki, from Poland, with 116 submitted measurements M. Parashar, from India, with 114 submitted measurements Clemente, from the Philippines, with 67 submitted measurements E. Al-Rashedi, from Saudi Arabia, with 58 submitted measurements Veseljic, from Croatia, with 49 submitted measurements V. Badai, from Ukraine, with 27 submitted measurements Vasylchyshyn, from Ukraine, with 24 submitted measurements Prieto, from Argentina, with 14 submitted measurements O. Gupta, from the United States, with 11 submitted measurements   Land Cover (400 Total Measurements/Observations from 229 locations): O. Gupta, from the United States, with 101 submitted measurements Prieto, from Argentina, with 21 submitted measurements Kojundžić, from Croatia, with 10 submitted measurements   Greenings (19 Total Measurements/Observations from 14 locations): M. Algarni, from Saudi Arabia, with 10 submitted measurements   January 2020 Land Cover IOP Results – and Data Champion   During the January IOP, 400 land cover measurements came in from 229 location in 10 countries around the world. The champion for the January 2020 Land Cover IOP is: O. Gupta from the United States, with 101 submitted measurements! “Thank you all for the amazing amount of data submitted to the GLOBE database, and for helping us all understand the many local environments,” said Brian Campbell, Trees Around the GLOBE Student Research Campaign Lead. To see the maps representing the top student/campaign-based measurement countries for each of the three measurements, and for the January IOP, click here .

Next Trees Around the GLOBE Intensive Observation Period Takes Place in April! Focus: Tree Height

The next Trees Around the GLOBE Student Research Campaign IOP will take place throughout the month of April. The focus will be on Tree Height.   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 is collected during an IOP will provide other GLOBE students, scientists, researchers, and educators large amounts of concentrated data over a short period of time. This can also be referred to as "Data Density." Ground-based data density can serve as way to help validate data coming from satellites and airborne instruments.   During the April IOP, GLOBE students will: take measurements of tree height and one additional protocol, from the suite of campaign protocols found at https://www.globe.gov/web/trees-around-the-globe/overview/start-taking-measurements;  take measurements at least three times per week for one month at the same study site for both protocols. (The tree height measurements should be of the same trees each time for each site.) Each participant will receive a Virtual Tree Height IOP Badge. The GLOBE school with the most collected tree height data and additional protocol data will receive:  a virtual one-on-one Question-and-Answer Session with a NASA scientist, researcher, or engineer; and  a Virtual Tree Height Winner Badge. The major goal of the IOPs is to have students compare their measurements seasonally and with other GLOBE school measurements from around the world.     To learn more about Trees Around the GLOBE IOPs, click here .

Join the 17 March Trees Around the GLOBE Campaign Webinar “The Use of LiDAR to Derive Tree Heights and Other Structural Vegetation Characteristics”

The Trees Around the GLOBE Student Research Campaign webinar “The Use of LiDAR to Derive Tree Heights and Other Structural Vegetation Characteristics: Applications for Mapping Habitats in a Post-fire Environment,” will be held on Tuesday, 17 March, at 2:00 p.m. EST (6:00 p.m. UTC).    During this webinar, participants will explore results from a study over the Angeles National Forest, where canopy height derived from Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), along with airborne imaging spectrometer data, was used to map forest habitats in a post-fire environment. LiDAR is an optical remote sensing technology that is helpful to measure forest biophysical and structural characteristics. Quantifying the vertical distribution of vegetation using LiDAR has many potential applications in forest management and biodiversity conservation. Some of the tree structural attributes derived from LiDAR, including tree height, crown diameter, and canopy density, can help characterize vegetation and map species habitat. To join at the time of the webinar,  click here . To learn more about the Trees Around the GLOBE Student Research Campaign, click here .

Participating in the Trees Around the GLOBE Campaign? Read New Blog on How to Leverage Your Tree Research

Participating in the Trees Around the GLOBE Student Research Campaign? A new blog, “Tree Campus K-12: U.S. Trees Around the GLOBE Student Research Campaign Members Can Leverage Their Tree Research,” written by Brian Campbell, NASA Senior Earth Science Education Specialist, offers invaluable assistance!   “The Trees Around the GLOBE Student Research Campaign has found a way for campaign-participating schools to leverage their tree height and tree-related activities to earn some more awesome recognition,” Campbell said in the blog. “If participating campaign members are collecting tree height data or using tree-related measurements and observations from GLOBE for student-driven research projects and citizen science efforts, member schools are already well on the way to earning Tree Campus K-12 recognition for the current school year.”   “For all you Trees Around the GLOBE Student Research Campaign members, this program is a great way to maximize all your tree height and tree research efforts and gain recognition for your classroom, school, and community. Through meeting the four program goals and applying for Tree Campus K-12 recognition, you can: earn recognition for your school's tree-focused GLOBE activities; and fit your student research into a simple framework, combined with great resources, and gain national recognition to guide and celebrate your efforts to bring the benefits of trees to life.” To read the blog, click here . To learn more about the Trees Around the GLOBE Student Research Campaign, click here .

