Kenji Williams performing the Bella Gaia show. Photo Source: Meaningful Media

The project is based on a similar venture called Bella Gaia — a theatrical experience simulating an astronaut’s look at Earth from space, with a live musical performance by violinist and composer Kenji Williams.

Looking at our planet from a spacecraft can create an “overview effect” — what astronauts describe as an elevated sense of euphoria. Casasanto and her team have built on this idea by partnering with NASA, the University of Maryland, Remedy Arts, and five museums.

She says she’s excited that her project will be largely distributed, because she believes it will create a greater awareness and appreciation for Earth systems, and help inspire students. The competitive grant comes from NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.

“This program is powerful in that it combines music, science, Earth and space imagery, and cultural perspectives all at the same time, making it a very valuable tool for education,” Casasanto said.

Casasanto and Williams answer student questions during a special broadcast to NASA's Digital Learning Network in celebration of Earth Day, 2010. Photo Source: NASA GSFC

The timeline for Casasanto’s Beautiful Earth project will coincide with NASA mission timelines. For example, the successful June 10 launch of the Aquarius mission will bring back data on ocean salinity levels which can then be presented during the show. Casasanto also plans to use the final shuttle mission in her presentation, as well as information gathered by older satellites such as Terra and Aqua. This data will be explained by experts including Dr. Thorsten Markus (head, Cryospheric Sciences Branch), Dr. Nancy Maynard (senior research scientist, Cryospheric Sciences Branch), and Dr. Robert Cahalan (Head, Climate and Radiation Branch).

The Beautiful Earth program will work through numerous engagement portals: Museums and planetariums, live shows, hands-on workshops, the DLN, Channel One Television, on-line workshops and websites, and the Bella Gaia Live Fulldome master, which involves showing the presentation in a massive, dome-shaped sphere that captures the audience using multiple projectors.

Horace Mitchell of NASA’s GSFC shows off images from the Scientific Visualization Studio. Photo Credit: Wanda Archy

Casasanto says, “It is important to consider all aspects of the Earth, because it is a complex system, and indigenous people, in particular Native Americans, have lived in harmony with the Earth for thousands of years. This whole module will be powerful because it will introduce indigenous students to NASA Earth Sciences and STEM careers at NASA, but at the same time it will teach non-native students about the indigenous perspective.”

The images and videos shown in this multimedia production are gathered from the Scientific Visualization Studio that “facilitates scientific inquiry and outreach within NASA programs through visualization.” Currently, there are about 3,900 of these within the database. Williams also uses a special program called Uniview, which allows him to integrate the flyovers and orbital projections into the show.

Space agencies, space organizations, and the private sector are using technology to help United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) conserve World Heritage sites under an agreement between 187 states reached at the World Heritage Convention.

Currently, there are 911 unique World Heritage sites includes Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and the Great Wall of China. Of these, 704 are classified as cultural, 180 as natural, and 27 as mixed. However, at least 31 World Heritage sites are in danger, UNESCO officials say.

Initiated by the European Space Agency (ESA), UNESCO intends to protect these World Heritage sites from threat. Due to developmental pressures and insufficient resources, these sites have suffered from a lack of management, unsustainable tourism, looting, natural disasters, and climate change. By using space technologies, UNESCO can monitor the damage that has been done over the years and recommend ways to remedy it.
 

World Heritage Convention agreement to support space technology between United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization’s Mr. K. Matsuura (UNESCO) and the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Mr. Rodota at the Paris Air Show. Photo Source: UNESCO

This goal, called the Open Initiative, “aims to develop a framework of co-operation, open to space agencies, research institutions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the private sector in order to assist developing countries, through, space technologies to improve their natural and cultural conservation activities.”

Space technologies allow us to monitor cultural and natural sites, then compare the satellite images to see how they have progressed over time. Similarly, the resolution of satellite images creates accurate and detailed maps. Developing regions lack adequate maps and therefore cannot protect their borders.

Satellite imaging also can be used as a powerful communication tool. Instead of describing what kind of damage is occurring in a particular region, authorities can provide accurate photographs. These images are then analyzed and possible solutions can be offered.

Another mission for the Open Initiative is to strengthen the local staff involved at each World Heritage site. To do this, the goal is to initiate joint projects between the staff and their respective country, organize workshops, have standards and regulations for funding, and coordinate training for the staff.
 
 

Kahuzi-Biega NP, Congo (Dem.Rep.) Local staff working at a World Heritage site. Photo Source: UNESCO

Halong, Vietnam. Student making a presentation of a World Heritage site Photo Source: UNESCO

The target areas include poverty reduction, sustainable livelihoods, climate change, gender equality, corporate social responsibility and protection of indigenous cultures. By instilling these concepts at a younger age, the program is able to empower students with knowledge for the future.

