News - National Wildlife Federation - Eco-Schools USA
GLOBE Community Successfully Connects in Connecticut at the 21st Annual Meeting
Approximately 250 participants, including GLOBE students, teachers, scientists, U.S. Partners, and International Country Coordinators from 40 countries connected in Connecticut last week for the 21st GLOBE Annual Meeting and 5th Student Research Exhibition.
The meeting officially began with an evening networking event on Sunday, 30 July. However, many participants, including Regional Office Coordinators and members of the Working Groups, had arrived early to get to work – holding preliminary meetings to discuss their progress and unique concerns during the days preceding the annual meeting.
The very full “all-participants” agenda began on Monday, 31 July, with opening remarks by meeting organizer Connecticut Partner Dr. Scott Graves; NASA Program Manager Lin Chambers; NOAA representative John McLaughlin; U. S. Department of State representative and marine scientist Alice Alpert; Mayor of New Haven Toni Harp; Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) President Joe Bertolino; SCSU Interim Dean of Arts and Sciences Bruce Kalk; SCSU Provost Robert Prezant; EGMS Department Chair Patrick Heidkamp; as well as GLOBE Implementation Office (GIO) Director Dr. Tony Murphy.
The meeting was now in full swing and for the next five days the Omni Hotel New Haven and SCSU were beehives of activity with formal and informal meetings, the Student Research Exhibition and numerous student-centered events, guest speakers, and non-stop networking opportunities.
Alexander J. Felson, Associate Professor of the Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, and Director of the Urban Ecology and Design Lab in the Yale Architecture School of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) gave the keynote address, “Urban Design and Landscape Architecture for Coastal Resilience,” which closely paralleled the theme of this conference, “Coastal Resilience in Urban Environments.”
A menu of concurrent sessions gave participants the opportunity to select activities of relevance, including: Creative Models for Implementing GLOBE In Your Country; GLOBE Professional Development and Training; GLOBE and Citizen Science; a session on balloons/kites/drones; the new GLOBE Weather NGSS-based Instructional Unit for Middle School; the GLOBE Observer Mosquito Habitat Mapper; a Technology Share-a-thon, and many other sessions.
During the late afternoon of Monday, 31 July, the SCSU hosts held a welcome reception for members for the GLOBE community. That evening, student teams from Croatia, France, Jordan, Mongolia, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Thailand, and the United States presented posters about their research projects. Participants were able to learn the details of the many fascinating student projects – and were free to meet and mingle and to begin the weeklong process of forming new friendships and alliances, and crafting opportunities for future GLOBE collaborations.
Tuesday, 01 August, was particularly exciting. It was time to do what the GLOBE community does best: spend time outdoors! Students began their journey by bus and ferry boat, to Outer Island in Long Island Sound, which houses a research station belonging to the SCSU Center for Coastal Marine Studies. There, students engaged in scientific studies of GLOBE atmosphere and hydrology protocols; they also engaged in observations of intertidal transects, crab populations, bird observations, Seine netting, and upland vegetation – assisted by GLOBE trainers, and Outer Island interns. Throughout the day, the students were able to see the relationship between what they were observing and the 2017 meeting’s focus on coastal environments’ sustainability, resilience and future challenges.
The adults selected from a variety of learning experiences, from science protocol trainings (including the popular and timely Mosquito Protocol) on the SCSU campus, to protocol studies at Cove River and, finally, farthest afield, Hammonasset Beach.
Wednesday was a day of intensive study. Students analyzed their data from their field experience on Outer Island and prepared for their presentations to the larger group, which was to be given the following day. Adults engaged in a second round of studies in the field and concurrent sessions indoors.
On Wednesday evening a special event took center stage – the Yale Museum of Natural History opened its doors, after-hours, exclusively for annual meeting participants. For three hours the GLOBE community was treated to dinner beneath the hulking skeletons of dinosaurs; afterward, they were able to wander through exhibits ranging from the natural history of New England to the spectacular collections of gems. (For a glimpse of the full agenda of the GLOBE 21st Annual Meeting, click here; to view a vast collection of photos, click here; and to view the presentations, click here!)
The final dinner, with many guests in lovely national dress, took place on the Thursday, 03 August. Following the dinner, GIO Director Dr. Tony Murphy quelled the rumors raging about the location of the 2018 GLOBE Learning Expedition (GLE), an event that only takes places every four to five years, which brings the global community together in a joyful celebration focused on students and their research contributions. The location will be … Killarney, Ireland! Killarney is the home of the first national park of Ireland and a treasure trove of natural beauty, which will surely make next year’s gathering a very special event.
Start planning now for the 2018 GLE (and 22nd GLOBE Annual Meeting). The event dates are 01-06 July. (You will be able to find more detailed information, with a link for registration, on the GLOBE website in October 2017.)
GIO wishes to thank our hosts in New Haven, GLOBE Partner Scott Graves; his SCSU team, including Bruce Kalk, Mary Pat Caputo, Vern Williams, and Zachary Boulliert, for their outstanding efforts to make this meeting a resounding success. GIO would also like to thank the program’s sponsors Lin Chamber (NASA) and Brandon Jones (NSF); and the program’s supporters Christos Michalopoulos (NOAA) and the U.S. Department of State.
Indeed, to all our of sponsors, supporters, and to the many wonderful community members who journeyed to New Haven to connect with us in Connecticut for the 21st GLOBE Annual Meeting, we wish to say thank you and see you next year… in IRELAND!
type: globe-newsNews origin: GLOBE Implementation Office