July

GLOBE Zika Education and Prevention Project Completes Three Successful Regional Mosquito Trainings

In June, the third of three Regional Mosquito Trainings (RMTs) took place as part of the GLOBE Zika Education and Prevention project (funded through support from the U.S. Department of State). More than 100 representatives from 49 GLOBE countries attended the RMTs:

• Asia and Pacific Region RMT (10-11 May), which took place in Hanoi, Vietnam, with more than 35 participants from 15 GLOBE countries 
• Latin America and Caribbean Region RMT (22-32 May), which took place in Lima, Peru, with more than 35 participants from 17 GLOBE countries 
• Africa Region RMT (07-08 June), which took place in Lomé, Togo, with more than 40 participants from 17 GLOBE countries.  

The GLOBE Implementation Office (GIO) would like to thank Desh Bandhu (Coordinator, Asia and Pacific Regional Coordination Office), Mariana Savino (Coordinator, Latin America and Caribbean Regional Coordination Office), and Mark Brettenny (Coordinator, Africa Regional Coordination Office), and their teams, for hosting the trainings. GIO would also like to thank GLOBE Trainers Kris Jaroensutasinee, Mullica Jaroensutasinee, Rusty Low, and Dorian Janey for sharing their expertise with the participants. 

RMT participants included GLOBE Country Coordinators, trainers, and public health officials. Participants were trained as GLOBE master trainers on the use of the GLOBE Observer Mosquito Habitat Mapper mobile phone app and low-cost phone microscopes. 

RMT participants were given hands‑on training so that they could understand which types of mosquitoes are breeding in their communities; how to collect larvae samples safely; how to upload photos/data into the global map tracker; and ways to eliminate breeding places. Countries also developed Country Action Plans, which provide details regarding their intent to apply for, and receive support for, their own Country Mosquito Trainings (CMTs) and Local Mosquito Workshops (LMWs).

The next step is for Country Coordinators in each country to decide how they will organize Country Mosquito Trainings for community leaders, scientists, and public health officials about the project. CMT participants will then, in turn, receive the tools and techniques they need to train people at the local level, at LMWs, in the GLOBE Observer Mosquito Habitat Mapper.

GIO estimates that the GLOBE Zika Education and Prevention project will train up to 100,000 citizen scientists in the GLOBE Observer Mosquito Habitat Mapper! Learn more about this exciting initiative here: globe.gov/mosquitoes.

 GLOBE Stars -- See How We Shine!

A recent GLOBE “Star Story” shined a light on a dazzling example of GLOBE community initiative, passion, and scientific excellence, “Students at Lexington School for the Deaf in New York (USA) Participate in GLOBE Air Quality Campaign – Discover Their Power to Contribute to Science in a Significant Way.” 

In March 2018, GLOBE students at the Lexington School for the Deaf (located in East Elmhurst, New York, USA) began participating in the GLOBE U.S. Air Quality Student Research Campaign. Raising their focus to the sky, the high school students soon became adept at using GLOBE’s atmosphere protocols and Calitoo sun photometers to gather their elevated observations. Along the way, they also discovered their ability – as individuals and as a team – to make significant contributions to science.

The students’ teacher, Jillian Anderson, said that the scientific endeavor gave the students new-found confidence – in themselves and in each other. “My students have started to realize that they are indeed contributing to science in a significant way! Not only are they learning about Earth science, but they have also started to understand the impact each individual has on the Earth, as a system,” Anderson said. 

“I think it is important for my students to realize that they have great skills that can help others. Since American Sign Language is a visual language, these students’ visual skills are top-notch! Therefore; their observations may very well be amongst the most reliable. My students’ involvement in GLOBE may bring awareness and interest in Deaf culture to other GLOBE students, teacher, and scientists – and that is very important to me as well.”

“The participation of Lexington School for the Deaf students is important to GLOBE,” Anderson said, “because it can inspire others to include underrepresented students so that GLOBE can have a very rich and diverse group of citizen scientists collaborating with each other.”
 
NASA’s Dr. Pippin agreed. “We encourage them to keep up their great work, and we invite other schools to continue submitting their observations to the GLOBE website as well.”
The students crafted a special video to share their scientific excursion into the clouds. To watch the video and learn more about their scientific work, click here. To read the full Star Story, click here.
 
To check out more GLOBE Star Stories, click here.

Do you have a GLOBE Star Story to share? GLOBE Stars are stories of projects, people and extraordinary activities being conducted around the world in connection to GLOBE. These are our GLOBE Stars, the bright lights that spark our imagination and inspire us with news of GLOBE at work in the world. If so, GLOBE wants to hear all about it! Send your story of people, projects, or activities to share on the GLOBE website.

For instructions on how to submit a Star Story, and an easy-to-fill-out template, click here!

The European Space Agency Living Planet Symposium 2019 (LPS19), organized with the support of the Italian Space Agency, will be held from 13-17 May, in Milan, Italy. This event is held every three years (the last one was held in 2016, and was attended by over 3,000 participants).

The focus of the event is on how Earth observation contributes to science and society, and how disruptive technologies and actors are changing the traditional Earth observation landscape, which is also creating new opportunities for public and private sector interactions. 

Deadline for registration is 30 April 2019.
For more information, click here.