Joint Biodiversity, Terrestrial Ecology and Related Applied Sciences Education and Public Outreach Breakout Session Monday August 2, 2006

Selected NASA Education and Public Outreach Documents NASA Education Strategic Framework Excellence in Outreach Workshop Summary Report of NASA Explorer Institutes Pilot Workshops and Focus Groups See forum for these and more…

NASA Education Strategic Framework

Selected NASA Education and Public Outreach Activities/Programs Goddard Public Affairs, News, Visualization Lab The GLOBE Program American Museum of Natural History Bulletins NASA Explorer Institutes Museum Alliance Center Education Offices Aerospace Educators Internships New Investigator Program Earth System Science Fellowships Graduate Student Research Program Minority Programs Education Product Review

Educational and Scientific Conferences (National Science Teachers Association, American Geophysical Union, Association of Science and Technology Centers, etc.) Active partnerships with agencies and NGOs who conduct education and outreach (museums and science centers, NPS, many school systems, Girl Scouts, 4-H, etc.) NASA Explorer School Teacher Workshops NASA Educator Resource Centers NASA Core Example Venues for Dissemination of Educational Materials

Education and Public Outreach Criteria* 1.Quality, Scope, Realism, and Appropriateness 2.Customer Needs Focus 3.Partnerships/Leverage/Sustainability 4.Evaluation 5.Content 6.Pipeline 7.Diversity 8.Resource Utilization *See Explanatory Guide to the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Education and Public Outreach Evaluation Criteria- excerpt on the session forum

ROSES (Research Opportunities for Space and Earth Sciences) Supplemental Education Funding $15,000 $50,000 if 3 or more funded researchers apply from same institution. Issue: 15K is a small amount that is difficult to justify expending time and therefore money on (full cost accounting) to write a worthy proposal $1.5 million is the total amount available for all of Space and Earth Science ROSES education supplements. Ideas: use existing education projects, and augment with your research content; pair up with one or two other researchers--think thematically--and work together

Q: Are NASA formal education and training programs (e.g., ESSF, GSRP, NIP, etc.) effective? How could they be improved? Fellowships can backfire for student when college/university subtracts tuition from the award (many students who receive awards were on full or partial scholarships) NIP limited opportunity for those who need green card (this program is specifically intended to build workforce in US, so green card rule needs to stay) New students often feel isolated; actively connecting them to NASA researchers at institutions outside their own university is welcome (at Centers, or in conferences such as this one). Many scientists desire outreach training, (see Space Science Institute’s training program--contact Cheri Morrow; GSFC has program to train scientists to work with news media) Train people internationally --the best way to reach goal of having more people use data in research -NASA can partner with those who have a mandate to conduct remote sensing training, and help train trainers (possible connection with IUCN?)

Education Breakout Group Conclusions Importance of continuity, coherence, leveraging, and evaluation Audience, message, delivery mechanism, evaluation are paramount Big ideas and big dissemination can happen if people think strategically Cross-discipline/focus areas integration can be reflected in education/outreach if funding structure reflects this approach. Opportunity to work with the GLOBE program on Carbon Cycle (Scott Ollinger funded) PAO work can be re-purposed for uses by other education and outreach groups (museums, for example) Many people find data access and production daunting, though some options are available, including GeoBrain, My NASA Data, NEO.

Collaboration with existing activities by E/PO specialists/groups provides highest leveraging opportunity for conducting education/outreach activities. So, confer. Encourage researchers to avail themselves of existing educational efforts and capabilities, to stretch limited education dollars Seize the opportunity to actively make funded researchers aware of various NASA education venues/activities Link interns, fellows, etc. with other NASA researchers (as inviting them to this workshop has done) Researchers should provide advance information about important findings so PAO can assist them in public outreach, create visualizations, etc. Recommendations