This technical report summarizes the GLOBE Observer dataset from 1 April 2016 to 1 December 2019. GLOBE Observer is an ongoing NASA-sponsored international citizen science project that is part of the Global Learning & Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Program. GLOBE Observer is the largest citizen science project in the Earth Science Division at NASA. Participants use the GLOBE Observer mobile app (launched in 2016) to collect atmospheric, hydrologic, and terrestrial observations. 38,000 participants have contributed 320,000 observations worldwide, including 1,000,000 geotagged photographs. It would take an individual more than 13 years to replicate this effort. Comparing the same data types between the GLOBE Observer app and the formal GLOBE Program, the app doubled data volume and substantially increased geographic coverage over the study period. GLOBE Observer data are publicly available at observer.globe.gov.

The emergence of technologies such as mobile devices, web-based analytical tools, social media platforms, open data and cloud computing have the potential to enable broader participation in science research experiences. We discuss how these capabilities were combined with a citizen science app and e-learning modalities to pilot a scalable model to extend the reach of an established high school internship program. STEM Enhancement in Earth Science High School Summer Intern Program is a nationally competitive program. In 2019, more than 600 qualified students applied for 50 positions. Those who were not selected were offered the opportunity to participate in a virtual cohort working with the GLOBE Mission Mosquito science team. Over 100 students elected to take part in the Mosquito Mappers virtual internship. A recently published meta-analysis of European citizen science projects demonstrated that the majority (90%) involved participants in data collection, 42% involved citizen scientists in data analysis, and only 10% of projects provided opportunities for participants to define their own research question (Turrini et al. 2018). A series of 5 research challenges posed during the 10-week program were designed to promote a sense of scientific collaboration amongst the participants and provide a structured research experience. Students identified an original research question, interacted with scientist mentors via live webinars and discussion boards. A virtual science symposium served as the capstone of the internship. The critical threat of mosquito vector borne disease makes student research examining local mosquito populations both relevant and compelling. While vector-borne diseases such as West Nile virus are actively transmitted in parts of the U.S., both a changing climate and the northern migration of invasive mosquito species pose a future threat of diseases such as Zika and dengue. As scientists, students are empowered as agents of change improving health in their community. The Mosquito Mappers virtual internship was created in partnership with NASA, Texas Space Grant Consortium, The University of Texas at Austin Center for Space Research, and the GLOBE Mission Mosquito Program, administered by Goddard Space Flight Center and the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies.

This presentation describes a vector-borne disease risk reduction project conducted in Brazil and Peru as part of USAID’s Combating Zika and Future Threats Initiative. The myriad factors contributing to vector borne disease risk stem from interactions in a system that includes local ecology and environmental parameters, urbanization, access to health services, economic resources, human behavior, and the presence of disease vectors and pathogens. The emergence of technologies such as smart phones, cloud-based data servers, and data visualization and analysis tools have fostered rapid growth in citizen science programs and tools. The phenomenon of citizen science is seen by many as an important sociocultural development that has the potential to democratize science. While a number of citizen science projects may be characterized as transdisciplinary research, in many cases stakeholder engagement is limited to participation in crowd-sourced data collection. In this project, the stakeholders- educators, students, community leaders and public health officials- all contributed to the project at levels of effort and in ways that were most meaningful for them. A key innovation employed in this project was a mobile citizen science app that enabled stakeholders to locate, identify and mitigate mosquito breeding habitats. While there are many data collection apps that enable citizen scientists to report environmental observations for use by the science community, the NASA GLOBE Observer Mosquito Habitat Mapper also enables users to tally their efforts as they eliminate mosquito oviposition sites. This app capability supports municipalities keen on promoting behaviors that reduce the risk of vector-borne disease. We discuss the transdisciplinary approach employed through each phase of the project: ideation, realization, experimentation and evaluation, and how prioritizing local stakeholder knowledge and experience resulted in recommendations that will be used to improve a citizen science app that is employed internationally.

The NASA Earth Science Education Collaborative (NESEC) project has the goal to enable broad participation in authentic NASA Earth Science STEM experiences for lifelong learners. These experiences include citizen science through GLOBE Observer (part of the international GLOBE Program), student investigations and research projects, field campaigns, and internships (including both virtual and in-person participation). NESEC works with strategic partners to develop, deliver, and strengthen these experiences. The 2020 pandemic required shifting our approach to adapt and emphasize ways to participate that did not require going outdoors and could be undertaken from home. These resources included activities, not requiring special equipment and using materials that can be found at home. Activities were that work well with families – including different ages and generations – and encourage exploration, play, and building curiosity together about science and the environment. NESEC leverages partnerships with informal education providers, in particular libraries, which This presentation discusses results of field testing with families and emerging evidence of best practices for partnerships and resources to support science and learning at home.

Practitioners and researchers in geoscience education embrace ICON (Integrated, Coordinated, Open science, and Networked) principles and have a history of using them to create and share educational resources, to move forward collective priorities, and to learn from one another. Geoscience education brings substantial expertise in social science research and its application to building individual and collective capacity. This can be used to support ICON processes and improve the coproduction of knowledge between geoscientists and diverse communities. Geoscience is an important part of the knowledge needed to advance equity at local to global scales. The geoscience education community has expanded its own ICON capacity through access to and use of shared resources and research findings, enhancing data sharing and publication, and leadership development. We prioritize continued use of ICON principles to develop effective and inclusive communities that increase equity in geoscience education and beyond, that support leadership and full participation of systemically non-dominant groups, and that enable global discussions and collaborations.