An example of such a program organized by Education for Sustainable Development and launched in 2000 is the Swiss International Teachers’ Program. This program, called STIP, allows elementary and secondary level teachers to use software that simulates managing a fictitious country. These teachers, ranging from Brazil to South Africa, bring the skills learned from this program back into their own classrooms to educate their students.

Making a habit of Earth observation where you live is a fun and fundamental way to practice Earth stewardship. It is often our own observations close to home that keep us inspired to learn more and allow us to remain steady advocates for solutions to today’s daunting problems. Earth observation done whole-heartedly becomes skilled Earth awareness that leads to profound relationships with the plants, animals, and seasonal cycles surrounding us in real time, whether we live in the city, suburbs, or countryside.

Courtesy Anne Forbes.

One way to track Earth observations is an activity called Phenology Wheels, suitable for individuals, families, classrooms, youth programs, and workshops for people of all ages. Phenology is a term that refers to the observation of the life cycles and habits of plants and animals as they respond to the seasons, weather, and climate. A Phenology Wheel is a circular journal or calendar that encourages a routine of Earth observation where you live. Single observations of what is happening in the lives of plants and animals made over time begin to tell a compelling story – your story – about the place on our living planet that you call home.

Why a circle? We usually think of the passing of time as linear, with one event following another in sequence by day, by month, by year. Placing the same events in a circular journal, or wheel shape, helps us discover new patterns (or rediscover known ones). We can use the Phenology Wheel to communicate about what is really important or interesting to us.

Here’s the General Idea

A Phenology Wheel is made up of three rings in a circle, like a target. To become a Wheel-keeper, you select a home place, such as a garden, a “sit spot,” schoolyard, watershed, or landscape that will be represented by a map or image in the center ring, the bull’s eye. Next, you mark units of time – such as the months and seasons of a year, hours of a day, or phases of a lunar month – around the outside ring, like the numbers on the face of a clock. Then, as you make specific observations of what is going on in the lives of plants and animals and the flow of seasons, you record them within the middle ring using words, phrases, images, or a combination.

Here’s How To Get Started

Because the wheel is round, you can begin a Phenology Wheel for Earth observation at any time of year.

Although you can pick among different time scales for the outer ring, let’s begin here with a year of seasons and months.

Courtesy Anne Forbes.

1. Draw a set of nested circles on a large piece of paper. You can do this by tracing around large plates or pizza pans, by using an artist’s compass or by making your own compass out of a pencil, pin, and string. You may also purchase a kit of print Wheels or a set of digital PDF Wheels online.

2. If you are making your own Wheel, write the names of the seasons and months on the outer rings.

3. Select an image for the center to represent the place or theme you have selected and to anchor your practice of observation in time and space.

Maps for the Center: If you choose a map, will it be geographically accurate or symbolic? Will it be traced or cut and pasted from an existing map, or will it be a map of your own creation?

Tip: Use a web-based mapping system such as Google Maps to print a map and use it to trace selected features as a base map for your Wheel.

A Centering Image: If you choose an image other than a map, will you create your own image or use one that you find already in print material? Will you use a photo, make a collage, or choose a found object, like a leaf or feather?

Tip: Children often enjoy a picture of themselves at their “sit spot” or other place they have chosen to track their observations.

4. Establish a Routine: Observe → Investigate and Reflect → Record

OBSERVE: What do I notice in this moment? What is extraordinary about seemingly ordinary things? What surprises me as unexpected or dramatic?

then

INVESTIGATE: What more do I want to know about what I observe? What questions will I seek to answer through my own continued observation? What information will I search for in books or from mentors or websites?

and

REFLECT: What does my observation mean to me? How is it changing me? How does it help me explore my values and beliefs?

then

RECORD: A routine of frequent observation provides the raw material to transform your blank Wheel into a circular journal as you record images, symbols, or words as you observe the passing of the seasons in your home place.

Tip: An interactive diagram of this process can be found under the Observe & Record tab here.

5. Share and Celebrate: Use your Wheel to report or tell stories about what you learn from and value about Earth observation in your home place.

Like a wheel on a cart, time turns around the hub of your home place;

the metaphor is a journey taken through a day, a month, a year,

or a lifetime of curiosity and appreciation.

Of course, you don’t have to keep a journal to explore and appreciate your home place on earth and the home place in your heart. What are the dimensions of your home place in this moment? What marks of time’s passing do you observe? The more playful you are with these questions, the more you may feel a part of your home place and committed to co-creating its well-being with others in your community.

Courtesy The Yahara Watershed Journal.

Welcome home.

