NCAR-funded Education & Outreach: Annual Report
Priority 1: Engaging a broader and more diverse community
NCAR is strategically committed to valuing diversity in people, ideas, scientific and educational backgrounds, and approaches to problem solving. EO strives to develop education programs that broaden participation by historically under-represented populations. These programs improve access to these resources in culturally appropriate ways, remove language barriers, provide role models for careers in the geosciences, and demonstrate the relevance of our science to diverse communities. EO has focused this year on developing and disseminating web-based Spanish language science education resources and by creating an educational web site portal and teacher training workshops in Spanish associated with the Mexico City-based MILAGRO field campaign.
Windows to the Universe in Spanish
The Windows to the Universe website continues to be the most highly visited website within the entire ucar.edu domain. Over the past year, our traffic has grown dramatically. The number of visitors to the site during the past twelve months (August 2005 through July 2006) grew by 49% to more than 12 million visitors, while page view tallies grew by 70% to more than 122 million page views during the same period. Traffic to the Spanish-language portions of the site grew even more dramatically. Visitors were up about 93% to almost 3.5 million, while page view counts more than doubled to over 20 million.
Window to the Universe Website Traffic Summary
Overall site traffic growth is in part due to swelling popularity of the Spanish-language pages. However, the increase in use of the English versions of the pages actually exceeds that achieved on the Spanish pages, indicating further penetration of site usage in formal and informal geoscience education venues. Translation of the site into Spanish continues, with about three-quarters of the content now translated into Spanish. Comments from users of the Spanish website are extremely positive, showing appreciation for the resources as well as recognition of the high quality of the translation.
EO is actively disseminating information about this resource to local, national, and international Spanish-speaking and bilingual communities. We have forged ties with the Mexican Ministry of Education and with numerous classroom teachers in Mexico, largely as a result of our involvement with the MILAGRO field campaign. We are also discussing expanded activities in other parts of Latin American, especially Chile, with science educators at UNESCO and in several countries in Central and South America. A new collaboration with the Colorado Department of Education's Immigrant Education Program will help EO to train bilingual teachers in the use of W2U resources in their classrooms.
MILAGRO Bilingual Educational Project
The MILAGRO field campaign to Mexico City reached Spanish and English language students and teachers through an educational web portal created by EO's Windows to the Universe team. The web site contains information about atmospheric chemistry, MILAGRO's science goals and logistics, and the scientists who were involved. This project serves as an example of collaborations between scientists and educators that can broaden the involvement of diverse communities in our research and our workforce.
Beginning the second week of January 2006, with support from NSF, the Windows to the Universe (W2U) project initiated an effort to develop web-based content to support dissemination of information about the MILAGRO campaign to students, teachers, and the public in English and Spanish. This effort built upon the extensive existing web-based content available through W2U in both languages, as well as its large international bilingual audience. A total of 56 new web pages were developed for the project on topics in atmospheric chemistry, dynamics, impacts of air pollution and links to climate change, as well as biographies of scientists participating in the outreach effort. Each content page was reviewed by at least one scientific participant in the campaign. In addition, a format for ìPostcards from the Fieldî was developed, which campaign participants could use to send reports to website visitors about what was going on during the campaign.
Information about the website and the campaign was disseminated through numerous educator networks, including through the W2U Educator Newsletter, which focused on the MILAGRO campaign during the month of March, as well as through contacts at NASA, NSF, AGU, and other informal networks. A paper reporting on the MILAGRO education project was presented at the European Geophysical Union meeting in Vienna, Austria in April, 2006. Prior to the campaign, W2U staff traveled to Mexico City and Veracruz to provide training for campaign participants on the ìPostcards from the Fieldî interface. A total of 34 postcards were submitted during the campaign by scientists. Traffic on the MILAGRO portal rapidly grew to over 60,000 visitors per month in Spring 2006, reaching over 250,000 people between March and May 2006.
