The current COVID-19 pandemic has shifted the way students learn, as many students around the world are engaging in hybrid models of instruction, a combination of classroom and at home (virtual) learning. We understand that this does play a vital role in how students participate in GLOBE data collection and student research.
With all this said, beginning in September 2020, Year 3 of the Trees Around the GLOBE Student Research Campaign will commence. With participants from over fifty countries, the campaign includes students, educators, citizen scientists, subject matter experts, and scientists from six continents. The campaign focuses on tree height, with a close relationship with land cover, greenings, and carbon cycle. For the last two years, there have been tens of thousands of campaign-related measurements and observations entered into the GLOBE database for the use of student and professional researchers.
As you know, one of the major focuses for this campaign is to have students take tree height, land cover, greenings, and carbon cycle and use this data to develop research projects that focus on the environment in their local areas in order to understand the larger picture of how our planet is changing over time.
The Trees Around the GLOBE Student Research Campaign will focus on a Thematic Overarching Research Question (TORQ): Why are or why aren't there trees in my local environment? This question will be at the center of the student research, all of which can be directed to the GLOBE International Virtual Science Symposium (IVSS).
The campaign website has gone through a restructuring and we would like to point out the major sections of the newly improved webpages:
Trees Around the GLOBE Student Research Campaign Landing Page
Learn some basics about the campaign, how to join, and check out the new Year 3 Scaffold Structure
Start Taking Measurements
Learn about the major campaign protocols and how to do them.
Learn about the new multi-campaign collaboration efforts with the European Phenology Campaign, Mission Mosquito, and the Urban Heat Island Effect – Surface Temperature Field Campaign.
Getting Started with Your Student Research and Accessing GLOBE Protocol Data
Learn more about the Thematic Overarching Research Question and how you can help answer this question by using the Exploratory Research Questions as a guide to help answer the TORQ.
Learn about how to access the GLOBE protocol data on the GLOBE Visualization System through several “How-To” videos and how to access the data via the GLOBE Advanced Data Access Tool.
Learn about the campaign’s associated NASA Missions and campaigns
Activities, Resources, Online Tools, Blogs, and Discussion
Learn about some new hands-on activities, resources, and complementary videos that will assist in understanding the real-world science of the GLOBE data collected and observed.
Learn about some of the most important online tools that you can use to compare GLOBE data, create data maps, visualize satellite, and enable data collection.
Learn about current campaign information with campaign blogs.
Be part of the Trees Around the GLOBE Student Research Campaign Discussion Forum.
Webinars
Our first Year 3 webinar is happening soon: Tuesday, September 15, 2020 @ 2:00pm EDT (6:00pm UTC): Kicking Off Year 3 With Tree Height Research Using Satellites and Ground-Based Instruments: The importance of tree and vegetation research to help us understand our changing planet. Join us for the Trees Around the GLOBE Student Research Campaign with the first of our featured science talks for Year 3 of the campaign. Dr. Nancy Glenn, a researcher from Boise State University, the University of New South Wales and an ICESat-2 Mission Early Adopter will discuss her research with trees and tree canopy height, reinforcing the importance of research for students, and why tree height and land cover are important to helping us understand our planet. Dr. Glenn will also discuss the use of satellite data from ICESat-2 and Landsat, showcasing how this satellite data can be used in research.
On behalf of our campaign team, Peder Nelson, Dorian Janney, Peter Falcon, Dr. Christopher Shuman, and myself, we hope you will continue to be part of the Trees Around the GLOBE Student Research Campaign. Please stay safe and healthy and remember to adhere to all local and national rules and regulations.
