News - United States of America
2022 North American Regional Meeting Overview
The 2022 GLOBE North American Regional Meeting (NARM) took place both virtually 02–04 November and at three in-person professional development workshops 07–08 November. This new hybrid model of virtual and in-person options was chosen in an effort to reach the widest North American GLOBE community audience, while we are still in the midst of the COVID pandemic.
Virtual NARM Overview
Seventy-eight GLOBE Partners and educators registered for the virtual portion of the meeting. Each day’s schedule was two and half hours of themed lightning talks and discussions, program updates, videos highlighting GLOBE Partnership activities, and more.
On Day 1 of the meeting, Dr. Tony Murphy started us off with a welcome and overview of GLOBE. Participants had time to introduce themselves in breakout rooms. We then moved into lightning talks focused on Recruiting, Engaging, and Retaining Educators. Four groups presented:
- Making GLOBE Easy for Early Primary Teachers (Elena Sparrow, Katie Spellman, Christine Villano)
- Invited Talk: Grant Writing for GLOBE Funding (Dr. Michael Odell)
- Recruiting and Engaging Educators and Students through Environmental Science Diplomacy, UN SDGs and Virtual Collaboration (Larisa Schelkin & Dr. Mike Jabot)
- GLOBE Goes to Camp and Beyond (Tina Harte)
After the lightning talks, participants moved into breakout rooms to share their ideas and ask questions. Day 1 wrapped up after GLOBE U.S. Country Coordinator Jen Bourgeault gave updates from her office.
We started Day 2 hearing about GLOBE activities in Canada from GLOBE Canada Country Coordinator Kevin O’Connor. Next up, Dr. Eleanor Jaffee shared a summary of evaluations from local and regional Student Research Symposia (SRS). The Day 2 lightning talks focused on Collaborative Student Research: Practices and Examples; there were five presentations:
- Revising the Review Process for GLOBE Symposia (Arctic and Earth SIGNs, Association of Interior Native Educators, GLOBE U.S. Coordination Office)
- Developing Long-term Collaboration with High School Students through NASA SEES Summer Virtual Program (Sara Mierzwiak, Yitong Jiang, Olawale Oluwafemi)
- Exploring Multiple Ways of Studying Clouds for Blind and Sighted Students Alike (Rosalba Giarratano)
- Invited Talk: ISC Watershed Education & Environmental Impact Program (Donna Torres)
- Invited Talk: Young Scientists and Engineers Academy (University of North Dakota College of Engineering & Mines)
Participants had the opportunity to discuss the lightning talks and related topics in breakout rooms before we ended the session for the day.
Day 3 began with updates from NASA Program Manager Allison Leidner. Tina Harte, U.S. GLOBE Partner Forum Chair, talked about the U.S. Partner Forum and GLOBE Working Groups. Day 3 lightning talks highlighted GLOBE-Adjacent Resources with five talks:
- Invited Talk: GLOBE and Natural Inquirer Crosswalk (Pam Evans and Margaret Gregory)
- My NASA Data Air Quality Resources (Angie Rizzi)
- GLOBE Eclipse: Preparing for 2023 & 2024 (Kristen Weaver)
- Our Winter World: STEAM Snow Kits (Serina Wessen)
- Mission Mosquito Larvae Hunters (Cassie Soeffing and Liz Burck)
Smaller group discussions again followed the lightning talks. We rounded out Day 3 with updates on the GLOBE website from the Data Information System Team.
A Padlet was created for the virtual meeting and will be available for all GLOBE members to access once videos of lightning talks are added.
In-person NARM Overview
The three in-person NARM Professional Development workshops were well-attended and focused on different aspects of GLOBE and related programs.
Oakland, CA: “Hydrosphere Protocols and Microplastics Training” organized by WestEd/UC Berkeley and Science Action Club. Sixteen people registered for the workshop hosted at Lake Merritt Boathouse in Oakland, CA. Participants investigated water for microplastics, used GLOBE hydrosphere protocols to determine water quality, and learned about Science Action Club’s “Cloud Quest” unit.
Toledo, OH: “From Midwestern Prairies to City Centers: GLOBE Student Research to Better Our Region’s Environment” organized by University of Toledo, GLOBE Mission Earth, Wayne RESA, and Xcite Learning/Bowling Green State University/Toledo Zoo. Thirty people registered for the workshop hosted by The Toledo Zoo in Toledo, OH. Participants received training on collecting data from local prairies and urban heat islands, and practiced using TerraROVERs and Aeropods.
Reading, PA: “Citizen Scientists: Engaging the Community” organized by Berks Nature. Sixteen people registered for the workshop hosted at Berks Nature/The Nature Place in Reading, PA. Participants used GLOBE protocols to measure water quality, clouds, and tree height, explored Elementary GLOBE, attended sessions on climate change and environmental justice, and discussed using GLOBE for citizen science.
Overviews of each of these sessions will be shared soon; stay tuned!
Photo captions (top to bottom):
Photos 1 & 2: Screenshots showing virtual NARM participants (taken on 04 November)
Photo 3: Group photo NARM participants in Oakland, CA
Photo 4: Group photo of NARM participants in Toledo, OH
Photo 5: NARM participants measuring water quality in Reading, PA
News origin: United States of America