News - University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus
Letter to the Community
15 December 2017
Hello Friends,
Here I am earlier this month with new friends from Oman, during the closing ceremony of the Near East and North Africa (NENA) Regional Meeting. Meeting our wonderful community members is one of the very best parts of my job!
The New Year is fast approaching and with it many new developments and activities in which you are all invited to participate.
First of all, I have a request. We need people to score projects for International Virtual Science Symposium (IVSS), which will take place 18-24 March 2018. This is the 5th year of the IVSS and every year the event expands to include more and more students worldwide. Click here for more information and consider our guidelines on how to volunteer as a project judge or student mentor. Also, we have developed some attractive shareable images that you can download and print in order to advertise the IVSS.
- - - - -
Preparations for the GLOBE Learning Expedition span 2 continents. Our staff here at the GIO is working with our partners in Ireland to create a memorable event, the best so far! (Clearly, I have high expectations, as the 2018 GLE will take place in my native land.) The registration page is now up on the website and already we have many sign-ups. Click here for more information about the GLE and the link to the registration page. Please be aware that we can accommodate only 400 people at this event and I believe we will register this number fairly early. Once all places are spoken for we will start a waiting list but there is no guarantee you will be able to attend unless you sign up soon to ensure your place.
The GLE is primarily an event for students and we invite registered students to be included in the program during the course of the week. Click here for information about how to apply to be a Student Keynote Speaker in Ireland. Teachers, please share this information with your students. Each GLOBE Regional Coordination Office (RCO) will review the applications and select one student for the honor of representing its region. This is a great opportunity for students to speak out about their experiences and their enthusiasm for GLOBE. The GLE really is a very special event for the GLOBE community and occurs only once every few years. The last one took place in New Delhi in 2014. Click here for a sense of what a GLE is all about.
- - - - -
Earlier this year, a cohort of teachers from across the United States met here in Boulder to receive training on implementing GLOBE Weather, a new Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)-driven unit that features GLOBE data and protocols. These teachers are now field-testing the first draft of the five-week curriculum in their classrooms.
The curriculum is being co-developed by the UCAR Center for Science Education and BSCS (Biological Sciences Curriculum Study) in Denver. There will be a session on GLOBE Weather for those attending the North America Regional Meeting (NARM) and two workshops at the GLOBE Annual Meeting and GLE.
- - - - -
Last but not least, another exciting project that has been going on for the better part of 2017 and which will soon be shared with you, is the GLOBE Strategic Plan. The document, created with input from representatives of all GLOBE stakeholders, will guide the scope and direction of our program for the next 5 years. I'm looking forward to sharing the Strategic Plan with you, as soon as it has finished passing through all the necessary sponsor review channels, in January 2018.
That's all for now. I wish you all good things during this festive time and best wishes for a Happy 2018.
Until next month... next year!
Dr. Tony Murphy
Director, GLOBE Implementation Office
tmurphy@ucar.edu
News origin: GLOBE Implementation Office