New EDC-NASA Partnership Will Expand Reach and Impacts of GLOBE Program

Education Development Center (EDC) has received a five-year, $16 million award from NASA to co-lead its Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Implementation Office (GIO) with City University of New York (CUNY). As part of the award, EDC will head up GLOBE Community Engagement and Support and CUNY will oversee Science, Training, Education, and Public Engagement.

Founded in 1994, GLOBE is a worldwide science and education program that creates “agents of change” by increasing environmental awareness. The program contributes to increased scientific understanding of the Earth, supports improved student achievement in science and mathematics, and engages citizen scientists. To date, tens of thousands of GLOBE-trained teachers from 127 countries have guided 800,000+ students through hands-on learning and participation in the scientific process, resulting in over 230 million environmental measurements being submitted to the NASA GLOBE database. These standardized, high-quality measurements play a vital role in both classroom learning and professional scientific research.

“GLOBE is a profoundly needed and impactful program that has achieved truly impressive outcomes,” says EDC senior managing director Rebecca Lewis, who will serve as EDC’s director of the GIO Community Engagement and Support. “We are deeply honored that NASA has chosen EDC as a partner in realizing its evolving vision for GLOBE, and we look forward to convening, collaborating with, and championing the important efforts of the amazing worldwide GLOBE community.”

“Bottom-up innovations and contextualizing GLOBE in local context have contributed to the GLOBE Program’s longevity,” says Amy P. Chen, NASA GLOBE program manager. “I am very excited about EDC’s plan to scale GLOBE’s visibility and impact through effective communities of practice and partnership.”

EDC’s Community Engagement and Support team will focus on fostering internal and external information exchange, collaboration, and capacity building across GLOBE. The team will advance the following key GLOBE objectives:

• Integrate the traditional school-based program and citizen science models
• Energize participation in the GLOBE community
• Ensure collaboration, coordination, and capacity building
• Guide continuous improvement
• Broaden GLOBE’s reach and impact

Learn more about EDC’s work focused on STEM, Skills for a Green Future, and Earth Science.