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Letter to the Community

Aug 31, 2016

25 August 2016

A large group of people pose for a photo.

Dear Friends,

Greetings from South America where I am attending the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) Regional Meeting. As part of this visit, I've been meeting with education officials, environmental organizations and U.S. Embassy officials about GLOBE in Argentina. I also had the wonderful opportunity to visit several GLOBE classrooms in Ushuaia (the program's southern-most school, at the end of the world) and Buenos Aires, Argentina. In the photo above, I am in Ushuaia presenting about GLOBE to students that are learning English. I'd like to thank the U.S. Embassy in Argentina for facilitating the visit.

It's the middle of the school year down here in the Southern Hemisphere. It is still winter but soon it will be spring. Back home in the United States, the new school year is just getting underway, signifying the end of summer. No matter where you live, no matter what the season, the world has so much to offer and GLOBE activities are available to make the exploration of your environment educational and fun.

GLOBE continues to evolve and one development that will be launched next week is the new NASA GLOBE Observer App, a mobile app for photographing and sending cloud observations directly to GLOBE and to NASA. You can learn more about it on Tuesday, 30 August, on the GLOBE website. By downloading the app and becoming a "NASA GLOBE Observer" anyone will be able to participate in GLOBE. Students have already contributed to the database; through this app new groups (adults, alumni, parents, etc.) will be be able to participate in the collection of data, too. This new citizen science app will allow the engagement of people in any GLOBE country in the program and will result it an increase in the number of data for students, scientists and the general public to access and use.

Scientific observations by GLOBE students can also support public health. GLOBE, in partnership with the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, has been nominated to develop, test, and deploy a solution to mitigate the spread and impact of the zika virus as part of USAID's Grand Challenge to Combat Zika. The project engages South American school-age children, parents and community decision- makers in the identification and mitigation of local mosquito breeding sites, and provides them with tools to determine whether the mosquito larvae they identify and map are vectors for disease. Stay tuned to the GLOBE website for further details.

And here's another tip for teachers: If you are a teacher looking for ways to engage and excite students about science and Earth exploration, you should know about NASA Wavelength, a searchable database that contains a wealth of NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) educational products for the K-12 classroom! You can also search for all education resources created by all areas of NASA.
Do the most you can to become a great teacher and let GLOBE and NASA help you, with the many resources we have developed to do so.

Students' learning and growth will flourish when parents, teachers, students and we of the GLOBE Implementation Office pledge to keep communication lines open and build relationships though collaborative projects. It takes more than good intentions to make it all work; it takes action. I'd like to ask you to commit to being more active in GLOBE this year. Contact your GLOBE Working Groups if you have ideas you want to explore.

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Just one month ago, the GLOBE community came together at the GLOBE Annual Meeting in Estes Park, Colorado. It was a wonderful meeting; many participants remarked that it was the best yet. We had the opportunity to learn from 23 remarkable students who attended and shared their projects with us. Take a few minutes to view our video of the Student Research Experience, where students express, in their own words, the value of being a part of this incredible education program, GLOBE.