Example #1: The Yahara Watershed Wheel

About twelve years ago, a group of like-minded friends gathered by my fireside to reflect upon what it means to live in this place we call home in Dane County, Wisconsin, USA. We chose to think of the Yahara Watershed as our common home place, and the series of seasonal events that occur in a typical year as the time scale to track. We put a map of the watershed in the center of a large Wheel of the Year, with units of time going around the outside rim, much like a clock, but using seasons and months instead of hours. We then went around our own circle, each speaking of the defining moments in the natural world and in the lives of people enjoying it throughout the months of a typical year. The artist among us sketched the images onto the Yahara Watershed Wheel that you see here. The detail in the enlarged image represents the unique happenings in March and April: pasque flowers in bloom, the return of redwing blackbirds and sandhill cranes, woodcock mating dances, first dandelions, and spring peepers in chorus.

Courtesy Anne Forbes.

Example #2: Poems of Place

In reporting on this Wheel filled with seasonal poems by 4th and 5th graders about the large school woods, just outside an elementary school “backdoor” in Cambridge, Wisconsin, teacher Georgia Gomez-Ibanez writes, “Because the woods is so accessible, the children spend quite a lot of time there developing a deep sense of place, including keen observational skills and a heightened imagination, all enhanced by the affection they have gained by years of exploring, learning and stewardship.” This selection of student poems illustrates how Phenology Wheels can be used to enhance language arts as well as science curriculum.

Example #3: Local Biodiversity

In another example from Cambridge Elementary School in Wisconsin, teacher Georgia Gomez-Ibanez reports that a classroom studied the biodiversity of the area where they live. Each student picked a different animal or plant from their adjacent woods or prairie for the center of an 11-inch Wheel and then did research to tell the full story of the life cycle in words. The example here shows the work of one student who studied the Jack-in-the-Pulpit wildflower.

The next step would be for the students to combine their information for single species onto one large 32-inch Wheel and use it to explore the dynamics of the ecosystem that appear through food webs, habitat use, seed dispersal mechanisms, and so on.

Frequently Asked Questions

Courtesy Anne Forbes.

1. Where do I get more information?
If you are ready to start a Phenology Wheel for yourself, family, classroom or youth program, or any other interest group:

• Visit the Wheels of Time and Place website for instructions, resources, and a gallery of examples.
• Download a curriculum for youth developed in partnership with Georgia Gomez-Ibanez, an elementary school teacher, and Cheryl Bauer-Armstrong, Earth Partnership for Schools, UW-Madison Arboretum.

2. Where do I order pre-made Wheels?
Order the blank Wheel templates as a digital download of PDF files or as a complete toolkit, Wheels of Time and Place: Journals for the Cycles and Seasons of Life. The latter includes a set of print Wheels in 11-inch and 24-inch sizes, a code to download the PDF files, and an instruction booklet – all in a recycled chipboard carrying case.

3. What size should my Wheels be?
Some people prefer 11-inch Wheels because they are compact, portable, and can be easily duplicated in a copy machine on 11 x 17-inch paper. You can trim them down to 11-inch square if you would like.

When people share the 24-inch Wheels, their faces often light up with excitement. This size, or larger, works well if you have a large clip board or a place to keep it posted for frequent use or when people are working on one Wheel in a group.

Of course, if you make your Wheels by hand, you can make them any size you like. If you purchase the PDF files, you can enlarge them up to 32-36 inches at a copy or blueprint shop.

4. What if I’m already a journal-keeper?

Some people who already keep a written journal use the Wheels to review their journals periodically and pull out observations to further explore and put on a Wheel. It’s amazing what patterns and stories can emerge.

5. Can the Wheels be created from databases?

Frank Nelson of the Missouri Department of Conservation has used wheels called Ring Maps, A Useful Way to Visualize Temporal Data to show trends and reveal patterns in a complex set of data.

________________________________

Anne Forbes of Partners in Place, LLC is an ecologist who seeks to integrate her scientific and spiritual ways of knowing. For over 35 years, she worked on biodiversity policy as a natural resource manager and supported environmental and community collaborations as a facilitator and consultant. Her years of spiritual practice in varied traditions, most recently the Bon Buddhist tradition of Tibet, inspire her commitment to engaged action on behalf of present and future generations. She failed her first attempt at retirement and instead created the Wheels of Time and Place: Journals for the Cycles and Seasons of Life.

Contact: anne@partnersinplace.com.

First Place $500 — Earthships As An Affordable, Sustainable Part Of Vernacular Architecture by Nikolaos Meintanis, University of Sussex, England

Second Place $350 — Industrial Ecology: A Promising Approach to Attain Sustainability by John Paul Sipin De Guzman, National Cheng Chung University, Taiwan

Third Place $225 — Responsible Citizenship: In the Wake of Charles Darwin by Benjamin-Axel Mugema of Makera University, Uganda

Fourth Place $125 — Lead By Example by M. Injamam Alam, Institute of Business Administration, University of Dahka, Bangladesh

Each winner will also receive an Earthzine t-shirt and letter of recognition to their universities.

