Public Outreach Program Research Articles

Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) Education and Public Outreach Program

The Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) program serves as a pipeline of activities to inspire and educate a broad audience about Heliophysics and the Sun-Earth system, specifically the Van Allen Radiation Belts. The program is comprised of a variety of formal, informal and public outreach activities that all align with the NASA Education Portfolio Strategic Framework outcomes. These include lesson plans and curriculum for use in the classroom, teacher workshops, internship opportunities, activities that target underserved populations, collaboration with science centers and NASA visitors’ centers and partnerships with experts in the Heliophysics and education disciplines. This paper will detail the activities that make up the RBSP E/PO program, their intended audiences, and an explanation as to how they align with the NASA education outcomes. Additionally, discussions on why these activities are necessary as part of a NASA mission are included. Finally, examples of how the RBSP E/PO team has carried out some of these activities will be discussed throughout.

Emergency Response Planning: An Example of International Collaboration in CCS Community Outreach and Project Development

When addressing community engagement and outreach, North American carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects have parameters unique to the continent, including the history of CO2 enhanced oil recovery (EOR), which goes back over 40 years in some jurisdictions and, aligned with this, the use of landmen and one-on-one dialogue with landowners and community residents that are well versed in oilfield technologies.These variables alone are in marked contrast to the CCS experiences of many global projects, which do not have the tradition of engaging in one-on-one discussion. Even where CCS projects have conducted extensive public consultation and education, significant opposition has shut down some, and put in jeopardy others, in a manner that contradicts the North American hydrocarbon experience. With the increase in North America of integrated CCS projects that go beyond CO2-EOR, a change in community engagement strategies has taken place under the unique auspices of the United States Department of Energy's (US DOE) Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships Initiative (RCSP). Part of the planning in each of these seven geographic regions includes significant public education, outreach, and communications programs, particularly in areas unfamiliar with injection and storage technologies (i.e., outside of traditional oil producing areas). The bringing together of different demonstration projects’ participants – not just nationally within the US but including projects in Western Canada – has allowed for the sharing of best practices between projects and across international jurisdictions.Such sharing is particularly true where the development of community engagement guidelines and strategies are concerned. The publication in 2010 of the US DOE's Best Practices for Public Outreach and Education for Carbon Storage Projects is one example where the experiences of several United States demonstration projects were brought to bear on developing communications guidelines, which in turn were used to help develop public outreach strategies for such projects as Aquistore in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada [1]. Another example of such international information sharing is the World Resources Institute's Guidelines for Community Engagement in Carbon Dioxide Capture, Transport, and Storage Projects where, over a period of a year and a half, international experts were brought together for round table discussions to form the basis of the guidelines and provide an international peer review [2].More recently, the development of an emergency response plan for the Illinois Basin – Decatur Project, led by the Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium, one of the RCSP partnerships, drew upon this international collaborative structure, employing the experience of communicators from Schlumberger Carbon Services, the Petroleum Technology Research Centre (managers of the IEAGHG Weyburn- Midale CO2 Monitoring and Storage Project) and the Illinois State Geological Survey to develop a map of potential crisis points. This planning process brought together the lessons learned from various projects, risk assessments, media experiences, and best practices to help identify potential risks for the project (a list of events and scenarios) with the goal of creating response paths and directions for the management of risks and the mitigation of potential threats. These scenarios involved not only potential external issues – such as leakage or pipeline failure – but also addressed management issues internal to a project such as loss of key personnel or loss of funding.The development of this emergency response plan is an example to other projects of the value of interconnecting communications experiences between projects, and of identifying common high-risk scenarios that require advanced response planning.

