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YLACES Awards GLOBE Program Founding Chief Scientist with First YES Medal

Mar 23, 2015

From left to right: Dr. Butler, Dr. Rock, and Dr. Murphy

YLACES (Youth Learning as Citizen Environmental Scientists) presented the founding Chief Scientist of The GLOBE Program, Dr. Barrett Rock, with the first Youth Environmental Science (YES) Medal. The award was presented by Dr. Dixon Butler, YLACES President, at the Annual Meeting of the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) in Chicago, Illinois this March.

The YES Medal is presented annually in recognition of a significant contribution to youth learning as citizen environmental scientists. The Medal is accompanied by a $10,000 grant to an organization of the recipient's choosing to further the organization's work consistent with the objectives of YLACES.

At the ceremony, Dr. Rock spoke of his experiences in founding New England Forest Watch and how this prepared the way for his role in helping establish The GLOBE Program. Dr. Rock stated that in May of 1994, he read a story in the Boston Globe describing the announcement by the Clinton White House that a program was being organized that would involve students in the collection of environmental measurements. Dr. Rock contacted the White House and was invited to Washington, D.C., to present his views. Soon thereafter, he became the founding Chief Scientist of the Program.

Following the Medal presentation and Dr. Rock's remarks, Dr. Tony Murphy, Director of the GLOBE Implementation Office (GIO) spoke of his contact with Dr. Rock at the beginning of the Program. Dr. Murphy was a Sea Grant Fellow in the original GLOBE office and was inspired by Dr. Rock's vision for the program.

Earth Day (22 April) marks The GLOBE Program's 20^th Anniversary. Dr. Murphy shared with audience members that GLOBE students from over 100 countries have now reported well over 100 million measurements, and that more than 50,000 teachers have received professional development training in approach, measurement procedures, and technology resources. In addition, GLOBE collaboration with satellite missions has expanded from use of Landsat data to active work in support of NASA's CloudSat, Calipso, Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM), and Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) missions.