FIU Informal Weather Education Outreach

The Extreme Events Institute (EEI) and International Hurricane Research Center (IHRC) at Florida International University (FIU) in Miami, Florida, as a NOAA Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador, is dedicated to making South Florida, Ready, Responsive and Resilient. The session presentation would highlight the following weather education activities in the community:

• EEI-IHRC facilitates FIU STEAM-Weather Day, an annual outdoor event focused on weather education, safety and preparedness and highlighting the first responders who serve the community before, during and after severe weather. Close to 1,200 K-8 students from Miami-Dade County participate in live demonstrations and hands-on activities. This event includes many local and federal partners, including Miami-Dade County Emergency Management, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, NOAA National Hurricane Center, NOAA National Weather Service, American Red Cross and the Salvation Army.
• With funding from the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM), the EEI-IHRC partnered with the Miami-Dade County Public School District to develop free on-line hurricane learning modules for 6^th-12^th grades. The learning modules teach students about hurricane STEM science, mitigation, preparedness, wind engineering, and the role emergency management plays in the community. The learning modules are available as an educational resource for teachers and developed with the guidance of Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS).
• EEI-IHRC created the Eye of the Storm 12-episode video education series on hurricane science, mitigation, preparedness, emergency management, and the importance of wind engineering research by the NSF-NHERI Wall of Wind at FIU. The series is unique in that each episode contains an interactive science demonstration and the experts discuss their educational backgrounds and interesting STEM careers, including former NOAA-NHC Director Ken Graham talking about why he became a meteorologist.
• EEI-IHRC partners with the Miami-Dade County and Broward County Public School Districts to facilitate the annual FIU Wall of Wind Mitigation Challenge. As the next generation of engineers to address natural hazards and extreme weather, this STEM education event features a competition between high school teams to develop innovative wind mitigation concepts and real-life human safety and property protection solutions. The mitigation concepts are tested by the FIU Wall of Wind Research Facility as part of the competition. The high school students are inspired to pursue STEM education and careers in wind engineering and hurricane mitigation: https://www.designsafe-ci.org/community/news/2024/june/2024-wall-of-wind-mitigation-challenge-high-school-teams-design-test-productive-wind-barriers/