Stars and STEM Stories
GLOBE Methodology Guides Citizen Science Workshop in Chile
On14-15 May 2009, an educational workshop attended by teachers involved in environmental education in the Chilean Sixth Region took place in order to initiate activities targeted at involving community members in GLOBE. The teachers who participated in the event had long been awaiting the opportunity to attend a training workshop that would offer innovative applications of environmental education as well as tools to enhance the development of exchange networks. These networks will allow Chilean teachers, students and community members to share the results of their scientific research, along with information gathering generated in their regions, targeted at conservation of their local environments.
The workshop was of the National Program for Energy Development of States and Municipalities (PRODEEM) project supported by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and aimed to design a model that promotes utilizing local environments as educational laboratories to enhance student learning.
GLOBE Program educational and research methodologies (coordinated by Chile's Ministry of Education) highlighted through the hydrology investigation area and associated protocols, were used during the workshop. Participating in hands-on applications through GLOBE, teachers and their students are provided with opportunities to better understand their local watersheds and conduct in-depth research projects.
This event was organized by the Colchagua Province Department and was attended by representatives of the Sixth Region of the Chilean Education Ministry: Mrs. Maria Elena Gaete, Mr. Jaime Avendaño, and Mrs. Paula Muñoz, Director of Environmental Education of CONAMA (National Environmental Commission) for the Sixth Region, and Mr. Manfredo Langer, GLOBE Master Trainer and science specialist at the Department of Citizen Participation and Environmental Education of CONAMA.
Also, it is important to emphasize the commitment and support from university staff and students who participated in this workshop, at their own expense, in order to offer technical and scientific support during the day. We would also like to emphasize the participation of the following teachers: Verona Barrella (USACH), Renato González (DUO-UC) and Raúl Pérez (GLOBE Master Trainer), along with the outstanding participation of Juan Pablo Cortés (UTEM) and Karina Conejeros (University of Chile) whose participation has been the key to establishing the necessary commitments to immediately extend networks and continuous technical support in order to ensure that, in the long-term, this initiative will be extended throughout the country.
A second phase of the Citizen Science seminar took place on 24 June and 1 July 2009.
The GLOBE Program Office congratulates Chile for this innovative program and for their continued support to bring forward GLOBE Program initiatives to students, teachers, scientists and community members.
18 September 2009