Join the 10 March GLOBE Mission Mosquito Webinar: “Better Together: Mosquito Habitat Mapper – Land Cover”

The GLOBE Mission Mosquito webinar “Better Together: Mosquito Habitat Mapper – Land Cover,” will be held on Tuesday, 10 March, at 2:00 p.m. EST (7:00 p.m. UTC). Along with temperature and precipitation, land cover data is proving to be an important environmental parameter in disease risk modeling. Join Peder Nelson (Geography and Remote Sensing Instructor, Oregon State University) and Dr. Rusty Low (GLOBE Mission Mosquito Science Lead), who will share how and why collecting both land cover and Mosquito Habitat Mapper observations are a nice pairing of information.  To register for the webinar, click here . To learn more about GLOBE Mission Mosquito, click here .

Join GLOBE Mission EARTH Webinar #3 on 03 March: “How Does Our Water’s Health Relate to Our Watershed’s Health?”

Bay Watershed Education and Training (BWET) and GLOBE Mission EARTH (GME) will host their third webinar, “How Does Our Water’s Health Relate to Our Watershed’s Health?” in support of the BWET/GME Water Quality Training. The webinar will be held on 03 March at 8:00 p.m. EST.   Dr. Kevin Czajkowski (Dr. C., from the University of Toledo, Ohio, USA), who is leading the training, will kick-off the webinar by looking at GLOBE hydrology data. Abbie Smith (Hilltop Junior and Senior High School, West Unity, Ohio) will talk about her experience of integrating GLOBE in her classroom. Janet Struble (University of Toledo) will showcase her resources for teachers and students on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) websites.   To register for the webinar, click here . To learn more about GLOBE Mission EARTH, click here .

March U.S. Regional Student Research Symposia (SRS) Update

U.S. GLOBE Teachers: Are you participating in the 2020 U.S. Regional Student Research Symposia (SRS), where students in 5th to 12th grade from across the country come together at one of six face-to-face regional events in order to share the results of field investigations using GLOBE protocols or data from the GLOBE database? If so, check out the following informational opportunities!

Teacher Watercooler   Join the GLOBE Professional Learning Community (PLC) and hear how other GLOBE teachers use GLOBE with their students during the Teacher Watercooler on 03 March (Tuesday, 6:00 p.m. EST). During the watercooler, Jayme Margolin Snieder, a GLOBE teacher at Westview Middle School in Longmont, Colorado, USA, will discuss her experience at the Southwest SRS with a focus on the research poster and coaching students on how to give a scientific presentation.   To register for the watercooler, click here . U.S. SRS Webinar: Using the GLOBE Visualization System   On Wednesday, 04 March (4:00 p.m. EST) webinar participants will learn how to use the GLOBE Visualization System in order to view and interact with data measured across the world. Participants will find out how to map, graph, filter, and export data. Graphs from the Visualization System can be exported and used on your GLOBE research poster.   To register for the webinar, click here .   2020 United States Regional SRS Schedule   The schedule for the 2020 U.S. SRS:  Northwest Region: 23-24 April (Fairbanks, Alaska) Pacific Region: 01-02 May (Moss Landing, California) Midwest Region: 01-03 May (Madison, Wisconsin) Southeast Region: 07-09 May (Little Rock, Arkansas) Northeast/Mid-Atlantic Region: 08-10 May (Avon, Connecticut) Southwest: 15-17 May (Austin, Texas)

Determining the best way to analyze your GLOBE data can be daunting. What type of graph is best? How many graphs? What statistics? GLOBE Partner Rich Wagner (Metropolitan State University of Denver; Denver, Colorado, USA) has great advice in a recorded webinar, which also gives examples from SRS projects and comments from reviewers. To view the webinar, click here . For more information on the U.S. SRS, click here .

