Explore awards

AMNH will use NOAA weather satellite data to annotate 72 high definition (HD) video time-series global cloud cover visualizations using thermal infrared brightness temperature data acquired by five geostationary satellites and joined into global mosaics at half-hourly intervals. The HD visualizations will be used in informal and formal education activities and will be made available on the Web. These media pieces will be used for informal education activities at AMNH and 28 other informal science institutions (ISI) around the United States . The target population of visitors to subscribing ISIs is currently ten million and is projected to be over 15 million by the end of the grant. The HD visualizations will be used in formal settings, as well. Fifteen schools throughout New York City with large numbers of new English Language Learners will be targeted and professional development for teachers of ELL students will be provided through programs at AMNH as well. AMNH's effort focuses on weather and climate patterns that will be visible in the cloud-data visualizations. All viewers of the media will learn about general circulation patterns and changes in phase of water associated with the hydrologic cycle.

The SOS Ocean-Atmosphere Literacy Partnership is a collaboration among the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York, NY; Maryland Science Center (MSC) in Baltimore, MD; and Science Museum of Minnesota (SMM) in St. Paul, MN. This collaboration will create two six-minute programs and two 30-minute live presentations for the spherical display systems, including NOAA's Science on a Sphere. The SMM will produce "Ocean-Atmosphere Thermodynamics"; the AMNH will produce, "Tropical Cyclones: Theory, Models, and Observations."

The American Museum of Natural History, in association with several NOAA entities, will be creating a suite of media products employing visualization of Earth-observation data as well as associated professional development programs to expand educational experiences in informal science institutions nationwide. Interactive versions of the visualizations will also be disseminated via the AMNH website. Visualization assets will be distributed to NOAA for utilization on climate.gov and Science on a Sphere. The creation of training programs and educational materials for informal education professionals will enhance the experience and efficacy of the data visualizations as tools to understand and build stewardship of Earth systems.

The Academy of Natural Sciences (ANS) of Drexel University is integrating multi-modal environmental education into a participatory research program with the goal of enhancing local resilience to climate change in Philadelphia neighborhoods impacted by environmental racism. Established in the Netherlands in the 1970s, the “Science Shop” is a model for community-based participatory research now found widely throughout the European Union. Science Shops are not “shops” in the traditional sense of the word; they represent the institutionalization—typically within universities—of spaces to help create novel applied knowledge in equal partnership with organizations that lack the capacity, resources, or expertise to carry out such research independently. SS4CR will adopt this model to connect community leaders and residents in Philadelphia with the educational, scientific, technical, and legal resources of NOAA, ANS, Drexel, City of Philadelphia, and other regional, state, and federal experts, as needed, in order build capacity among communities in carrying out impactful climate education, research, and policy advocacy. SS4CR will initiate collaboration with three Philadelphia-based community organizations (CBO) to undertake a deep exploration of local climate and environmental quality issues through co-designed, year-long programming that focuses on the exchange of local and “expert” knowledges and the creation of trusting relationships. Facilitated knowledge sharing activities may include, among others: “serious games,” asset mapping, deliberative forums, and hand-on, kit-based workshops. Over the 2nd and 3rd program year, SS4CR will build on this foundation to frame and articulate a unique research request with each CBO that includes methods, timeline, distribution plan, and expected outcomes, to be undertaken in partnership with community leaders and residents. SS4CR is focused on locally tailored, community driven climate solutions and building community capacity to enact those solutions. Through SS4CR, all parties should increase their knowledge of local climate hazards and their impacts on Philadelphia’s most disadvantaged neighborhoods; improve their ability to reason about and conduct research into the ways that human and natural systems interact; increase their awareness of the effectiveness and potential trade-offs of different resilience interventions for Philadelphia communities; and build capacity in effectively translating knowledge into action.

Arizonans face environmental hazards from extreme heat, drought, and flooding. Watershed Management Group and partner Arizona Project WET’s “Recharge the Rain” project addressed these threats by building environmental literacy among 4-12th grade teachers, students, and the public. The project centered on educator professional training and hands-on water harvesting skills. Participants moved through a continuum from awareness to knowledge gain, to conceptual understanding, and ultimately to action. Utilizing data and experts from NOAA assets, we strengthened the capacity of residents to be resilient to our local climate threats. This 4.5 year project 1) developed and immersed 14,452 students in STEAM curriculum incorporating water harvesting that increases understanding of earth systems, engineering design, and weather; 2) applied systems thinking to train 52 teachers and 191 community volunteers in water harvesting practices and citizen-science data collection; 3) involved 8,289 Tucson community members in water harvesting principles; 4) implemented 21 teacher/student-led water harvesting projects at schools; and 5) celebrated our community work with student artwork. RtR became a call for action and an inspiration for change and adaptation to extreme weather conditions in the urban environments of the Sonoran Desert putting Tucson at the core of understanding climate, adaptation, and community.