News - North America

GLOBE and Dr. John Francis Invite Educators and Students to Take a Planetwalk

Dr. John Francis, a long-time friend of GLOBE, is on a 6,000 mile journey to walk across the continent of Africa, from Cape Town to Cairo. Dr. Francis is a well-known environmental educator who stopped riding in motorized vehicles and stopped speaking for 17 years after witnessing an oil spill in the San Francisco Bay, California, USA. Watch Dr. Francis’s keynote at the 2024 GLOBE Annual Meeting to learn more.

The GLOBE Africa Region is supporting him on his journey as he walks through South Africa, meeting with students at GLOBE schools and people in communities along his path. Everywhere he goes, Dr. Francis shares his message of kindness to each other and the Earth. He’s also collecting GLOBE data, including cloud observations, surface temperature, and land cover.

Dr. Francis’s walk is happening in sections to give his body a chance to rest. His friends, colleagues, and admirers are joining him at times, which surely helps make the journey of 6,000 miles seem a little less daunting.

While the GLOBE community can’t all join Dr. Francis in Africa, they are finding ways to join him in solidarity in their own communities.

U.S. GLOBE Partner John Moore (Institute for Earth Observations, Palmyra, New Jersey, USA) has welcomed school groups to the Palmyra Cove Nature Park for mini-Planetwalks. Read about the New Jersey Planetwalk.

The GLOBE Europe and Eurasia Region encouraged schools during their Spring Tree campaign to spend quiet time with their Green-Up trees, for a short time or “even for 17 minutes to honor [Dr. Francis’s] 17 years of silence.” Take a look at the Europe and Eurasia Region Treewalk Padlet.

Engage your students in Planetwalk with some ideas from John Moore and the Europe and Eurasia Treewalk:

• Create and rally local “Planetwalkers” through a series of day or evening nature walks.

• Collect GLOBE cloud, surface temperature, and land cover measurements.

• Develop student photography or artwork activities so students can showcase local acts of human and environmental kindness.

• Give students opportunities to develop opinion pieces on human and environmental kindness to submit to media and policymakers at all levels.

• Take a walk to enjoy and admire nature. Give students a chance to be quiet for a few moments or even for 17 minutes. During this time, they could focus on using their senses to notice what is around them, observe details with a magnifying glass, paint a picture, or simply sit and look up at the treetops.

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Links and Resources

GLOBE and Dr. John Francis news stories and pages

• Planetwalk — Dr. John Francis' Journey Towards a Better Earth

• New Jersey GLOBE Partnership Takes the First Steps with Dr. John Francis, Planetwalker: “From South Jersey to South Africa”

• Treewalk Europe and Eurasia Region

• Planetwalk Africa (globe.gov)

• Dr. Francis wrote a children’s book called “Human Kindness: True Stories of Compassion and Generosity That Changed the World.”

News origin: United States of America

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