The GLOBE Zika Education and Prevention Project Update

Congratulations to all the countries participating in the GLOBE Zika and Education and Prevention Project! By mid-February, there were 274 workshops, almost 100,000 mosquito entries, and over 130,000 total observations. Countries participating in the project are busy conducting, and planning, events. A few examples from each region include:  Africa Region – Countries are submitting proposals for Local Mosquito Workshops (LMWs). In March, Country Coordinators will be attending the Zika Project Action and Impact Meeting in South Africa in order to share their activities and best practices and to discuss their plans for the rest of the project and beyond. The Francophone and Anglophone regional public health officials, as well as other African public health officials, will be attending in order to discuss their activities and engagement with project countries. Countries are also working to get all of the workshop data entered into the database so that the tracking reflects the hard work going on in the region. Asia and Pacific Region – In January, after the Zika Project Action and Impact Meeting, which was held in Hyderabad, India, countries conducted several LMWs. Country Coordinators are planning to hold many more in the coming months. The latest one, held in the Philippines, had an estimated 100 participants in attendance. Latin America and Caribbean Region – Countries are busy planning many Country Mosquito Trainings (CMTs) and LMWs, including two more “Triple Frontier” CMTs. In their planning, all of the countries are trying to reach out to new communities. Some countries are planning mosquito data collection challenges and Intensive Observation Periods (IOPs) involving several schools.   To learn more about the GLOBE Zika Education and Prevention Project, click here .

Recent U.S. Department of State Blog, “Crowd-sourcing Diplomacy” Highlights Work of GLOBE and the GLOBE Zika Education and Prevention Project

Rio, Brazil. Using the skills they worked on during the 2018 GLOBE virtual exchange pilot, the Escola Municipal Minas Gerais Science Club performed plays, put on demonstrations, and even designed board games to promote awareness of mosquito-borne diseases and their prevention. With the support of the Collaboratory, the Minas Gerais Science Club continued serving their community with similar outreach activities throughout 2019.

A recent blog by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, “Crowd-sourcing Diplomacy” (21 January 2020) highlights the work of The GLOBE Program and the GLOBE Zika and Education Prevention Project to empower children around the world to combat disease outbreaks.   “Middle school children may seem like unlikely ambassadors, and even less likely global health advocates. However, an international, collaborative interagency initiative, called the Zika Education and Prevention Project, is empowering school children around the world to combat disease outbreaks. Using crowd-sourcing, citizen science and new technologies, GLOBE, or the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment Program, is expanding our idea of science and diplomacy. In 2018, the Collaboratory partnered with GLOBE to connect student citizen scientists in four countries.”   “The Collaboratory partnered with GLOBE to build additional public diplomacy elements into the program in alignment with the Zika Education and Prevention Project, by virtually connecting schools in Paraguay, Brazil, Thailand, and Kenya. Zika is a virus passed through mosquitoes that currently does not have a vaccine or a cure. It can cause brain defects and has been linked to death in unborn babies. While there are no current Zika outbreaks reported in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the mosquitoes that carry the disease are known to live there. There are almost one hundred countries that have reported current or past transmission of Zika. The mosquito spreads other diseases such as malaria, dengue, West Nile, yellow fever, and chikungunya and kills more people than any other creature in the world.”   “The GLOBE Virtual Exchange Program allowed students to communicate with each other about Zika and their research on mosquito control. They used simple scientific tools to test standing water for mosquito larvae, and then used a smartphone app to map and eliminate mosquito habitat. The students shared their results, including photos and videos through social media and video chat. The Collaboratory brought in expert curators and designers to present to the students about mosquito-borne diseases, science communication and public health. The students also received training in health, technology, environmental surveillance and disease outbreak prevention.”   “In addition to the virtual exchange, some students were able to attend the GLOBE Learning Expedition in Ireland in July 2018, which brought together more than 400 participants from 40 countries to share research, engage in field studies and explore educational and cultural activities. There, the virtual exchange students were able to finally meet in person, although the feeling was that they already knew each other well via WhatsApp and Skype.”   "At the conclusion of the pilot, the Collaboratory developed the GLOBE Virtual Exchange Toolkit in collaboration with The GLOBE Program. GLOBE reviewed and provided input to the toolkit and created a webpage on the toolkit as well as other resources. This document has detailed instructions for recreating the program independently. The Collaboratory also gave two separate follow-on grants to the schools in Kenya and Brazil, both of which are creating science communication outreach about GLOBE and about Zika awareness and prevention in their communities. Currently, GLOBE schools are testing out the virtual tool kits and creating their own virtual exchanges.”   “The GLOBE Zika virtual exchange connected multiple federal agencies and classrooms across the world. Frequent travelers may understand that once abroad, we are all ambassadors for our home countries. As such, diplomatic relations (and science communication!) can be strengthened by increasing our global connections and exchanges.”   To read the blog, click here . To learn more about Virtual Exchanges and the GLOBE Virtual Exchange Toolkit, which offers the opportunity for GLOBE community members to engage with other community members on projects that promote STEM skills, mutual understanding, and collaboration, click here .