Priority 2: Enhancing Science Education
NCAR's Earth-Sun system research offers many ways to highlight the people and processes of science and relates well to National Science Content Standards that define curriculum in school districts across the nation. UCAR's Office of Education and Outreach and its partners develop resources, programs, and activities that enhance scientific understanding, skills, and activities to support education and training from pre-K though post-graduate levels. Multiple media and methods are used to train and support K-12 teachers in professional development in the Earth-Sun system sciences. Undergraduate students are invited to NCAR to learn about multidisciplinary research topics, facilities that support the science, and academic programs leading to high degrees and careers in these fields.
Windows to the Universe Newsletter for Teachers
In September 2005, Windows to the Universe (W2U) implemented a new monthly newsletter for educators that highlights resources on the website, professional development opportunities, and information about related programs and opportunities offered by EO, as well as external colleagues. Over the past 11 months, our subscriber base has grown to over 4200 educators from 122 countries. Development on W2U continues, with an emphasis on weather and climate, biogeochemistry, space weather, and solar variability. Development of the new Space Weather section on W2U and associated professional development activities are supported through collaboration with the NSF-funded Boston University Center for Integrated Space Weather Modeling. Previous sections of this report provide additional detail about collaborative efforts facilitated through the W2U project.
Climate and Global Change Distance Learning Course
UCAR EO is developing a sequence of online courses on Climate and Global Change, based on the successful workshop series held in 2002 ñ 2005 at NCAR. A pilot course in Fall 2005 documented the successful implementation of course materials in an online format. The first of three 6-week courses will be offered in Fall 2006 for middle and high school educators, with graduate credit available through the Colorado School of Mines. The NCAR Online Learning Web site describes the goals, course elements, and syllabus for this program.
NCAR Undergraduate Leadership Workshop
Members of the 2006 5 th NCAR Undergraduate Leadership Workshop (ULW) enjoyed touring the C130 with scientists and pilots at the NCAR Research Aviation Facility. This field trip is one of many program activities introducing college juniors to our multidisciplinary research and the facilities that support it. ULW is co-sponsored by NCAR and the universities that nominate students to the program, which takes place every June.
EO coordinated the 5th NCAR Undergraduate Leadership Workshop (ULW) in June, once again receiving enthusiastic evaluations from the program's 20 participants, all of whom had completed their junior year. The goal of ULW is to inform undergraduates in the geosciences about exciting opportunities for graduate study, research, and careers in the atmospheric and related sciences. The five-day program was launched by welcoming messages from the UCAR President and NCAR Director and a half day dialogue facilitated by UCAR Board Chairman, Kelvin Droegemeier, about the importance of developing personal and professional leadership skills throughout one's life and career. Students spent the week exploring laboratories, instrumentation, and computing facilities that support studies on weather, climate, solar physics, the Sun-Earth system, and impacts of weather and climate on societies across the globe. Participants were especially appreciative of the personalized stories scientists and education staff shared about pathways, opportunities, and academic milestones that lead them into rewarding careers at NCAR, UCAR, UOP, LASP, and NOAA. Students are expected to present a seminar during the fall at their local AMS chapter or academic department about highlights of their ULW experience. Over the past few years, participants have formed a highly valuable network of peers, as the vast majority of them are progressing through graduate degree programs and planning to enter careers in the sciences.
Center for Multi-Scale Modeling of Atmospheric Resources
EO has been contracted by Colorado State University to provide education and outreach program support to the new Center for Multi-Scale Modeling of Atmospheric Processes (CMMAP). The CMMAP Deputy Director is NCAR Senior Scientist Chin-Hoh Moeng, and other NCAR scientists are part of the CMMAP team. CMMAP is a five-year $11 million NSF Science and Technology Center which will enable scientists to study the modeling of clouds and the role of clouds play in regulating climate. In addition to funding two SOARS protÈgÈs each year, this grant will fund EO to collaborate with other Front Range educational entities in creating and delivering K-12 instructional materials related to clouds and climate, teacher training workshops, classroom visits by scientists, and public outreach through local events and dissemination of educational content on the Windows to the Universe web site.
Priority 3: Improving Public Awareness and understanding
NCAR recognizes the importance of freely sharing knowledge with the public about Earth-Sun system research by means of many different informal venues and media. Education and outreach can contribute to public awareness about our sciences and advance public science literacy and decision-making for all ages groups and constituencies. Recent accomplishments have included enhancement of exhibits at the NCAR Mesa Lab and the video documentation of the first field campaign involving the HIAPER GAC V aircraft.
