Requesting use of NSF facilities for education

Research in the geosciences often requires specialized facilities and instrumentation to carry out field work that is needed to understand complex, interdependent processes, covering all regions of the globe. The National Science Foundation (NSF), Lower Atmospheric Observing Facilities (LAOF) Program consists of multi-user national facilities sponsored by NSF for the geosciences community. These facilities are made available to collect large and sometimes unique data sets in support of scientific research. The LAOF is made up by National Center for Atmospheric Research, Colorado State University, University of Wyoming, and the Center for Severe Weather Research.

The NSF reserves a portion of the LAOF funding for use by educators wishing to gain access to these observational facilities for classroom instruction and hands-on learning experience. This includes requesting that a facility be deployed to a university for a short period of time.

A description of the available facilities and examples of previous educational deployments will be presented. Guidelines for submitting proposals will be discussed.