“The contestants submitted thoughtful, well-written and well argued essays. The contest’s objective to create international discourse among students on important environmental issues was met by the lively thought-provoking comments, questions and responses posted on the contest blog,” said Dr. David Mullins, Associate Editor for Education.

“We are deeply appreciative of the efforts of all the contestants. Our thanks also go to the judges, who ranked the winners on the basis of their essays and the quality of their blogs. We are grateful to the NASA Applied Sciences Program for supporting this contest, and to Dr. Mullins, for doing an excellent job managing Earthzine’s second essay competition,” said Dr. Paul Racette begin_of_the_skype_highlighting     end_of_the_skype_highlighting, Editor-in-Chief.

Purple loosestrife

Since its inception over a decade ago, the DEVELOP National Program has provided students with experience in utilizing and integrating satellite remote sensing data into real world applications. In 1998, DEVELOP began with three students and has evolved into a nationwide internship program with over 200 students participating each year. DEVELOP is a NASA Applied Sciences’ training and development program extending NASA Earth science research and technology to society.

Part of the NASA Science Mission Directorate’s Earth Science Division, the Applied Sciences Program focuses on bridging the gap between NASA technology and the public by conducting projects that innovatively use NASA Earth science resources to research environmental issues. The Applied Sciences’ focus areas include: Agriculture; Air Quality; Ecological Forecasting; Natural Disasters; Public Health; Water Resources; and Weather.

The goal of DEVELOP projects is to examine how NASA science can better serve society. DEVELOP students accomplish this goal through research with global, national, and regional partners aimed at identifying the widest array of practical uses for NASA data to help communities better understand environmental change over time. Projects focus on practical applications of NASA’s Earth science research results. Each project is designed to address at least one of the Applied Sciences’ focus areas1, use NASA’s Earth observation sources, and meet partners’ needs. DEVELOP research teams partner with end-users and organizations who use project results for policy analysis and decision support, thereby extending the benefits of NASA science and technology to the public.

A few of the projects students led last year at Goddard Space Flight Center were:

“Ocean Retrieval Validation: An Analysis of Machine Learning Techniques”

“Remote Sensing Technologies Applied to Eradication Efforts of Purple Loosestrife”

“Remote Sensing Applications in Habitat and Distribution Modeling: A Land Classification and Connectivity Model for the Tiger Corridor Initiative Strategy”

DEVELOP students at Langley Research Center meet the newly appointed NASA Administrator Charles Bolden (front row, center) during the 2009 summer term.

DEVELOP is unique in that projects are student led, with science advisors and mentors from NASA and partner organizations providing guidance and support. This allows students to gain valuable management and leadership experience, in addition to developing and applying research skills. Activities are conducted all year during ten-week terms in the spring, summer, and fall. Students are given the opportunity to present their research each term to a variety of audiences. Students have presented at various government organizations, live on television, and at national science and policy conferences such as the American Geophysical Union, American Meteorological Society, Southern Growth Policies Board, and Council of State Governments annual conferences and meetings. Conference posters, papers, and presentations are important for the program and students. These activities foster contact with potential partners, extend NASA science and technology to a wider audience, generate project ideas, and aide in new student recruitment. Equally important, conferences give students experience in presenting their work and interacting with the international science community and policy makers.

Admission to the program is based upon a competitive application process, with applications available online at the DEVELOP website. Eligible applicants are currently enrolled in high school through graduate school levels, and have at least a 3.0 grade point average. In particular, students with a strong interest in environmental, atmospheric, and the Earth sciences, computer science, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and/or remote sensing are encouraged to submit an application.

DEVELOP students Madeline Brozen and Lauren Childs present their research at NASA Headquarters following a live broadcast on NASA Television.

DEVELOP teams are located across the U.S., six in association with NASA centers — Ames Research Center, Goddard Space Flight Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Langley Research Center, Marshall Space Flight Center, and Stennis Space Center — and three in regional offices — Mobile County Health Department (AL), Wise County Clerk of Court’s Office (VA), and the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative (IL). Each team location varies in size and engages students of differing educational backgrounds. Summer terms typically host the largest number of participants, while the students participating in the spring and fall work flexible hours around their school schedules.

The program actively recruits students from high schools and universities throughout the country, with student center leads and team members at each location leading recruiting efforts. Students are sought who demonstrate academic excellence, community service commitment, passion, and enthusiasm for applied science research. These qualities have contributed to the considerable growth and success of the program during the last decade.

The DEVELOP Program is mentoring today’s students in preparation for careers as tomorrow’s scientists and leaders. Challenged to think outside the box, take initiative, and employ innovative ideas, students who participate in the DEVELOP Program are better prepared to handle the challenges that face our society and future generations. DEVELOP students explore the frontiers of science and remote sensing to prepare the future American workforce, all while extending NASA Earth science research results for societal benefit. The DEVELOP National Program has provided over 1,800 internships, giving students the opportunity to perform applied science research and interact with industry, non-profit, and local government sectors. The DEVELOP National Program strives to be innovative and forward thinking, which is made possible by NASA’s investment in students dedicated to learning.

