What's New?

Below you can learn more about some of the recent activities of the Landsat Education and Public Outreach (EPO) office.

Landsat outreach at the National Interpreters Workshop

LDCM Education and Public Outreach held two sessions at the National Association for Interpretation’s Annual Conference in November, highlighting the NASA Explorer Institute, Earth to Sky. The conference was attended by over 1200 informal education specialists, representing the National Park Service, US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and many state and county park systems, as well as nature centers, zoos, aquaria, and other informal education venues.

 

Bridging the GAPS from Space

An educational satellite validation field campaign called "Bridging the GAPS from Space: How to validate NASA Satellite Data in the Field" was recently conducted at the Pocono Environmental Education Center (PEEC) in Dingmans Ferry, PA, on the grounds of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (DEWA). The campaign was attended by over 130 participants, including middle and high school science, math, and geography teachers and their students from eleven local school districts.

 

Using Landsat to Explore Change Over Time

The LDCM EPO staff recently designed and conducted a "Using Landsat to Explore Change Over Time" teacher workshop for 20 Prince Georges County teachers in collaboration with the "Bridging the Watershed" (external link) environmental education program. "Bridging the Watershed" targets Washington DC area schools and has reached over 10,000 area students with their place-based science education curriculum.

 

Geospatial Education Workshop Summary

The Landsat EPO co-wrote a recently published report, "Integrating Geographic Information Systems and Remote Sensing for Technical Workforce Development at Two-Year Colleges.” The report, partially funded by NASA, is available for download at the web site of the National Council for Geographic Education (NCGE) (external link). The report details results of an interagency meeting at the National Science Foundation in August 2005 and makes it clear that two-year colleges provide fertile ground and high leverage opportunities for NASA education and workforce development. NASA's Landsat EPO staff collaborated with with USGS, NCGE, and Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) to develop and conduct the meeting.

 

Earth to Sky NASA Explorer Institute

LDCM EPO staff co-wrote the interim "Earth to Sky NASA Explorer Institute" (external link) report, together with Sun-Earth Connection Education Forum. This year's "Earth to Sky" effort will produce a training tool, and a brochure and traveling exhibit featuring impacts of Global Climate Change on National Parks; a web-based resource for use in creating informal education products about the Sun-Earth Connection; and a multimedia presentation and walking tour at Golden Gate National Recreation Area focusing on changes over time in the San Francisco Bay region. These projects are expanding the use of NASA content within our National Parks, and strengthen the NASA-NPS partnership. As a result of this partnership, millions of people are experiencing the science of NASA as part of their park visit.

 

The Landsat Legacy Project

The Landsat Legacy project, continues to conduct oral history interviews with members of the Landsat alumni. Together with the literature search, the project is unearthing interesting and useful information about the development and maintenance of the Landsat program over its 30+ year history. As of September 28, 2006, 23 Landsat veterans have been interviewed as part of the oral history series.