Stars and STEM Stories
GLOBE Japan Student Conference Held in Tokyo
The 9th GLOBE Japan Student Conference was held from 3-4 December 2016 at the National Olympics Memorial Youth Center in Tokyo. Students from 15 GLOBE schools (and one non-GLOBE school) took part in this event supported by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT).
During the opening ceremony, participants were greeted by Mr. Yoichi Kiyohara, a School Inspector of MEXT, Professor Mitsuru Kokubun, Vice-President of Tokyo Gakugei University, and Dr. Toshihiko Higuchi, GLOBE Japan Country Coordinator.
In addition, Ms. Asuka Asanuma, a student of Nanzan Girls’ High School, and her teacher, Ms. Yoko Hayakawa reported on their participation in the 20th GLOBE Annual Meeting in Estes Park, Colorado, USA this summer.
On the first day, student representatives from each school gave an oral presentation on investigative activities into research in their local and regional environment using GLOBE protocols.
On the next day, they also made poster presentation and shared ideas about their methods, experiences and challenges directly with each other. The students also enjoyed the night event to interact with other GLOBE students.
Previous to the opening ceremony, scientific programs were presented by the faculty members of Tokyo Gakugei University. There were three programs; Optics Experiment by Dr. Ohi, Heat Island Effect by Dr. Yamashita and Dr. Sawada , and Nature Observation in the Meiji-Jingu Shrine grove by Dr. Ogawa.
The conference provided a wonderful opportunity for all the students to share the results of their research activities and to realize how students at other schools were similarly involved in GLOBE. Students who have an interest in environmental conservation realized their opportunities to expand beyond the scope and reach of their research, and they were encouraged to continue their daily observations and measurements.