More information is available about the Applied Sciences Program at nasascience.nasa.gov/earth-science/applied-sciences, and the DEVELOP National Program at develop.larc.nasa.gov/. Watch future issues of The Earth Observer for DEVELOP project and team highlights.

This article was adapted from National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The Earth Observer. March – April 2010. Vol. 22, Issue 2.

Carbon footprint calculator

A recent study¹ from the United States shows that only about four-in-ten U.S. citizens believe protecting the environment should be a top priority. A more worrisome result of the study is the decline in the percentage of respondents who believe there is solid evidence of climate change.

To reverse this trend, it is of utmost importance to educate the next generation of citizens and policy makers to increase their awareness of these critical environmental issues and their commitment to confronting them. As such, education will be a critical component to any future in which we as work to solve our global and local environmental problems.

Information and communication technologies (ICT) have gained substantial prominence in education, and may provide a powerful new tool to improve teaching and learning practices in environmental education in classrooms at all levels. The Inquiry-to-Insight (I2I) project², a collaboration between Gothenburg University in Sweden and Stanford University in California, offers an educational program combining information and communication technologies (ICT), social networking Internet communities, and pedagogy directed at learning about and envisioning solutions to global environmental issues. I2I pairs classes from different countries (thus far, Sweden and the USA) within a social network, and provides education tools based on ICT.

Students complete the I2I-Carbon footprint calculator³, directly visualizing the impact of their personal behaviors on the environment. Students compare the footprints of the two classes on the social network and debate questions such as, “What behaviors lead some students to have higher footprints?” and “How can I take action to decrease my contribution?”

The I2I-Acid Ocean virtual lab⁴ is an e-learning activity where students become virtual scientists studying the impact of ocean acidification on sea urchin larval growth. Students recreate a real, up-to-date climate change experiment. They also learn important general scientific principles, such as the importance of sample size and numbers of replicates, and discuss what this research into a specific impact of climate change may mean for the future of our oceans.

I2I Acid Ocean virtual lab

I2I provides a virtual talk on ocean acidification⁵ for students to access. Students can follow the talk at their own pace, browse the presentation, and leave questions for scientists to answer.

I2I also promotes group research projects where partner-school students collaborate to investigate a topic related to climate change and create a multimedia presentation to educate others via Internet postings.

Thus far, only preliminary evaluations have been conducted regarding students’ knowledge of ocean acidification and on the impact of the virtual lab experience on students’ scientific thinking skills. In early October 2010, a more complete evaluation will be performed.

Preliminary results indicate that the ocean acidification virtual lab has at least two positive effects on students. First, there is a 30% increase in their knowledge of ocean acidification both in Sweden and in California. Moreover, when students are asked to design an experiment (e.g. how would you design an experiment in order to test the impact of X on Y) they provide longer and more scientifically accurate answers after using the virtual lab.

Apart from the effects shown by the evaluation of I2I, students appear to be deeply impacted and more aware of their responsibility in greenhouse gases emission:

“I am going to truly start working on saving energy in my household and doing my best in helping our environment with the emissions. I really liked how this website showed me and taught me all the different ways CO2 is released into our environment.”

Students understand the urge to work together to mitigate climate change; they understand the international bond that climate change forges amongst people:

“We share more likenesses than differences with other countries with regard to environmental problems.”

One of the strengths of I2I is how the project is rooted in students’ everyday life. The relevance of I2I has been highlighted by students:

“What I like the most was the chance to get involved in the [climate change] problem us humans are facing today.”

and teachers:

“I like the contextualization of climate change in I2I and the chance that students have to be in contact with scientists! Very inspiring for them!”

Moreover we add a human dimension with the international networking:

“I think the collaboration between the countries was really interesting; I’ve never done anything like it before.”

Other organizations dealing with climate change have shown a deep interest in I2I: I2I has been contacted by Greenpeace China to produce a Chinese version of the ocean acidification virtual lab. The European Program on Ocean Acidification (EPOCA) funded I2I’s French translation, and NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will include the I2I virtual lab with their education resources.

In Conclusion

Social networks pervade 21^st century life, but in I2I their potential is channeled to help students interact with scientists and peers from around the world facing the same issue: the current reality and future potential climate change, and the necessity of working together to obtain a clearer awareness of the problem, and a stronger will to mitigate it.

I2I students dive into the world of science by participating in state-of-the-art experimentation on climate change not possible in the typical classroom, and by promoting contact with scientists who dedicate their lives to obtaining a clearer understanding of the consequences of climate change.

Students leave the I2I experience with an up-to-date knowledge on climate change, a clearer understanding of how to think scientifically, a sharpened critical view on the ways in which scientific issues are discussed in their society and abroad, many new friends, a broader perspective on climate change and a solid foundation for taking responsible action to confront this challenging problem.

