Michael Jabot, professor of Science Education at Fredonia, has received funding from the Youth Learning as Citizen Environmental Scientists (YLACES) Foundation to be allocated to help establish a regional climate network that supports teachers working with Dr. Jabot in implementing the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Program and the NASA El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO field campaign).
YLACES seeks to develop citizens with scientific habits of mind, utilizing the environment as a learning laboratory where students conduct inquiry-based research and contribute to a better collective understanding of the changing world. YLACES assists and rewards the implementation of inquiry-based, experiential science education where students do science and contribute to understanding of the environment around the world.
El Niño and La Niña are important climatic phenomenon that can have impacts on the climate globally causing flooding and droughts as well as changes in seasonal weather. These interactions around the world are called teleconnections. Considering the importance of this issue, a GLOBE ENSO campaign has been formulated to engage students in determining where and how much El Niño affects local places and to put students in contact with their local environment.
Students will use GLOBE protocols of precipitation, air temperature, surface temperature, soil temperature, SMAP soil moisture and biometry (canopy and ground cover) to observe changes from climate averages and correlate temperature and precipitation measurements with observations of phenology changes. Local analyses will be compared across the participating schools and examined in the broader spatial context afforded by satellite observations.
Jabot serves a U.S. Partner for the GLOBE Program as well as an Earth Ambassador for NASA and is the Director of the Institute for Research in Science Teaching.