A LONGITUDINAL STUDY OFSALMONELLAFROM SNAKES USED IN A PUBLIC OUTREACH PROGRAM

Snakes are considered to be a source of Salmonella infection for humans, but little is known about the actual serotype prevalence in healthy snakes over time. Twelve snakes involved in a public outreach program, representing seven different species, were tested weekly for shedding of Salmonella sp. over a period of 10 consecutive weeks. The snakes were housed in close proximity but in separate exhibits. Fresh fecal samples (when available) or cloacal swabs were cultured for Salmonella sp., and subsequent Salmonella isolates were serotyped. As representatives of the feed source, the feces of two mice and the intestines of one rat were cultured weekly. Fecal samples from 11 of the 12 snakes were positive for Salmonella at least once. Seven (58%) of 12 snakes were culture positive five times or more. The weekly prevalence of Salmonella shedding varied between 25% and 66%. Two or more different serotypes were isolated from nine snakes over time; however, a predominant serotype was generally isolated from each of these snakes. Altogether 15 different serotypes were identified. Serotypes of public health concern included Newport, Oranienburg, and Muenchen. Two samples from feeder rodents were positive for Salmonella. The results are consistent with previous studies showing high intestinal colonization rates with Salmonella sp. in snakes. Frequent and intermittent shedding of multiple serotypes was evident. Feeder rodents might serve as a source for intestinal colonization. Appropriate handling protocols should be implemented for all reptiles associated with public outreach programs to minimize risk of Salmonella transmission to the public.

Co-occurring Lower Respiratory Symptoms and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder 5 to 6 Years After the World Trade Center Terrorist Attack

We have described the epidemiology of co-occurring lower respiratory symptoms (LRS) and probable posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) 5 to 6 years after exposure to the 9/11 disaster. We analyzed residents, office workers, and passersby (n = 16,363) in the World Trade Center Health Registry. Using multivariable logistic regression, we examined patterns of reported respiratory symptoms, treatment sought for symptoms, diagnosed respiratory conditions, mental health comorbidities, quality of life, and unmet health care needs in relation to comorbidity. Among individuals with either LRS or PTSD, 24.6% had both conditions. The odds of comorbidity was significantly higher among those with more severe 9/11 exposures. Independent of 9/11 exposures, participants with LRS had 4 times the odds of those without it of meeting criteria for PTSD, and those with PTSD had 4 times the odds of those without it of meeting criteria for LRS. Participants with comorbidity had worse quality of life and more unmet mental health care needs than did all other outcome groups. Respiratory and mental illness are closely linked in individuals exposed to 9/11 and should be considered jointly in public health outreach and treatment programs.

Ways to Enhance Children’s Activity and Nutrition (We Can!)

Obesity in Hispanic children is epidemic. Recent recommendations are to focus on parent as role model as a means of prevention. Ways to Enhance Children’s Activity and Nutrition (We Can!) is a public education outreach program from a collaboration of 4 institutes at National Institutes of Health. The purpose of this study was to examine changes in Hispanic mothers’ behaviors, knowledge, and body mass index after participating in a 6-week We Can! program. Thirty-five Hispanic mothers participated in a 6-week program offered in Spanish at an elementary school setting. Height, weight, body mass index, and the We Can! survey were obtained preprogram and postprogram. Findings included significant changes in behaviors identified as risk behaviors for childhood obesity. Outcomes were similar to non-Spanish-speaking families with whom the program was first piloted. Lessons learned from this experience may benefit others who are trying to provide preventive care of Spanish-speaking families.

Exercise, Vascular Health, and Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms

Exercise, Vascular Health, and Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms

The Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) Education and Outreach (E/PO) Program: Changing Perceptions One Program at a Time

We outline the context and overall philosophy for the combined Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) program, present a brief overview of all SDO E/PO programs along with more detailed highlights of a few key programs, followed by a review of our results to date, conclude a summary of the successes, failures, and lessons learned, which future missions can use as a guide, while incorporating their own content to enhance the public’s knowledge and appreciation of science and technology as well as its benefit to society.