Inquiry-to-insight contacts:
Géraldine Fauville: Geraldine.fauville@loven.gu.se
Pam Miller: pam.miller@stanford.edu

¹ http://people-press.org/report/485/economy-top-policy-priority

² http://i2i.stanford.edu/

³ http://i2i.stanford.edu/NewFootprint/footprint.html

⁴ http://i2i.stanford.edu/AcidOcean/AcidOcean.htm

⁵ http://voicethread.com/?#u287989.b731558.i3869587

Download Announcement PDF here.

Earthzine invites undergraduate and graduate students from around the world to submit an essay for the 2010 Second Annual College and University Student Essay and Blogging Contest “Making Citizen Observations a Global Vision.”

Earthzine, an online environmental journal, is conducting a competition to encourage students to creatively explore the benefits and challenges of the collaborative role citizen observers play in the collection and validation of Earth observations .

Students should submit essays that reflect the work of citizen Earth observers in their communities, their regions, or the world. They may find citizen scientists on their campuses, in community chapters of national and non-governmental scientific organizations, among disaster responders and readiness planners, in the health care profession, in agriculture, forestry and fishing, among many other domains.

Essays should also be related to one or more of Earthzine’s focal topics: Agriculture, Biodiversity, Climate, Disasters, Ecosystems, Energy, Health, Water, or Weather. Essays should follow Earthzine’s Writers’ Guidelines.

After initial judges’ review, Earthzine will post several essays on its webpage. The author(s) of the essay will be invited to lead a blog about their essay and to participate in blogs of competing essays. Winners will be determined based on the quality of the essay and the quality of the blog.

Winners will share $1200 in prizes, with $500 for the first prize. They will also receive certificates for themselves and their institution. All finalists will receive a t-shirt.

Eligibility: Enrollment in any (e.g. American, European, African, Asian, etc ) undergraduate or graduate degree program at an accredited college or university attending full or part-time at the time of the contest. Please indicate your anticipated year of graduation and the contact email of your Registrar.

Submission Guidelines: Queries and final essays should be sent to David Mullins, Ph.D., Associate Education Editor, at any time dmullins@sf.edu.

Important Dates

October 22: Essays due to Earthzine

November 4: Judging complete and finalist essays prepared for posting

November 7 (New Moon): Blogging begins

December 13: Essay blogging ends and judging occurs

December 21 (Full Moon): Announce winners

Farmers in Panama’s Azuero Peninsula learn to restore degraded pastures with native tree species.

Despite this, tropical forest destruction continues at an alarming rate–driven by global demands for timber, urban sprawl, the exploitation of fossil fuels and other energy sources, and advancement of agricultural frontiers.

Conservation of these majestic and intricate ecosystems has been the domain of foresters, biologists, ecologists and resource managers. But the fate of tropical forests rests in the hands of a much more complex, diverse and dynamic assemblage of actors, many who are amenable, but not sufficiently well prepared to engage in conservation.

The Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (F&ES) and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) joined forces in 2006 to create the Environmental Leadership & Training Initiative (ELTI). ELTI outfits policy makers and land managers from different sectors of society with the knowledge, tools and skills to protect tropical forests and restore degraded landscapes.

To date, the program has reached more than 1400 people through 22 field courses, workshops and conferences in six countries, in the Neotropics (Central America and tropical South America) and tropical Asia. ELTI provides follow-up support to its alumni as they translate the lessons learned in ELTI’s training events into action.

Capacity-Building beyond Protected Areas

ELTI emphasizes conservation of lands that fall outside of protected areas. Approximately 87% of the Earth’s land surface is not under a formal protection category. Unprotected lands house important tracts of forest and natural systems exposed – often more so than those in protected areas – to commercial agriculture, unsustainable logging, mining and oil extraction and large-scale infrastructure development. Research conducted by F&ES students on behalf of ELTI in 2006 revealed that relative to training options for protected areas management, there are few capacity-building opportunities that aim to conserve biodiversity in multiple-use, working landscapes.

Engaging the “Shapers” Of Tropical Landscapes

At an ELTI training event, it’s not uncommon to encounter an indigenous leader wearing a traditional feather headdress, a conservationist in field clothes and a governmental official in business attire engaged in the same conversation.

In addition to training conservation professionals, ELTI prepares individuals who possess relevant academic, work and life backgrounds in areas such as agriculture, forestry, energy, rural development, tourism, public works and large-scale infrastructure development. Our events draw participants from governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), civil society groups, indigenous and community-based organizations, businesses and academia. Needless to say, debates in our courses and workshops can be incredibly synergistic given the diversity of perspectives.

