May

Quarterly Message to the Community

Hello everyone.

Many of you experience some form of seasonal change and I hope you are all enjoying these changes that are occurring right now, wherever you live. Here in Colorado the weather can't seem to make up its mind. Tulips are coming up one day then buried in snow the next. One thing I am very much enjoying is the longer days that spring brings -- more daylight to keep me and others outdoors even longer to enjoy the natural beauty of this wonderful terrain. I hope you all enjoyed Earth Day thanks to those who reported land cover data on Earth Day as part of the Trees around the GLOBE Campaign. Here at the GIO we would love to hear from you about what you did for Earth Day. Just send us an email with photos to communications@globe.gov. 
 
The first quarter of 2019 has been extremely productive for GLOBE worldwide. Here are some, but by no means all, of the activities and efforts that have taken place or are currently taking place internationally:

• The Annual Survey. Our teachers and partners worldwide completed the annual GLOBE survey in early February and results are being analyzed. This survey has become even more important as it helps us determine how well we, as a community, are doing in each of the main areas -- education, science, community -- of the current 2018 to 2023 GLOBE Strategic Plan. Measurement Campaigns. GLOBE Mission Mosquito, Urban Heat Island Effect-Surface Temperature and Trees around the GLOBE. Campaigns have been getting a lot of traction around the world and I want to thank you for being a part of those Campaigns.

 
As for news from the regions here's a brief report on selected activities in the first quarter of 2019: 

• Africa: I attended the annual Regional Meeting in Madagascar earlier this month with 13 country coordinators from the region. For three days we discussed various topics including building capacity alignment of the African implementation of the program with the GLOBE's strategic plan and increasing engagement in the Africa region during a wonderful GLE school visit to Lycee Andriana Mpoinimerina. We heard from the teachers involved in the program and some of the students who were using GLOBE in their science research projects.
• Asia and Pacific: GLOBE Asia and Pacific held mosquito and protocols workshops in the Maldives and also a large student orientation in the Philippines. Its Regional Meeting will occur in May in the Republic of Korea with a follow up two-day training for teachers.
• Europe and Eurasia...elected a new Governance Board at the Board's annual meeting. The 2019 Phenology Campaign is still growing. More than 160 schools from 13 countries have already registered and more than 100 schools wanted to cooperate with other schools. 
• Latin America and the Caribbean. The Regional Coordination Office supported teacher training in April in Santiago de Chile and will support a number of trainings in Colombia, Paraguay, and Argentina over the coming months.
• Near East North Africa: a special Earth Day GLOBE anniversary celebration took place in Jordan with students from Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, and Pakistan presenting GLOBE research projects. 
• North America. The series of six regional student research symposia have begun in the USA starting with the Midwest meeting, which took place earlier this month in Iowa. This is just a very small sample of the great work being done in the regions. 

The use of the GLOBE Observer app continues to grow. The three GLOBE regions; Africa, Asia and Pacific, and Latin America and Caribbean, involved in the Zika Education and Prevention Project have organized more than 100 country mosquito trainings, trained over 2,400 individuals, and have entered -- using the Mosquito Habitat Mapper -- more than 76,000 measurements to the database
 
In my first video letter. I invited you to send questions to me to answer here. The first came from Estonia asking: "IS it too late to submit a research project to the International virtual science symposium?" The answer is yes. The submission date for the ISIS has passed. 120 judges will shortly begin assessing the 237 projects. The drawing to provide stipends to qualified teams to defray the costs of attending the annual meeting in Detroit will take place on the 17th of May.This truly is a worldwide community effort and I want to thank all involved: the GIO staff, SSAI, Regional Officers, Country Coordinators and US Partners, the judges and, especially, teachers who encourage and engage students in doing real science.  A huge thank you! 
 
The 2019 Annual meeting in Detroit Michigan:

There are three things you need to know: One, the last day to register at the reduced early-bird rate is May 15. After May 15 each individual registration fee will increase by 100 US dollars. Number two: if you are bringing students there is only space for exactly 60 students in the student experience. So be sure to register your students early to reserve their space. And three: poster abstracts from students and the community are due the 20th of May. At the meeting, new ideas and initiatives will be shared. A very important one is the new GLOBE trainer certification process. Time will be devoted to learning about the NASA-funded US GLOBE partner projects. And for the first time, we are asking participants to give back to our host community through an afternoon of service. 
 
Well everyone... thanks for listening! Until my next address, don't just read about science, DO science and DO GLOBE!

Sincerely,