ESIP Education Workshops

The first ESIP Teacher workshop took place in July 2009 at the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB), organized by the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS). The Federation of Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP) is a unique consortium of scientific organizations that collect, interpret, and develop applications for remotely sensed data. ESIP members meet twice a year, in D.C. each winter and at a different location each summer, providing the perfect opportunity to reach a new group of regional educators each summer. And since many ESIP members develop educational products, there is a clear benefit to fostering this synergistic environment. To date, approximately 200 science teachers from over a dozen states have participated in ESIP Education Workshops. In addition, numerous informal educators, college instructors and representatives from different Federal agencies have also participated. And over two dozen ESIP members have presented. Evaluations garner high ratings and helpful suggestions that are incorporated into improving successive workshops.

The themes, goals and outcomes of each ESIP Education Workshop align perfectly with the ESIP Education Committee mission “to increase the quality and value of Earth science products and services for the benefit of science and society”. Furthermore, they address NOAA and NASA Education strategic goals as well as CIMSS research themes in education, training and outreach. In many ways, ESIP Education Workshops represent the perfect synthesis of institutional intention with the common outcomes pursued by educators, developers, teachers and learners.

Another benefit of this collaboration is the lighter carbon footprint that results from having regional teachers attend a conference where researchers are already gathering. In this way, NOAA, NASA, CIMSS and ESIP can ‘walk the talk” by advancing earth science education and climate literacy without advancing adverse impacts of climate change. This poster will provide highlights of ESIP Education Workshops from 2009 to 2015.