The Ad Astra Academy empowers under-resourced students to pursue education through the inspirational power of earth and space science. Over five months in 2019, a team of scientists and educators will work with local partners in Rio de Janeiro to offer hands-on, project-based lessons on the scientific method, conservation, astrobiology, and space exploration. Students will…
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MINDFUL CLIMATE ACTION – MARGARET MOONEY, NOAA’S COOPERATIVE INSTITUTE FOR METEOROLOGICAL SATELLITE STUDIES (CIMSS), MADISON, WISCONSIN, USA
An interdisciplinary team of physicians, scientists and environmental advocates collaborating on the Mindful Climate Action (MCA) project aims to match the latest science on mindfulness meditation with climate change education to achieve a lasting impact on health and the environment. Our 8-week mindfulness-based wellness and sustainability program empowers individuals with essential skills to combat climate…
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FROM MORDOR TO MARS: ASTROBIOLOGY FOR GAME DESIGN – LAUREN SEYLER, WOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION, WOODS HOLE, MA, USA
This project will create an “Ask an Astrobiologist” interactive booth for public education and engagement at gaming and sci-fi conventions. The booth will be debuted at Dreamation, a yearly convention in Morristown, NJ that features tabletop, live-action roleplaying, and other games, from Feb 21-24, 2019. This convention serves as a testing ground for independently-produced games…
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PALEONTOLOGY EXHIBIT FOR A LOCAL MUSEUM – LUZ HELENA OVIEDO, SMITHSONIAN TROPICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE, PANAMA
The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), has funded paleontological field work in several sites across Colombia. One of them isLa Venta, among the most diverse paleontological sites of all South America and an important point of reference for paleontologists. Over the past 100 years, scientists from all across the world have studied this region but…
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GLOBAL TO LOCAL PERSPECTIVES ON HIMALAYAN GLACIERS–SCOTT WATSON, UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
The 12 day “Walk the Talk” trek through Sagarmatha National Park was designed to discuss the results of a diverse range of research in the region with local communities and officials. Topics covered glaciers, mountains, environmental and landscape change, Sherpa livelihoods, tourism, and natural hazards, and were presented by a team of international and Nepali…
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CLIMATE WARRIOR COLLECTIVE – SHAYNA SKOLNIK, FOUNDER OF THE CLIMATE WARRIOR COLLECTIVE, MARYLAND, USA
Using a series of immersive virtual reality (VR) 360 video shorts, Climate Warrior Collective aims to help people understand the effects of climate change, how these effects are corroborated by data, and to urge people to think about how we can adapt to our changing world. By linking climate data to 360 video footage, this…
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HIGHER GROUND – A CLIMATE CHANGE RELOCATION CLINIC – HARRIET FESTING, ANTHROPOCENE ALLIANCE, FLORIDA, USA
Anthropocene Alliance will host a series of public events, one in each of seven historically marginalized coastal communities, to help launch, celebrate and inform the public about our new project, Higher Ground. Developed in collaboration with the Thriving Earth Exchange (TEX), Higher Ground is a science-based clinic to help flood survivors affected by climate change,…
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SUSTAINABILITY SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, ART, AND MATHEMATICS (STEAM) FAIR – NICOLA WEISS, STEM EDUCATION ADVOCATE, CALIFORNIA, USA
In March 2019, we are hosting our 3rd Annual Sustainable STEAM Fair. Our team decided that the time had come to bring a STEAM Fair to the community in order to educate families, students, and parents about the roles STEAM has played in their lives and how STEAM Education can impact their future studies. We…
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MARS ON THE MALL – JONATHON HILL, MARS MISSION PLANNER AND GRADUATE STUDENT, ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY, ARIZONA, USA
The 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft’s THEMIS camera has acquired images of Mars for more than 16 years. Twenty-four thousand high-quality images have been compiled into a global mosaic and printed at full resolution on a walkable basketball court-size vinyl mat. The goal will be to display this giant map of Mars on the National Mall…
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VIRTUAL REALITY EXPLORATION OF COASTAL FLOODING -TINA KORANI, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF MEDIA DESIGN, SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY, CALIFORNIA, USA
We are visualizing an historical flood in a photorealistic environment using a virtual reality (VR) headset as well as its projected level with different level of sea level rise. Our pilot study will be Balboa Island of Newport Beach, a coastal city in South California, that has experienced nuisance floodings regularly as well as a…
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