Short- and long-term effects in the school system of a research immersion experience for science educators: An example from ANDRILL (Antarctic Geological Drilling)

Since its first field season (2006–2007), the ANDRILL (Antarctic Geological Drilling) program has implemented an innovative educational and public outreach (EPO) program known as ARISE (ANDRILL Research Immersion for Science Educators), which has actively involved a group of selected educators in every phase of the research, from participation in field activities to discussion of the scientific results. This method of research immersion has led to an impressive list of achievements, including the development of quality outreach initiatives and diverse educational materials, the involvement of a large number of schools using these resources, the creation of an international network of strongly motivated polar geoscience educators, and the realization of new and unexpected professional opportunities for educators. In Italy this program initiated a specific project (progettosmilla.it), in accordance with the objectives of the ARISE Program. Thanks to the use of both a wide range of instruments (online and material) and the network of personal relationships provided by teachers involved in the program, ARISE has resulted in many short-term accomplishments. The development of new partnerships with local and national institutions has led to a number of middle- and long-term processes, rarely seen in similar EPO projects, resulting in the attainment of other goals. Research immersion experiences promote close interactions between teachers and scientists, and provide the potential for accomplishing other long-term educational outcomes. The shared development of educational resources by scientists and educators through ARISE has created an opportunity to advance scientific education within schools and, through outreach, in the general populace.

The Education and Public Outreach Program for NASA’s Dawn Mission

The Dawn mission’s Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) program takes advantage of the length of the mission, an effort to maintain level funding, and the exceptional support of the science and engineering teams to create formal and informal educational materials that bring STEM content and modes of thinking to students of all ages. With materials that are based on researched pedagogical principles and aligned with science education standards, Dawn weaves together many aspects of the mission to engage students, teachers, and the general public. E/PO tells the story of the discovery of the asteroid belt, uncovers principles of physics behind the ion propulsion that powers the spacecraft, and explains what we can learn from the instrumentation and how the mission’s results will expand our understanding of the origins of the solar system. In this way, we not only educate and inform, we build anticipation and expectation in the general public for the spacecraft’s arrival at Vesta in 2011 and three years later at Ceres. This chapter discusses the organization, strategies, formative assessment and dissemination of these materials and activities, and includes a section on lessons learned.

The Dawn Mission to Vesta and Ceres

The Dawn mission journeys to the center of the main asteroid belt to orbit and explore the two most massive main belt asteroids, Vesta and Ceres. Dawn aims to increase our understanding not just of the present state of these two bodies, but also of the conditions during the time of their formation. It attempts this through achieving a set of measurement objectives in which the physical properties of these asteroids such as mass, slopes, size, density, and spin state are accurately determined, and in which the mineralogical and elemental composition of the surface and near-surface material are probed. Dawn employs ion propulsion technology to enable a modestly-sized launcher to start a moderately-sized spacecraft on its journey, to not only reach the two massive asteroids but also to orbit them, descending to near the surface. Unlike most orbital missions, the initial (Vesta) phase must be completed with sufficient reserves and within a time window that later allows Dawn to explore Ceres. Dawn carries a redundant framing camera, a visible and near-IR spectrometer, a gamma ray and neutron spectrometer, and achieves high-accuracy radiometric and optical navigation to enable gravity field determination. The spacecraft was developed by Orbital Sciences Corporation under the management of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Dawn is a Principal Investigator-led mission of the Discovery Program. The PI institution, the University of California, Los Angeles, manages directly the science team, the Dawn Science Center, and the Education and Public Outreach program.

AGU education and public outreach programs: Empowering future Earth and space scientists

The staff and leadership of AGU are committed to fostering excellence in Earth and space science education. While AGU's Strategic Plan does not specifically highlight primary or secondary education among its objectives, outreach in this area plays a significant role in developing and nurturing the next generation of Earth and space scientists. Several educational goals along with specific strategies will help AGU meet its goal related to workforce or talent pool development. Particular emphasis is being placed on building partnerships and collaborations that will increase the effectiveness of AGU's outreach efforts related to education.

Clinical and pathologic profile of breast cancer in a tertiary cancer center in Saudi Arabia.