Recruitment of participants is targeted. ELTI conducts research and taps into its network of contacts to enlist those individuals who are best suited to the objectives of the training event and the conservation goal at hand. This often involves inviting individuals who are not necessarily pro-conservation, but who are open to learning and perhaps even to being converted to the “environmental side”. Often, the courses, workshops and conferences that ELTI delivers are the first direct exposure that decision makers or land managers have to conservation issues.

Indigenous leaders from the Amazon (Brazil, Peru, Bolivia) learn about Payment-for-Ecosystem Services (PES) opportunities in a field station in Brazil.

The Neotropics and tropical Asia boast some of the last and most extensive tracts of tropical forest, subject to some of the highest rates of deforestation in the world. Conservation efforts in both regions follow a three-pronged approach to (1) conserve remaining natural ecosystems, (2) restore degraded areas and (3) mitigate or eliminate primary threats and impacts. ELTI’s training programs follow suit.

Within the realm of forest conservation, ELTI’s courses and workshops explore the science behind forest carbon and climate change. The events inform initiatives that protect biodiversity and abate the impacts of global warming. Participants learn about ecosystems services and their valuation as well as the benefits and challenges associated with payment-for-ecosystem services (PES) schemes, including the proposed – and controversial – climate change mitigation mechanism, Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD).

ELTI’s training programs in restoration of degraded areas benefit from the extensive research and experience of F&ES, STRI and other organizations regarding native species reforestation, agroforestry and silvopastoral systems. By training farmers, cattle ranchers and representatives from NGOs and local governments, ELTI promotes landscape-level land uses to conserve biodiversity, protect ecosystem services and sustain rural livelihoods.

ELTI’s training efforts on impact and threat abatement have focused on the effects of biofuels production on tropical forests and climate. The benefits derived from biofuels generated from agricultural feedstocks, such as oil palm, soy, sugar cane and corn vary greatly depending on where and how they are produced. ELTI has hosted heated and contentious debates regarding the virtues and vices of first and second-generation biofuels on tropical forests and climate in distant regions of the world.

Practical, Experiential Learning

ELTI’s training events emphasize action. Participants learn the science, theory and fundamentals behind forest conservation and land restoration, and are pushed to explore and understand the mechanics and challenges encountered in practice. Almost all of the training programs include field trips and site visits, so that participants experience conservation challenges and potential solutions first hand. Interactions with researchers studying forest dynamics, farmers experimenting with native species reforestation, community leaders developing a REDD project, or governmental authorities drafting a PES bill, afford the participants opportunities to consider the policy, social, cultural and economic dimensions of conservation strategies in their real-life contexts.

Cattle ranchers and farmers in Panama learn about native species reforestation and silvopastoral systems in the field.

Participants leave a training event with a healthy dose of motivation. It is not unusual to hear claims that an ELTI course or workshop was a life-changing experience. Undoubtedly, we feel flattered by these comments, and appreciate the participants’ optimistic plans, but we are realistic. Not everyone will join the ranks of a conservation organization or attempt to shift a mandate on their own.

ELTI participants are very busy people, who upon returning to their employment will immerse themselves in the day to day of their work. Whereas initial motivation will naturally dissipate, noble intentions may remain. In every group there are people who, on their own impetus or through additional infusions of encouragement, will continue to learn or even act right away.

Through ELTI’s Leadership Program, we cultivate these individuals and provide them support in accessing additional training (sometimes with ELTI) or developing a conservation project. Participants in ELTI’s Leadership Program have received additional instruction on agroforestry and silvopastoral systems, developed proposals for integrated watershed management projects, conducted outreach initiatives including television shows, community trainings and workshops on sustainable land-use planning, PES and land restoration, and received mentorships in the implementation of native species reforestation efforts, among other types of support.

Keeping ELTI Honest

ELTI was born from a partnership between F&ES and STRI and benefits from the vast wealth of knowledge and expertise that is produced and housed in both institutions. We serve as “honest brokers” of this information by presenting conservation strategies and their implications to our audiences and providing them with a forum where they can decide if and how they will proceed after leaving our training event. But we are not impartial actors. Our capacity-building efforts direct participants to conserve tropical forests and other natural systems, to protect them from existing or imminent threats and to restore lands that have been affected by deleterious activities. In doing so, we aim to ensure the long-term survival of forest ecosystems and biodiversity in tropical regions of Latin America and Asia, and the myriad benefits they provide to all of us.

Javier Mateo Vega is director of ELTI

Relevant links:
ELTI: http://environment.yale.edu/elti/
F&ES: http://environment.yale.edu/
STRI: http://www.stri.org/

A community celebration of a successful spring subsistence harvest of bowhead whales includes a traditional blanket toss using the boat skins from the successful crew as the blanket. (Spring 2006; photo by Susan Rutland)

by Glenn W. Sheehan
Executive Director, BASC

Barrow Arctic Science Consortium (BASC) www.arcticscience.org, http://www.youtube.com/bascmedia & http://www.facebook.com/pages/Barrow-Arctic-Science-Consortium/329805053000.

