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GLOBE Program Showcased and Dixon Butler Celebrated at CAPS 2025

Jennifer Bourgeault, Lin Chambers, Dixon Butler, Becky Boger, and Elena Sparrow.

During the 2025 Conference for Advancing the Participatory Sciences (CAPS), held 27–30 May, members of the GLOBE Implementation Office (GIO) and GLOBE community shared their expertise and insights through various presentations, panels, and workshops. Dr. Dixon Butler was honored with a special Lifetime Achievement Award for his long-standing commitment to GLOBE and citizen science. From 1996 to 2003, Dixon worked with the GLOBE Program as chief scientist and GLOBE director. He currently serves as a consultant for NASA on the GLOBE Program and is the founder and president of Youth Learning as Citizen Environmental Scientists (YLACES). This video featuring the GLOBE Program and highlighting Dixon and Dr. Elena Sparrow, was shared at the conference.   

View the extensive list of conference booths and sessions led by GLOBE members below: 

Exhibitor Booths 

• NASA Science Activation table hosted by Theresa Schwerin (Institute for Global Environmental Strategies), Tori Brannan (University of Alaska Fairbanks), Christina Buffington (University of Alaska Fairbanks and the GIO), and Lisa Ogiemwonyi (Wayne RESA)
  Attendees learned about networks, approaches, and resources to connect participatory science to broader learning communities, including GLOBE. The NASA Science Activation (SciAct) program is a competitively selected network of collaborative projects across the United States that connects NASA science with people of all ages and backgrounds.   
• GLOBE data collection with Vernier vendor booth hosted by Colleen McDaniel (Vernier) 
• OregonView table and GLOBE Observer Landcover interactive display hosted by Peder Nelson (Oregon State University) 

Presentations 

• YLACES: Ten Years of Supporting Students Doing Science to Learn Science
  Dixon Butler (YLACES)) shared how a small nonprofit supports educators and students through equipment and student research symposia grants (and their impact) to ensure students develop scientific habits of mind and can contribute to the understanding of our environment. 
• Multi-View Citizen Science: Advancing Land Cover and Disease Risk Models with AI 
  Di Yang (University of Florida) discussed how their research innovates citizen science by demonstrating how multi-directional observations improve both land cover mapping and disease risk assessment through AI-driven analysis of GLOBE Observer data. 
• Snowballing Participatory Science: From an Inventory to an Intensive Observing Period 
  Christina Buffington (University of Alaska Fairbanks and the GIO) shared the story of how what started as a student-led inventory of snow participatory science snowballed into a worldwide GLOBE intensive observing period where Alaska trail users, educators, students, and remote sensing scientists collaborate to investigate snow.  
• Engaging Community Scientists in Mosquito Mapping 
  Olivia Zhang (University of Florida) showed how the project explores how community scientists can be engaged and empowered through an interactive museum exhibit of GLOBE Mosquito Habitat Mapper data.  
• Bridging Borders: Empowering Librarians with Participatory Science in Southeast Asia 
  Vivienne Byrd (LA Public Library) presented a 10-day initiative in Malaysia that introduced participatory science to librarians. Attendees could learn about its planning, successes, and challenges, and discover how libraries can foster global collaboration and advance citizen science.  
• Scaling Participatory Science in Space and Time: An Example Using Adopt-a-Pixel3km 
  Peder Nelson (Oregon State University) discussed how their research internship incorporates field-based observations, land cover classification, and digital analysis of satellite imagery to create a curated locally relevant geospatial story from the region where each intern resides. 

Symposia  

• Bridging Science and Learning Outcomes in Participatory Science 
  Convened by Sarah Kirn (Gulf of Maine Research Institute), this interactive group discussion showcased NASA participatory science projects that focus on science outcomes, learning outcomes, or a combination of the two. Attendees were invited to join the discussion with speakers Kirn, MaryKay Severino (ARISA Lab LLC), Lin Chambers (NASA), Lisa Ogiemwonyi (Wayne RESA), Rusty Low (Institute for Global Environmental Strategies and the GIO), and Ryan Scott (NASA). 
• School-Based Citizen Science
  Convened by Rebecca Boger (CUNY and the GIO), this panel discussed the use of citizen science as an innovative school science pedagogical tool to improve student STEM learning and outcomes by providing practical experience in scientific inquiry and critical thinking. Speakers Rodrigo Arantes Reis (Federal University of Paraná), Tori Brannan (University of Alaska Fairbanks), Emma Giles (SciStarter), and Rusty Low (IGES and the GIO) discussed their programs, challenges, and successes.  

Science for All Showcase Lightning Talks 

• How Much Water Is in Snow? Comparing Participatory Science Methods 
  Christina Buffington (University of Alaska Fairbanks and GLOBE Implementation Office) 
• Neighborhood Science Kits @ LAPL: Empower Your Patrons to Contribute to Real Science
  Vivienne Byrd (LA Public Library)   

Workshops    

• The GLOBE Program as a Tool for Environmental Community Science
  Jennifer Bourgeault (U.S. GLOBE Country Coordination Office and University of New Hampshire) led a workshop introducing conference attendees to GLOBE water, soil, weather, and biomass protocols with co-presenters Christina Buffington (University of Alaska Fairbanks and GLOBE Implementation Office); Becky Boger (CUNY and the GIO); and in-person support from Tori Brannan and Elena Sparrow (University of Alaska Fairbanks). 

News origin: GLOBE Implementation Office

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