1603 Background: Breast cancer (BC) ranked first among Saudi females, accounting for 23.6% of all cancers with highest incidences in Eastern and Riyadh Regions. Our study aimed at describing the clinical, pathological and epidemiological characteristics of BC at our institution, a leading tertiary cancer center in the region. Methods: Data were collected from records of BC patients treated at King Abdulaziz Medical City over 5 year period from 2002 to 2007, including clinical, demographic, and disease characteristics. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 18. Results: 450 pathologically confirmed BC patients were identified. The median age of diagnosis was 47.8 years (13-84). The vast majority are Saudi 81%. Most of the patients are overweight (32.5%) or obese (49.0%) whereas, over 21% of them are diabetic and 20% are hypertensive, 4.5% are nulliparous, and 59% have family history of malignancy. Only four patients have previous history of malignancy. The most frequent presenting symptom is breast lump (85%) followed by axillary lump in (11%). The mean duration of symptoms was 348 days. Around 4.5% presented with bilateral tumors and the primary site of cancer was the right upper outer quadrent in nearly 40% of patients. 93% of cases are invasive ductal carcinoma and 7.1% are invasive lobular carcinoma. 2% are insitu tumor, 28% had localized disease, 35% regional involvement and 19% with distant metastasis while 16% were unknown. Finally the ER and PR were positive in 39% and 33.5%, respectively and 29.5% had positive HER2 over expressed. 14.3% were triple negative (TNBC). Conclusions: Patients with BC present at younger age and more advanced stage. The latter fact may be related to delay in seeking medical help in a timely fashion. Public outreach programs are underway to improve female awareness about the importance of screening and early detection. Higher percentage of tumors over express HER2 neu while TNBC rate is similar to Western data. High percentage of women has positive family history, overweight, and obesity which need further evaluation as BC risk factors.

Environmental drivers of Ross River virus in southeastern Tasmania, Australia: towards strengthening public health interventions

In Australia, Ross River virus (RRV) is predominantly identified and managed through passive health surveillance. Here, the proactive use of environmental datasets to improve community-scale public health interventions in southeastern Tasmania is explored. Known environmental drivers (temperature, rainfall, tide) of the RRV vector Aedes camptorhynchus are analysed against cumulative case records for five adjacent local government areas (LGAs) from 1993 to 2009. Allowing for a 0- to 3-month lag period, temperature was the most significant driver of RRV cases at 1-month lag, contributing to a 23·2% increase in cases above the long-term case average. The potential for RRV to become an emerging public health issue in Tasmania due to projected climate changes is discussed. Moreover, practical outputs from this research are proposed including the development of an early warning system for local councils to implement preventative measures, such as public outreach and mosquito spray programmes.

Is Wildlife Going to the Dogs? Impacts of Feral and Free-roaming Dogs on Wildlife Populations

In human-populated landscapes, dogs (Canis familiaris) are often the most abundant terrestrial carnivore. However, dogs can significantly disrupt or modify intact ecosystems well beyond the areas occupied by people. Few studies have directly quantified the environmental or economic effects of free-roaming and feral dogs. Here, we review wildlife-dog interactions and provide a case study that focuses on interactions documented from our research in Mongolia to underscore the need for studies designed to best determine how dogs affect native wildlife and especially imperiled populations. We suggest additional research, public awareness campaigns, and the exclusion of dogs from critical wildlife habitat. The application of scientific findings to management and enhanced public outreach programs will not only facilitate recovery and maintenance of wildlife populations globally but also has the potential to reduce economic losses.

The tobacco dependence dimension in Colombia.

This epidemiological study of a sample of smokers from the general population of Colombia examined the population distribution and dimensionality of eight hypothesized inter-correlated clinical features (CFs) associated with tobacco dependence syndrome (TDS). Data were drawn from interviews of 4 426 smokers conducted in a national survey in Colombia as part of the World Mental Health Survey Initiative. Daily smokers completed a Spanish-language TDS module, and the 237 smokers who had begun smoking during the five years prior to the assessment were selected. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) for a unidimensional TDS provided discrimination and difficulty parameter estimates. Two CFs that were reported very infrequently among the study sample were dropped from the CFA. Among the six remaining CFs, discrimination (D1) estimates ranged from 1.1 to 6.0 and difficulty (D2) estimates ranged from 1.1 to 2.2, providing evidentiary support for a unidimensional tobacco dependence construct. The Spanish-language TDS module used in this study could serve as a valuable tool in future studies for evaluating public health outreach and early intervention programs directed toward community residents who have begun smoking tobacco.