At Point Barrow, Alaska, the Chukchi Sea meets the Beaufort Sea. Each year after the ocean surface freezes, the landfast ice provides a fairly stable platform for research activities and subsistence hunting. (Landfast ice is attached to the shore, beached, or frozen to the bottom of shallow waters. It’s also known as shorefast ice). It’s lucky for the scientists that the Native Inupiat Eskimo people of Barrow spend so much time on the sea ice and understand it so well. Working together, the researchers collect their data and the local guides and polar bear guards keep them safe. The bear guards are BASC staff who watch for the bears, which include polar bears and, more recently, brown bears.

This spring two groups of researchers are testing autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). Cut a hole through the ice, cut another hole, use one for entry and one for removal. Simple enough. Then there’s the young polar bear that watches the group throughout the day. The bear guard watches the polar bear. That way, the scientists have freedom to watch their instruments and they know if the stalking gets too serious the guard will alert them and they can temporarily leave the area.

Bears usually give lots of warning, at least if you know the signs and know the bears. Moving ice can be less forgiving. The marine oriented subsistence diet of the Inupiat keeps hunters on the ice for extended periods of time. With their own personal observations and the traditional knowledge that they’ve learned working with and talking with Elders, BASC’s guides can identify changes in wind, current and the ice that mean “We have to leave now!”

In a few minutes, the floating ice across the lead (open water) from the shorefast ice can pick up speed like a freight train and slam into the ice platform holding the researchers and their instruments. By then, the researchers need to be speeding back to the beach on their snowmachines, with or without their equipment.

Researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) experienced this at their newly erected camp. They went ashore to rest, and their camp fell victim to an ice override. Lewis Brower, BASC Station Manager and a whaling captain, noticed the changing conditions from shore and got to the camp in time to rescue the science gear, except for the brand new tent, which was ripped apart in the jumble. The new tent lasted a total of two hours on the Chukchi Sea ice.

The frost flower research project February 2010 cut through the sea ice to expose water. Frost flowers grow from water vapor derived from open water. (Photo by Nok Acker)

Offshore oil and gas development seems all but inevitable in the Arctic Ocean off Alaska’s North Slope. Looking to the future, the next wave of development on the seafloor will address methane hydrates, a potential resource that represents more energy than all of the world’s known coal, oil and natural gas reserves combined.

Hydrates are found throughout the world under the seafloor, but in only a few places in a nearshore environment and only in the Arctic in a terrestrial environment. BASC, with university and other partners, aims to make Barrow an onshore test bed for methane hydrates research and then help utilize the new knowledge to continue research offshore.

In Barrow, with assistance from BASC, they also meet with the public and go into classrooms. With help from both the Marine Biological Laboratory and WHOI, almost every week there is a Schoolyard Saturday presentation by a scientist or other knowledgeable person. These presentations will be recorded and made available electronically starting sometime this year, and eventually they will be made available interactively in real time.

Annually, BASC assists research projects in employing about three dozen local students as field and laboratory assistants. This is in addition to as many or more adult community members who work with individual projects. Usually two or three schools from the continental U.S. (which is known as the “lower 48” in Alaska) send students to Barrow each year. Every few years researchers conduct an international sea ice field school in Barrow.

Polar bears pose threat to researchers in the Arctic.

Just as researchers have found value in working with local knowledgeable people, over the years scientists have found that meeting with local people and organizations prior to writing their research proposals helps tighten their planning for successfully and efficiently harvesting data in the unforgiving arctic environment. In return, this early consultation often leads to incremental changes or additions to the research plans so that researchers are collecting some data that is highly important to residents of the American Arctic. For example, sea ice researchers want to know how and why there are sudden changes in the ice cover and subsistence hunters want to find out if there are early warning signs that satellites or instruments can pick up that might save lives and equipment.

BASC works with the Alaska Ocean Observing System as their Arctic Ocean coordinator, helping to find ways to use all the information available to help as many people and organizations as possible. In doing this, we also help identify critical information gaps and help justify new research to fill those gaps. For instance, tracking vessels in the Arctic Ocean can only be done if there are receiving antennae to pick up their tracking signals. BASC now hosts one for the Marine Exchange of Alaska.

Barrow has been called America’s Science City. The author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Arctic and Antarctic has said that helping scientists is part of Barrow people’s traditional knowledge. The Barrow Arctic Science Consortium is a community based nonprofit organization that brings community members and scientists together in ways that are profitable for both.

For more information about the research being done at BASC, please visit the following sites:

Exploratorium Ice Stories

Barrow Sea Ice Radar

Interdisciplinary sea-ice research

Chukchi Sea open water surface currents project

Ocean-Atmosphere-Sea Ice-Snowpack