GLOBE News
February 2015 News Brief
February 2015 GLOBE News Brief
Image of the Week
The Illustrated 2015 GLOBE Calendar is Available Online!
The 2015 Calendar Art Competition is now available online. This year, the competition encouraged students to use art to illustrate how GLOBE connects us to Earth Observing Satellites, locally and globally. The GLOBE Program received over 300 amazing entries from around the planet, and is honored to showcase the talent and dedication of our community. To download the calendar, click here >
News
2015 GLOBE Educator Fellowships Awarded
The GLOBE Program is pleased to announce the first recipients of the GLOBE Distinguished Educator Fellowship: Dr. Umarporn Charusombat of Thailand (Asia and Pacific Region) and Mr. John Moore of the United States (North American Region). This Fellowship is designed to harness GLOBE community expertise in the development of new educational resources that can benefit the entire community.
A number of exceptional applications were submitted from around the world, and each one was thoroughly reviewed by community members as well as by GIO staff. Thanks to everyone who applied for the Fellowship - and congratulations to this year's recipients! Read more >
GLOBE Games 2015!
GLOBE Europe and Eurasia has announced that the 2015 GLOBE Games - an annual tradition for students, teachers, scientist, alumni, and friends of the GLOBE community - will take place this year in Prague (Czech Republic) from 28 to 31 May 2015. For more information, click here >
GLOBE Receives Distinguished Educator Award from the American Meteorological Society
On Sunday, 4 January 2015, the American Meteorological Society (AMS) presented The GLOBE Program with the Distinguished Educator Recognition Award for Outstanding Contributions to Non-Formal Education. AMS recognized GLOBE for excellence and innovation in the promotion of Weather, the Ocean, Climate, the Water Cycle and Space Weather Studies.
The award to GLOBE cited significant efforts to educate the general public about these Earth Science topics. "The award is a testimony to the outstanding efforts of the GLOBE community and to the sponsors who have continued to support the Program over the last 20 years," said GIO Director Dr. Tony Murphy. Read more >
NASA Launches Groundbreaking SMAP Observatory!
NASA successfully launched the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) observatory on 31 January at 9:22 EST (14:22 UTC) from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, USA, on a United Launch Delta II rocket.
SMAP now begins its three-year mission to "scratch" below Earth's surface to expand our understanding of a key component of the Earth system that links the water, energy, and carbon cycles driving our living planet. As part of the SMAP-GLOBE Program Collaboration, SMAP scientists will be using measurements collected by GLOBE students to help validate the satellite moisture measurements and to monitor their accuracy. Read more >
GPM-GLOBE Student Precipitation Field Campaign Has Begun!
NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Mission is partnering with The GLOBE Program to hold a student precipitation field campaign to collect data from 1 February through mid-April 2015. The GPM Mission (launched by NASA and the Japanese Space Agency in February 2014) examines one important aspect of the water cycle - precipitation.
The GLOBE field campaign is an opportunity for students to participate in ground validation for the GPM satellite. Students will be able to compare their data with that of participating schools around the globe, networks of "official" rain gauges, as well as to long-term climatological data. For more information on the GLOBE field campaign, click here >
During the field campaign, students and teachers will be able to participate in webinars and read blog posts by NASA scientists and engineers. For more information on webinars and blog posts, click here >
Upcoming 2015 GLOBE Teacher Training Workshops
Upcoming GLOBE teacher training workshops include:
- Kyiv, Ukraine (National Ecology and Nature Center): 6 February
(open to all teachers) - Normal, Illinois, USA (Illinois State University): 9 February
(open to teachers in the region) - Eugene, Oregon, USA (Lane Community College): 18 February
(open to all teachers) - Uruma, Okinawa, Japan (PEACE Schools Network): 19 February-31 March
(potential restricted attendance) - Livingston, Alabama, USA (University of West Alabama Pre-Service): 19 February (open to teachers in the region)
- Hampton, Virginia, USA (Langley): 24-25 February
(potential restricted attendance) - Royal Oak, Michigan, USA (Detroit Zoo-Ford Education Center): 3 March
(open to all teachers) - Wayne, Michigan, USA (Wayne RESA): 31 March (open to all teachers)
Call for STEM Stories
The GLOBE Implementation Office continues to gather stories of students and teachers who have been influenced by their GLOBE experiences to pursue further education in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). Exceptional stories may have the opportunity to be showcased for our Earth Day celebration. For more information, click here >
Thank You for For Completing the Annual Partner Survey!
Thanks to all of the GLOBE Partners who completed the Annual Partner Survey. Your responses give us a targeted snapshot of our community and the data needed to make informed decisions that will guide and influence the future of The GLOBE Program.
News origin: GLOBE Implementation Office