Tag: Earth Science

The Earth Observer Editor’s Corner: Summer 2024

NeRD

Earth Observer Earth Home Earth Observer Home Editor’s Corner Feature Articles Meeting Summaries News Science in the News Calendars In Memoriam More Archives 8 min read The Earth Observer Editor’s Corner: Summer 2024 Welcome to a new era for The Earth Observer newsletter! This communication marks the official public release of our new website. While this release moves us into a new online future, the newsletter team has worked to ensure the new website also allows for continuity with our publication’s robust 35-year history.  The Executive Editor has written a more detailed overview of…

Read More

The Earth Observer’s 35th Anniversary

NeRD

Earth Observer Earth Home Earth Observer Home Editor’s Corner Feature Articles Meeting Summaries News Science in the News Calendars In Memoriam More Archives 3 min read The Earth Observer’s 35th Anniversary Welcome to a new era for The Earth Observer newsletter! Our 35th anniversary also marks the official public release of our new website. Over the past year and a half, The Earth Observer has migrated from a print publication (the last printed issue was November–December 2022) to publishing PDFs online only (final PDF issue published in May 2024) to publishing individual articles on our new site.…

Read More

Science Activation’s PLACES Team Facilitates Second Professional Learning Institute

NeRD

3 min read Science Activation’s PLACES Team Facilitates Second Professional Learning Institute The NASA Science Activation Program’s Place-Based Learning to Advance Connections, Education, and Stewardship (PLACES) team successfully led their second Professional Learning (PL) Summer Institute (SI) at Northern Arizona University (NAU) in Flagstaff, Arizona from June 11-13, 2024. The team led a group of 13 educators through a variety of powerful place-based data-rich (PBDR) experiences across the three-day SI. PL kicked off with teachers engaging in an intensive field experience at Hat Ranch that leveraged the ecological expertise of…

Read More

NASA Science Activation Teams Present at National Rural STEM Summit

NeRD

1 min read NASA Science Activation Teams Present at National Rural STEM Summit NASA Science Activation (SciAct) teams participated in the National Rural STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics) Summit held June 4-7, 2024 in Tucson, Arizona. Hosted by Kalman Mannis of the Rural Activation and Innovation Network (Arizona Science Center) and the SciTech Institute, the summit fostered learning and sharing among organizations dedicated to creating partnerships and pathways for authentic STEM learning in rural communities. Participants included: Matt Cass and Randi Neff from SciAct’s Smoky Mountains STEM Collaborative, who…

Read More

NASA’s ECOSTRESS Maps Burn Risk Across Phoenix Streets

NeRD

3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA’s ECOSTRESS instrument on June 19 recorded scorching roads and sidewalks across Phoenix where contact with skin could cause serious burns in minutes to seconds, as indicated in the legend above. NASA/JPL-Caltech Roads and sidewalks in some areas get so hot that skin contact could result in second-degree burns. Researchers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California have mapped scorching pavement in Phoenix where contact with skin — from a fall, for example — can cause serious burns.…

Read More

NASA@ My Library and Partners Engage Millions in Eclipse Training and Preparation

NeRD

2 min read NASA@ My Library and Partners Engage Millions in Eclipse Training and Preparation The Space Science Institute, with funding from the NASA Science Mission Directorate and Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, provided unprecedented training, support, and supplies to 15,000 libraries in the U.S. and territories in support of public engagement during the 2023 and 2024 eclipses. From September 2022 to September 2024, these efforts included: Co-development efforts with 3 NASA@ My Library Partner Libraries in the “Square of Awesome” (where both the total and annular eclipse crossed) led…

Read More

Teachers Bring Student Teams to GLOBE Research Symposia

NeRD

5 min read Teachers Bring Student Teams to GLOBE Research Symposia A year-long professional development experience for teachers resulted in participation of 10 student teams at Global Learning & Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) student research symposia. Teachers from the ENGAGE (Earth, NASA, GLOBE, and Guided Explorations) GLOBE Mission Earth 2023-2024 virtual educator cohort have been connecting throughout the school year to learn GLOBE protocols, identify opportunities for students to present GLOBE research, and to share lessons learned. The NASA Science Activation Langley Research Center (LaRC) team led the…

Read More

Meet NASA Women Behind World’s Largest Flying Laboratory

NeRD

5 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA’s DC-8 aircraft – the world’s largest flying science laboratory – began its science missions in 1987 and since then, has flown in service of the science community over places like Antarctica, Greenland, and Thailand. Aircraft like the DC-8 have enabled scientists to ask questions about life on Earth and explore them in a way that only NASA’s Airborne Science program can make happen. After 37 years, the DC-8 will retire to Idaho State University, where it will serve…

Read More

Scholastic SuperSTEM Magazine Features GLOBE Mosquito Habitat Mapper

NeRD

2 min read Scholastic SuperSTEM Magazine Features GLOBE Mosquito Habitat Mapper The NASA Earth Science Education Collaborative team collaborated with Scholastic on an article and activity for learners in grades 3-6: “Meet the World’s Deadliest Creature”, which appeared in the May/June 2024 issue of SuperSTEM. The magazine includes nonfiction science articles and activities that encourage learners to problem solve and investigate real-world phenomena. In this hands-on investigation, Mosquito Habitat Survey, learners search for places where mosquitoes could lay eggs, and then, plan ways to make the areas less friendly to…

Read More

NASA-Led Study Provides New Global Accounting of Earth’s Rivers

NeRD

5 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) The Colorado River supplies water to more than 40 million people as it snakes through seven U.S. states, including the part of southeastern Utah seen in this photo snapped by an astronaut aboard the International Space Station. The Colorado basin was identified in a NASA-led study as a region experiencing intense human water use. NASA The novel approach to estimating river water storage and discharge also identifies regions marked by ‘fingerprints’ of intense water use. A study led by…

Read More