Community Letter
Letter to the Community
Hello Everyone!
My staff and I have been busy creating a roadmap for the next five years of GLOBE operations, based on the GLOBE Strategic Plan (which was finalized earlier this year). This has kept us focused on the future and thinking about what we hope to accomplish, what we want to improve upon, and how we can continue to expand the web of relationships that keep our community together.
There are many building blocks to our program. Foremost is our commitment to imparting an understanding of the complexity and beauty of the Earth system to our students and to the growing number of citizen scientists who are now part of our community. (Have a look at the new Earth Sphere Communities pages on our website to see how we are organizing our materials and projects.)
Through efforts like the 2019 International Virtual Science Symposium, we demonstrate our emphasis on collaboration and teamwork, as well as problem-solving and innovative thinking, as essential life skills for our students. Our largest gathering of 2018, the GLOBE Learning Expedition (GLE) in Ireland, showed how unique our global community really is. We embrace our diversity; we see it as a strong asset and something to be celebrated!
This week, we finished our mini-documentary about the GLE in Ireland. You have not seen this one before; I'm sharing it here for the first time. If you want to feel inspired, just watch this short video about our wonderful community.
In other areas...
The GLOBE Mission Mosquito Campaign is underway. GLOBE citizen scientists around the world are using the GLOBE Observer Mosquito Habitat Mapper App (GO MHM) to identify mosquito larvae and eliminate breeding sites. (Learn more about the Mission Mosquito Field Campaign and how you can become involved.) In addition, through support from the U.S. Department of State, the GLOBE Zika Education and Prevention project is a focused effort in 22 Zika-affected countries in three GLOBE regions. (Learn more about the GLOBE Zika Education and Prevention Project.) The crowdsourced data collected will be used in student research and by research scientists to help improve tracking and control of Zika and other mosquito-borne viruses.
The Trees Around the GLOBE Campaign launched on 15 September 2018, the day that NASA's ICESat-2 began its orbit around Earth to measure the height of everything on our planet: ice sheets ... sea ice, trees, bodies of water, mountains and buildings! (This incredible NASA video will help you understand the scope and value of the project.) The related GLOBE student research campaign is focusing on tree height and other GLOBE protocols. (Find out how you can become involved in the Trees Around the GLOBE Campaign.)
The Urban Heat Island Campaign is also underway.
Preparations are building for the 2019 International Virtual Science Symposium (IVSS). The first online webinar with Dr. Julie Malmberg took place earlier this week. It is not too early to start thinking about the 2019 IVSS.
Enjoy your week everyone!
Tony Murphy
Dr. Tony Murphy
Director, GLOBE Implementation Office
tmurphy@ucar.edu