Many Firsts for Alaska, Indigenous Educators, and GLOBE on Earth Day 2022

On Earth Day 2022 (April 22nd), the NASA Science Activation project team Arctic and Earth STEM Integrating GLOBE and NASA Assets (Arctic SIGNs), led by International Arctic Research at University of Alaska Fairbanks, hosted the first-ever GLOBE Student Research Symposium in Alaska for K-12 youth and their chaperone.

On Earth Day - April 22, 2022 - NASA Science Activation’s Arctic and Earth STEM Integrating GLOBE and NASA Assets (Arctic SIGNs) project team (led by International Arctic Research at University of Alaska Fairbanks), the Association of Interior Native Educators, Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) and the NASA Citizen Science project Fresh Eyes on Ice made history. Together, they hosted more than sixty K-12 youth in the first-ever in-person GLOBE student research symposium to take place in Alaska. It was also the first time that Indigenous knowledges, values, and cultures were included as review criteria for GLOBE posters and the first time in Alaska that Indigenous educators served as symposium reviewers. In addition to presenting their community-based earth science GLOBE investigations, students investigated factors that affect dissolved oxygen in water and engaged in Koyukon Athabascan stories and language about Kk’eeyh (birch in Koyukon language, pronounced “koy-eesh”) during spring. While educators attended a training on how to showcase student posters on the GLOBE website, each student assembled and piloted their own drones and learned about remote sensing technology. Students and educators crafted felt stories and nurtured relationships in the afternoon “Your Voice Matters” station. The symposium culminated with a joyful celebration led by an Alaska Native drum and dance group and a game night.

To learn more about the symposium and view news stories see https://sites.google.com/alaska.edu/arcticandearthsigns/events/2022-globe-student-research-symposium

Funding for the symposium was provided by NASA Science Activation (Arctic SIGNs Award #NNX16AC52A) and Citizen Science (Fresh Eyes on Ice Award #180NSSC21K0858), National Science Foundation (Fresh Eyes on Ice Award #1836523), YLACES (GLOBE Student Research Symposia Grant). Additional support came from the Association of Interior Native Educators, the GLOBE Program, the University of Montana Research Education on Air and Cardiovascular Health, and the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ International Arctic Research Center, Water and Environmental Research Center, and Alaska Satellite Facility.

Learn more about the Arctic SIGNs team and their activities: https://science.nasa.gov/science-activation-team/arctic-earth-signs