National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Climate Change Research Initiative

The NASA GISS Climate Change Research Initiative (CCRI) is a year-long STEM engagement opportunity for NYC metropolitan area educators and graduate students to work directly with NASA scientists and lead research teams in a NASA research project.

Educators participating in this opportunity will become associate researchers at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and STEM education experts who will integrate NASA education resources and content into their classrooms while improving STEM education within their communities.

During the fall and spring terms of CCRI, the research team will consist of NASA Principal Investigators who will lead high school educators and graduate student research assistants to become immersed in a NASA science research area related to climate change.

Participating high school STEM educators will develop an Applied Research STEM Curriculum Unit Portfolio that integrates components of their research into a comprehensive unit plan that utilizes NASA education resources and aligns NASA Science and STEM curricula to the Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards. The teachers will then incorporate the STEM curriculum into their classrooms and also provide community outreach STEM engagement events related to their NASA research study. The fall and spring term will not conflict with the educators’ primary schedule, roles or responsibilities at their school sites.

For graduate students, this opportunity will not conflict with coursework and class schedules during the fall and spring. It is considered to be a part-time position that supports the graduate student's major area of study and will not exceed 10 hours per week.

During the summer session, the primary research team will add an undergraduate intern and high school intern to the CCRI research team. The entire team will work collaboratively on a full-time basis to complete the research project, deliver a presentation, and create a scientific poster that will be presented at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and other regional science conferences and symposiums. The final symposium may have participants from other government agencies, such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the United States Department of Education (USDE) and the United States Department of Defense (DoD) and many others.

Due to impacts related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Fall 2020 session will be conducted remotely. Spring and Summer session locality requirements will be determined in accordance with the NASA Emergency Response Framework prior to the onset of each subsequent term.

CCRI Fall 2020-Summer 2021

Research opportunities for educators, interns and grad students during Fall 2020 through Summer 2021 are in the following projects:

+ Atmospheric Rivers in a Changing Climate

+ Characterizing the Urban Land Surface Temperature via an Innovative, Multi-Platformed Suite of Satellite and Ground-Based Remote Sensing Technologies

+ Climate Change in the Hudson Estuary — Past, Present, and Future

+ Earth Observation Applications for Resiliency: Assessing Climate Change Impacts in Urban, Agricultural, and Natural Environments

Applications

CCRI applicants must be US citizens and reside within a 50-mile radius of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, located at 2880 Broadway, New York, NY 10025. Housing, relocation and travel expenses are not provided.

Please address all questions regarding these opportunities to Matthew Pearce at matthew.d.pearce@nasa.gov.

Applications are considered upon receipt.

Educators:
For detailed information about educator participation in CCRI 2020-21, please download and read the information and instructions document (PDF). The application period closes on September 21, 2020.

Educator applicants must be currently employed as full time, in-service credentialed teachers with a subject matter competency related to the research project.

To apply for the CCRI educator opportunity, you must submit a cover letter, resume, transcripts and letters of recommendation. The cover letter should include description of how the project aligns with the teacher's current teaching position.

For instructions on how to submit this information, please contact Rosalba Giarratano at rosalba.n.giarratano@nasa.gov, or Matthew Pearce at matthew.d.pearce@nasa.gov. Please note that due to privacy and security concerns, you should not use e-mail to submit application documents.

Graduate Students:
For detailed information about graduate student participation in CCRI 2020-21, including descriptions of the opportunities, please download and read the information and instructions document (PDF). The application period closes on September 21, 2020.

Grad student applicants must be currently enrolled in a graduate level program of study that aligns with the research project that they are applying to.

To apply for the CCRI grad student opportunity, you must submit a cover letter, resume, transcripts and letters of recommendation. The cover letter should include the projects being applied to ranked in order of preference and a description of how the project being applied to aligns with the student's current teaching position.

For instructions on how to submit this information, please contact Rosalba Giarratano at rosalba.n.giarratano@nasa.gov, or Matthew Pearce at matthew.d.pearce@nasa.gov. Please note that due to privacy and security concerns, you should not use e-mail to submit application documents.

High School and Undergraduate Student Interns:
Information on how to apply for internships during the CCRI Summer 2021 session will be posted on the NASA Internships and Fellowships website when it becomes available in early 2021.

Please note that other GISS and research partner internships that are not part of the CCRI program should be listed on the GISS internships page.

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CCRI Education Products

Dulaney, N., 2018: Earth's Energy Budgets. Applied Research STEM Curriculum Unit Portfolio. (16.8 MB PDF)

Dulaney, N., 2019: Future Temperature Projections. Applied Research STEM Curriculum Unit Portfolio. (7.3 MB PDF)

Wang-Mondaca, C., 2019: Wetlands. Applied Research STEM Curriculum Unit Portfolio. (7.9 MB PDF)

Sebastian, E., C., 2020: The Heat is On: Urban Heat Islands, Detection Strategies, and Mitigation Solutions. Applied Research STEM Curriculum Unit Portfolio. (5.1 MB PDF)

CCRI Research Products

Chui, A.C., A. Gittelson, E. Sebastian, N. Stamler, and S. Gaffin, 2018: Urban heat islands and cooler infrastructure — Measuring near-surface temperatures with hand-held infrared cameras. Urban Clim., 24, 51-62, doi:10.1016/j.uclim.2017.12.009.

Jakubowski, H.V., N. Bock, L. Busta, M. Pearce, R.L. Roston, Z.D. Shomo, and C.R. Terrell, 2020: Introducing climate change into the biochemistry and molecular biology curriculum. Biochem. Mol. Biol. Educ., early on-line, doi:10.1002/bmb.21422.

Peteet, D.M., J. Nichols, T. Kenna, C. Chang, J. Browne, M. Reza, S. Kovari, L. Liberman, and S. Stern-Protz, 2018: Sediment starvation destroys New York City marshes' resistance to sea level rise. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 115, no. 41, 10281-10286, doi:10.1073/pnas.1715392115.

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