News - University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus
December 2018 Letter to the Community
Letter to the Community
20 December 2018
Hello Everyone,
Winter is here in Boulder, Colorado, with holidays and festivities and the New Year approaching. Teachers, many of you will soon experience a well-deserved holiday and parents are about to experience more quality time with their kids! Here I am dropping off my son Sheamus earlier today on his last school day before Winter Break.
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This has been a remarkable year for The GLOBE Program with growth and momentum in every area of endeavor. GLOBE is a community and much of the praise belongs to you for your input and participation! Here are some of the highlights for 2018:
- The International Virtual Science Symposium grew to 203 projects in 2018, continuing the steady uphill curve over the last three years.
- The GLOBE Learning Expedition (GLE) in Ireland was a stand-out. Ask anyone who attended!
- Each of the six GLOBE regions (Africa, Asia and Pacific, Europe and Eurasia, Latin America and Caribbean, Near East and North Africa, and North America) has now contributed at least one million measurements to the GLOBE database, and total measurements have surpassed the spectacular 160 million mark.
- The new Strategic Plan roadmap for the next five years of GLOBE operations was put in place and is being implemented.
- Through support from the US Department of State, trainings for the two-year GLOBE Zika Education and Prevention Project got underway. To date, participants from 49 GLOBE countries attended the Regional Mosquito Trainings (RMTs) and participants from 27 countries have conducted 89 Country Mosquito Trainings (CMTs) that trained more than 2,400 participants. Participants have collected more than 20,000 measurements.
- The GLOBE Mission Mosquito Campaign led by NASA and IGES, a GLOBE partner, gathers citizen science mosquito data from project participants. For information on the campaign, set to educate the GLOBE community about Zika and other vector-born disease prevention click here: Mission Mosquito Campaign.
- The NASA campaign Trees Around the World, in cooperation with the NASA satellite ICESat2, became an exciting new project for GLOBE.
- The GLOBE Observer app for land cover became operational in 2018, making good on the GO commitment to adding one new app per year to the GO suite of mobile apps.
- GLOBE International STEM Network encouraged membership from early career STEM professionals.
- GLOBE announced two new GLOBE countries: Botswana and Togo!
- GLOBE welcomed new NASA Program Manager, Dr. Allison Leidner, from NASA Headquarters in Washington.
The world is changing and so are we. GLOBE is at the forefront of making Earth Science education accessible and meaningful for everyone, young and old, in school and out, in every corner of the world. GLOBE will never stop building a culture of cooperation and inclusion. Extending beyond the schoolyards, and put into practice within families and communities, and among nations, GLOBE will become stronger, more impactful and more relevant. I'm looking forward to extending the possibilities for GLOBE and I hope you are, too. We have many new developments and events in the works for the year ahead. Listed here are a few of them.
The 23rd GLOBE Annual Meeting and Student Research Experience
The 2019 event will be held in Detroit, Michigan, USA, from 14 -18 July, hosted by GLOBE Partners David Bydlowski, Wayne County RESA, and Kevin Czajkowski, University of Toledo.
This meeting is open to all members of the GLOBE community. If you need a personalized letter for the purpose of obtaining a visa to enter the United States, email Katie Chapman in the GLOBE Office at meetings@gov.gov. Read more here. Note that this page will be continually updated!
2019 GLOBE International Virtual Science Symposium (IVSS)
Once again, GLOBE will host the International Virtual Science Symposia, our annual online space for GLOBE students from grades K-16 (from primary through undergraduate) to share and discuss their research projects with other GLOBE students, community members, and STEM professionals. This event is right around the corner. Students can submit projects starting on 01 January and the deadline is 10 April. An excellent webinar to help prepare for the 2019 IVSS took place on 25 October and has been archived here.
Also, we need judges! Scientists, STEM professionals, GLOBE alumni: you qualify. Each project is reviewed by at least three judges and last year we required the help of 70 international judges. If you want to become involved please fill out this volunteer form.
The 2019 IVSS Drawing on 17 May 2019
Student participants of the 2019 GLOBE IVSS have the opportunity to be selected for a stipend to help defray the cost of attending the 23rd GLOBE Annual Meeting and Student Learning Experience in Detroit, Michigan, USA, in July 2019. To be considered eligible, students must earn a four-star research badge and at least two other virtual badges. Read more about requirements on the 2019 IVSS instructions page. The drawing for stipends will take place on 17 May 2019.
In the past we selected, by drawing, four teams: two international projects and two U.S. projects. This year we are able to fund seven teams, by increasing the number of international stipends to five! (one per region). Thanks to the National Science Foundation for its support of the meeting and the stipends.
Before I close, here are a few specific reminders for...
Partners, Scientists, and Teachers: Please complete the 2018 GLOBE Annual Survey, which arrived in your inbox between 3-7 December. Your responses are due 1 February 2019.
Members of the GLOBE International STEM Professionals Network (GISN):
Please remember to fill out your GISN Member Activity Form before 01 January 2019 to remain an active member of the GISN.
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I wish you all the best as 2018 draws to a close. I'm proud of the new energy that is palpable within the GLOBE community and thank you for your many contributions. Your energy is supported and amplified by a wonderful team here at GIO and through our combined efforts we should all look forward, with great enthusiasm, to 2019.
Sincerely,
Tony Murphy
Dr. Tony Murphy
Director, GLOBE Implementation Office
tmurphy@ucar.edu
News origin: GLOBE Implementation Office