The GLOBE Near East+North Africa (NENA) Regional Meeting took place on 9-10 February 2012 in Muscat, Oman. The 2012 regional meeting was a continuation of discussions and strategic actions initiated at the July 2011 regional meeting that took place in Washington D.C., as well as a follow-up to the extensive regional training event that occurred in October 2011. Ten countries participated in the meeting including Jordan, Oman, Pakistan, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates; connecting via telephone were Bahrain, Egypt and Lebanon. All countries noted the exemplary leadership of former GLOBE Director Dr. Andy Tasker, United Kingdom, and a moment of silence was observed.

From 23-28 January 2012, GLOBE hosted a Lower Mekong Initiative Train-the-Trainer workshop at Mae Fah Luang University in Chiang Rai, Thailand. The week-long workshop qualified 61 GLOBE trainers and two teachers from seven countries including Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Vietnam, and Thailand. In addition to increasing capacity in current GLOBE countries, the workshop was held in order to offer prospective countries the opportunity for GLOBE training. This event was made possible by the gracious support of the United States Embassy in Bangkok. The embassy made provisions to assure that teachers from the Lower Mekong could travel to Thailand to receive training in Atmosphere, Hydrology, Land Cover, and Soil investigation area protocols. The workshop marks a significant step towards a hopefully sustainable regional and sub-regional cooperation, initially among participating countries.

On 28 October 2011, Saudi Arabia GLOBE Implementation Supervisor Mr. Rafat Jambi traveled the West Coast with the intention of visiting GLOBE classrooms. Mr. Jambi visited Mrs. Barney Peterson’s class at James Monroe Elementary School in Everett, Washington. Mrs. Peterson is a 4^th Grade GLOBE teacher, and also served as a faculty member of the 2011 Kilimanjaro Xpedition in September.

GLOBE Partner and Trainer Dr. Cathy Lightsey was awarded the SET GO Grant by the Oklahoma Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (OK EPSCoR), creating opportunities for elementary and secondary science teachers in Oklahoma to receive training in GLOBE protocol implementation as well as obtain additional materials for their classrooms. EPSCoR works to strengthen Oklahoma’s exploration and growth in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The grant supports this effort by providing funds for a two-day workshop each summer for three years; each workshop will train up to 25 teachers.

Justas Sidiskis, a 14-year-old Lithuanian student from the Troskunai K. Inciura Secondary school in the Anyksciai district, took second place in the national European Union Contest for Young Scientists. His 15-minute presentation, “Investigation of Atmospheric Studies in the Troskunai Area,” was using GLOBE Atmosphere protocols. The main aim of the presentation was to analyze atmospheric studies by using GLOBE data collected from 2008 to 2010.  A summary of the problem, research methodology, analysis, review of the results, and Justas’s conclusions were presented in his report. Justas encompassed his assessments using four points: 1) a graphic representation of the types of clouds of each month, 2) an analysis of the clouds’ graphs, 3) an analysis of precipitation data, and 4) a comparison of changes of 2010 temperature data with previous years.

Over 170 students and teachers in the Kingdom of Bahrain attended a series of GLOBE training workshops in October 2011 focused on Atmosphere, Land Cover and data entry to promote active participation in GLOBE’s Intensive Observing Periods (IOPs). Events began on 4 October 2011, when 92 students from 28 intermediate and secondary level schools attended a workshop at Hamad Town Intermediate and Secondary Girls Schools focused on Atmosphere and Data Entry training. Team members from the Ministry of Education collaborated with experienced GLOBE students and trainers to conduct the workshop. 

Since 1995, GLOBE schools in Uruguay have been recognized for their active student participation in national science fairs and international campaigns such as GLOBE at Night. On 26 May 2011, GLOBE Country Coordinator and GIAC Representative Lic. Andrea Ventoso organized a workshop at the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and Environment to grow and sustain the GLOBE Program in Uruguay. Supported by the Latin America-Caribbean Regional Office and the United States Embassy in Uruguay, the objectives of this workshop were to commend GLOBE teachers for their previous successes, encourage their continued participation with GLOBE, and to invite additional primary and secondary schools to join the GLOBE community in Uruguay. This was a memorable event, as it was the first time for Uruguayan secondary schools to be able to participate in a GLOBE certification workshop.

Each year at the OhioView Teachers Exploring Local Landscapes to Interpret the Earth from Space (SATELLITES) Conference students from K-12 schools and universities from multiples states present projects that they developed using their own inquiry-based research utilizing geospatial technologies. Student projects are then evaluated for scientific quality and awards are presented to the highest scoring teams in elementary, middle, high school, and college. Each fall, the SATELLITES Program partners with GLOBE to hold a field campaign that allows students the opportunity to develop the projects they will present at the conference. The 2011 Surface Temperature Field Campaign is currently underway, and involves both U.S. and international GLOBE schools.