Oct 2014 - Letter to the Community

Letter to the Community

October 2014

Hello Everyone,

Change is something that happens all around us, every day. Some changes are very slight while others are more pronounced. Where I live in the Northern Hemisphere we are undergoing our annual seasonal change to fall (autumn). This photo of me checking the precipitation amount in my rain gauge was taken two weeks ago. Now the leaves on the trees are bright reds and yellows and I'm checking phenology with my leaf color chart. Soon it will snow and I will measure that as well. Seasons change here and so does my appreciation of the beauty and complexity of the Earth system.

Dr. Tony Murphy

I want to encourage students to spend more time outdoors observing, recording and becoming alert to the world around them. With a focus on Earth System Science, GLOBE encourages students to learn more about Earth's physical, chemical, biological and human interactions as a basis for understanding the world in which they live. And best of all, GLOBE gives students permission to explore!
 
In addition to ground based data collection, Earth imagery and data collected by orbiting spacecraft can also be used to explain the context and extent of Earth processes and phenomena. GLOBE's new partnership with NASA Earth Missions is a new and exciting component of GLOBE, which I want to alert you to. Learn more about the opportunities for GLOBE students to participate in NASA satellite missions on the satellite partnerships webpage.
 
Listed below are new opportunities for you to expand your involvement with GLOBE.

TEACHERS:

GLOBE Student Art Competition

Thanks to all teachers who encouraged their students to enter the GLOBE Student Art Competition to select artwork to illustrate the 2015 GLOBE calendar. Due to technical difficulties with our email server, some students were unable to email their entries. For this reason, we extended the competition through today, 24 October 2014. If you tried to email an entry to science@globe.gov and received an error message, please try again.

Distinguished Educator Fellowship 

I also want to announce the exciting new GLOBE Distinguished Educator Fellowship. This fellowship harnesses the expertise and good work that teachers do in the Program and offers an opportunity to share that with the larger community. For this first year, we are asking teachers to team with scientists in the development of educational materials. More information about this opportunity can be found here.

SCIENTISTS:

GLOBE International Scientist Network

As a GLOBE scientist, you probably have colleagues in many places around the world that you work with on various projects. I encourage you to inform them of the work that the Program does and to urge them to join the GLOBE International Science Network (GISN). Find more information on the GISN webpage.

COUNTRY COORDINATORS/REGIONAL OFFICE COORDINATORS:

2015 Regional Meetings

Regional meeting dates are being finalized and you should be hearing about your respective meetings soon. Remember that to attend a meeting, you are required to complete two items: (1) the GLOBE Annual Partner Survey, and (2) your annual report based on the template that will be sent to you.

U.S. PARTNERS:

Online Discussions

Earlier this month, the US Partner Forum met to discuss issues relevant to the US GLOBE Community. Members of the Forum will join Jen Bourgeault's watercooler soon to discuss the forum. In addition, over the next several weeks, the U.S. Partners will gather at the virtual watercooler to discuss a STEM/STEAM graphic and a tiered Train-the-Trainers (TTT) model, and to hear from US Partner Forum representatives. Be on the lookout for a Ready Talk invitation in your inbox, for details on how to join the conversation.

North America Regional Meeting

Also, I want to inform you that the next North America Regional Meeting (NARM) will be held in conjunction with the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) national conference in March. The NARM will be held on Wednesday, 11 March. Just as at last year's meeting, we are hoping to have a Train-the-Trainers event before the NARM on 9 and 10 March. More details on both events to follow.

In closing, I am pleased to tell you that the 2015 GLOBE Annual Meeting will be held in Los Angeles, California, USA, from 20-24 July.

GIO will be supporting Henry Ortiz, LA Unified School District GLOBE Partner, who is hosting the meeting. Henry is gathering together a group of other partners in the area to assist in the meeting. As with the previous two Annual Partner Meetings, there will be time set aside for students to present their GLOBE research.

Often when you hear the name LA, you think movies, celebrities and Hollywood, but I want to share some other interesting facts about LA with you.

  • LA has the highest solid waste recycle rate of any large American city - 62%;
  • 80% of LA's trash trucks and street sweepers run on natural gas, with the goal of reaching 100% by the end of this year;
  • LA is proactively moving to reduce the use of residential air-conditioners with the One Million Trees LA program. 300,000 shade trees have already been planted throughout the city. "Trees for a Green LA" gives free shade trees to any resident who wants to plant them; and
  • Only recycled water is used to irrigate LA's numerous area golf courses and regional farming operations.


Los Angeles spans a widely diverse geographic area. Primarily a desert basin, the area is surrounded by the San Gabriel Mountain range and divided by the Santa Monica Mountains. Los Angeles County has 75 miles of coastline and altitudes ranging from three meters (nine feet) below sea level to over 3,000 meters (10,080 feet) above sea level.

As plans for the meeting unfold, GIO will inform you of the details. I hope that you will save these dates on your calendar and join the community in LA for what promises to be an exciting and productive annual meeting.

 Sincerely,

 

Tony Murphy signature
 
 
 
 
Dr. Tony Murphy  
Director, GLOBE Implementation Office
tmurphy@ucar.edu