Stars and STEM Stories

The International Polar Year (IPY) Oslo Science Conference, the largest ever Global Impact Gathering, took place from 6-12 June 2010. The event included polar and climate scientists from all over the world, members of indigenous peoples from Scandinavia and Russia, dignitaries from Norway and other European countries including Crown Prince Haakon as well as Prince Albert of Monaco, young polar scientists from the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS) and many GLOBE community members including GLOBE Program Seasons and Biomes phenology scientist and U.S. Partner, Dr. Elena Sparrow, who also served on the overall conference organizing committee.  >>

A NASA-sponsored Climate Change Summit was held in Wayne, Michigan on 24 August 2010 to introduce Climate Change and Remote Sensing topics to the Wayne County community and invite teachers to participate in the Investing Climate Change and Remote Sensing (ICCARS) Project. ICCARS is a NASA-funded STEM education program for grade 8-12 teachers and students aimed at providing a working understanding of the science behind global climate change and its relationship to human activity, in particular its relationship to land-use and land-cover (LULC) changes on multiple scales through NASA data products and models.  >>

GLOBE leaders from 11 countries met 28 July through 2 August 2010 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, to discuss student research initiatives focused on exploring climate change. Representatives from Argentina, The Bahamas, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Perú, Surinam, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uruguay focused on new opportunities posed by GLOBE's Earth System Science Projects (ESSPs) and the GLOBE Student Climate Research Campaign.  >>

On 21 September 2010, GLOBE Alumni, Scientists, Students, and Teachers arrived at the Xpedition Base Camp in Arusha, Tanzania, to prepare for the second annual GLOBE Africa and Seasons and Biomes Xpedition to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro.  >>

On Saturday, 5 June 2010, GLOBE Africa Alumni met on the campus of Abomey Calavi University in Cotonou, Benin Republic, in association with another GLOBE Alumni group created by Jeunesse et Developpement, to celebrate World Environment Day.  >>

Held 4-6 April 2010, the 6th Annual Scientist Fair in the Kingdom of Bahrain explored one of the most serious challenges facing Arab Countries this century.  >>

On 1-6 June 2010, 42 representatives from 22 European countries met in Ohrid, Macedonia, to discuss regional governance, hold elections of new officers, update one another on national implementation activities and GLOBE student research underway, and begin preparation for GLOBE's upcoming climate research events.  >>

United States GLOBE Teacher Bruce Huckins' 7th grade class, at West Central Middle School in Maynard, Iowa, is conducting the second year of the Volga River Project. In 2008, Huckins' class created the project by measuring the Transparency, Nitrate, pH, Dissolved Oxygen, and Water Temperature of the Volga River four times throughout the year, beginning in November. Huckins' current class decided to continue the project and repeat the same tests every month starting in November 2009.  >>

Water, one of the most essential elements for our survival, makes up approximately 71 percent of Earth's surface and two-thirds of the human body. Therefore, it is important to be aware of the quality of the ecosystems this imperative resource is obtained from. Participation by GLOBE students in the U.N. sponsored World Water Day allowed GLOBE students from 67 schools in 14 countries to investigate water sources in their local areas by engaging in learning activities such as The pH Game, Water Detectives, Hydrology Site Definition and conducting the GLOBE pH Protocol, among others, and, to gather data for long-term research projects.  >>