Sample Virtual Exchange using video conference.

Analysis-ready GLOBE Datasets Available on the GLOBE Observer Website

GLOBE Community: Did you know that there are now curated, analysis-ready GLOBE datasets posted on the GLOBE Observer website? There are! These are subsets of GLOBE data that have been post-processed by a scientist on the GLOBE team, which are are being made available for broader use by the community.  To access the “clouds” data, click here . To access the “dust” data, click here . To access “eclipse” data, click here .

Explore Zika Zine – Then Make Your Own Zika Zine Comic!

The Zika Zine is an outreach effort of the GLOBE Zika Education and Prevention Project (a GIO initiative, in partnership with the U.S. Department of State).   The fictional mosquitoes in the Zika Zine do the same sorts of things as real Aedes mosquitoes, which carry the Zika virus. Read the Zine to learn how Aedes mosquitoes live, and you’ll discover how to reduce the number of places where mosquitoes can survive. You’ll also find out how citizen scientists are helping NASA by documenting mosquito habitats with GLOBE Observer.   This project aims to limit the spread of Zika virus and other vector-borne diseases by eliminating mosquito breeding sites at the larval stage in Zika-affected regions. Zika Zine is available to download in ten different languages.       To download Zika Zine, click here . To learn more about the GLOBE Zika Education and Prevention Project, click here . To learn more about GLOBE Observer, click here . Create Your Own Zika Zine Comic!   Teachers: After your students have read the Zika Zine, download How to Draw Wanda in 9 Easy Steps and Make Your Own Zika Zine Comic and have them create their own mosquito pictures and stories.

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 Solar System and Beyond: Investigating Strange New Worlds ,” is geared toward educators in grades 6-12. On Thursday, 12 March (3:00 p.m. PT), the NASA EPDC at Texas State University will present a one-hour webinar. Participants will learn to use real NASA data to explore how telescopes, especially the Kepler, Spitzer, and TESS space telescopes, search for planets orbiting stars beyond our Sun. The NASA STEM activities presented investigate how to use telescope data and Kepler’s Third Law to interpret data and to construct graphs to determine if a planet beyond our solar system is Earth-like.

U.S. Teachers: Deadline to Apply for Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms Program is 18 March

U.S. Teachers: The deadline to apply for the Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms (TGC) Program is Wednesday, 11:59 p.m. EST, 18 March.   The Fulbright TGC Program is a yearlong professional learning opportunity and short-term exchange for elementary, middle, and high school educators from the United States to develop skills to prepare students for a competitive global economy. Fulbright TGC equips educators 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 2020 deadlines. Click here and browse by institution, disciplinary categories, or by geography.

Upcoming 2020 GLOBE Teacher Training Workshops

Some of the upcoming GLOBE teacher training workshops include:  Central Business District, Nigeria (Advocacy and Sensitization Desk Officers Workshop on GLOBE Nigeria Project): 05-07 March (restricted attendance) Manizales, Colombia (CALDAS): 12 March (open to all) Watsonville, California, USA (GLOBE Workshop, Grades 6-12): 28-29 March (open to all) Cartagena, Colombia (GLOBE Zika and Education Prevention Project LMW): 02 April (open to all) Cartagena, Colombia (Bolivar): 03 April (open to all) 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!)

Anniversaries

Congratulations to the twelve GLOBE countries celebrating anniversaries of successful GLOBE implementation during the month of March:   Belgium – 25 years 24 March 1995   Egypt – 25 years 20 March 1995   Finland – 25 years 23 March 1995   Ghana – 22 years 20 March 1998   Hungary – 21 years 10 March 1999   Israel – 25 years 24 March 1995   Kazakhstan – 25 years 27 March 1995   Liechtenstein – 17 years 26 March 2003   Morocco – 24 years 27 March 1996   Nepal – 20 years 03 March 2000   Panama – 20 years 02 March 2000   Senegal – 25 years 17 March 1995

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