NCAR Exhibits
The NCAR-supported Climate Discovery exhibit nears completion, with a component about sea level rise in development for production in the next year. The exhibit program is turning its attention to developing a five year plan. This process began in August by convening the NCAR Science Advisory Committee, with representation from all labs and divisions, to assess and recommend new exhibit enhancements, with special interest in upgrading to the Mesa Lab's first floor ìWeather Gallery.î New exhibit elements are expected to be identified to enrich the visitors' understanding of basic science concepts, research topics, observational technologies, modeling, and computing facilities related to meteorology and the impacts of severe weather on the global community. New exhibits will align with the distinctive style, rich graphics, hands on interactives, and clear text panels installed since 2000 in the Mesa Lab galleries. EO staff will continue to produce video interviews with scientists as they explain advances in their fields of research, adding to the Voices of Science collection that is displayed on large LCD screens in the exhibit halls, as well as in media clips and websites.
HIAPER TREX Documentation
HIAPER soared over the Sierra Nevada on many occasions during the March ñ April 2006 Terrain-Induced Rotor Experiment (T-REX). NSF funding enabled EO to document in High Definition Video many important scientific milestones of T-REX through interviews with scientists while in the field. Many magnificent still and film sequences were also captured of HIAPER in flight. This footage contribute to a growing archive of educational media to be used on web sites, classroom outreach, and television broadcasting.
The HIAPER documentation project began in 2004 with support from NCAR to capture milestones in the modification of the NSF's Gulfstream V aircraft to become the High-Performance Instrumented Airborne Platform for Environmental Research (HIAPER). With new support form the NSF in 2006, EO documented in High Definition Video (HDV) the first field campaign utilizing HIAPER, with deployment coordinated by NCAR's Earth Observing Laboratory. This research project, known as T-REX (Terrain-Induced Rotor Experiment), occurred during March and April 2006 in the Owens Valley, California. Interviews with Project PI and other T-REX scientists were filmed by Geoffrey Haines-Stile Productions, as they planned complex logistic, identified ideal weather conditions for rotors, made observations using ground-based and airborne instruments, and reviewed the campaign's scientific findings. With support from NSF, NCAR, and Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation, EO also arranged for the first ever aerial photography of HIAPER as it soared over snowcapped peaks of the Sierra Nevada . A finished thirty minute video will be produced early in November. Video sequences have been disseminated to the media by UCAR Communications and the NSF Office of Legislative and Public Affairs. A finished 30-minute video will be completed in early November 2006 for use in public presentations and television broadcasting.
Priority 4: Maintaining an Innovative and Creative Work Place
NCAR scientists and technical staff participate in a wide range of informal science education activities, from testifying on Capitol Hill, to conducting interviews with the media, and giving public lectures. Each outreach activity requires skill and experience in communications if it is to have a positive and lasting impact on the intended audience. EO collaborates with others to identify a suite of training and practice opportunities through which staff can improve communication skills.
Communicating Science
The NCAR Vislab is one example of the many places where staff practice and refine techniques for communicating science to diverse audiences. In the past year, NCAR scientists have trained staff in EO staff to present programs in the Vislab to students, teachers, and visiting dignitaries. The Communicating Science Program seeks to provide staff with training resources needed to become world class communicators through writing, speaking, and reaching out to K-12, public, and professional audiences.
The Communicating Science Program (CommSci) seeks to equip UCAR/NCAR/UOP scientific and technical staff to be world-class communicators. This is accomplished by engaging them in identifying and developing learning opportunities, experiences, and resources to enhance their skills in oral and written communication. Representatives of UCAR EO, UCAR Communications, UCAR Human Resources, and the NCAR Advanced Studies Program meet several times a year to review what has been accomplished and what new offerings are needed. An informal group of employees who speak English as a second language meet frequently to work on grammar, pronunciation, and presentation skills. Planning has begun to develop a briefing packet that all staff can use to better communicate the institution's mission and the latest research results related to climate change to non-technical audiences.