견우성의 이중적 의미에 대한 해석

The Cowherd Star and the Weaving Maid Star have been famous stars in East Asian countries. Nowadays Altair is defined to be the Cowherd Star in public materials including science books, mass media, public outreach programs, and movies played in public planetariums and science museums. However, in astronomical books and star-charts in history, the Cowherd Big Star (牽牛大星) has been known to be Dabih or Cap in the constellation Capricorn, and the asterism Cowherd consists of six stars including Dabih. Since the same title is given to the different objects simultaneously, considerable misunderstanding and confusion among the public have occurred. In this paper we consider this problem in two aspects. One aspect is which star has been defined to be the Cowherd Star in ancient literatures; the other is which stars were regarded as the Cowherd or the Cowherd Star in the historical records of occultation or conjunction in History of Koryo, Annals of the Choson Dynasty, and Daily Records of Royal Secretariat of the Choson Dynasty. As a result, we see that Altair has been regarded as the Cowherd Star in folklore and literature, but Dabih has been defined to be the Cowherd Big Star in astronomical works. An explanation proposed by previous researchers on the reason why such double meanings have been appeared is introduced. In the explanation, the fact that the Altair was defined as the Cowherd Star in ancient times had not been handed over properly, and the name of Cowherd was later put to the Dabih and its surrounding five stars to form one of 28 lunar lodges. Based upon these facts, we suggest the following ideas: (1) Altair should be introduced to be the Cowherd Star in public-friendly programs, and Dabih should be noticed to be the Cowherd Big Star in the field of history of astronomy. Dabih should be added as the astronomical Cowherd Big Star in academic books such as a dictionary of astronomical terminology. (2) The Korean pronunciation for Altair should be al-tear instead of al-tairu in accordance with the definition in the astronomical terminology dictionary compiled by the Korean Astronomical Society.

Some reflections on Curtis Prairie and the genesis of ecological restoration

Summary This article draws from the transcript of a talk given to Australian audience in Perth directly following the SERI conference in Western Australia 2009. It discusses Bill Jordan’s role in the genesis of the term ‘restoration ecology’ and the discipline of ‘ecological restoration’ whilst working at the University of Wisconsin‐Madison Arboretum.In 1977, Bill, a plant physiologist by training, was engaged by the Arboretum to develop a public outreach program. He felt that the Arboretum had a special story to tell as it was the site of the Depression‐era creation of a collection of restored ecological communities, which has since gained recognition as one of the earliest systematic attempts at what Dr Jordan and his colleague George Lubick have called ‘allocentric’– that is, other‐centered – ecological restoration. The centrepiece of that project, a 24‐ha prairie restoration on former cropping land and pasture now called the John T. Curtis Prairie dates back to an effort undertaken by a small group of scientists, including botanist Norman Fassett, ecologist Theodore Sperry and pioneering conservationist Aldo Leopold, and is now recognised internationally as a kind of locus classicus of this distinctive form of land management.Thinking hard about the meaning of this unique restoration project and its relationship to the University and to environmentalism, Bill and his colleague Keith Wendt coined the term ‘restoration ecology’ to describe the process of using restoration to field test ecological hypotheses. They also started the journal ‘Restoration & Management Notes’ (now ‘Ecological Restoration’) which, under Bill’s editorship, provided an influential early forum for the emerging discipline of ecological restoration.

Public Perceptions of Using Woody Biomass as a Renewable Energy Source

Woody biomass is an energy source that may play a significant role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. One barrier to using wood for energy is public perceptions. This article describes the results of a needs assessment survey that was used to develop a public outreach program. Survey responses from 298 residents of Alachua County, Florida suggest that respondents do not know about using wood for energy, are willing to be engaged in the decision-making process, and are generally in favor of using waste wood as an energy source. Respondents are most concerned about sustaining nearby forests and air quality.

Participatory Governance in the WTO: How Inclusive Is Global Civil Society?

Drawing on a database containing all available attendance lists of civil society organizations (CSOs) in World Trade Organization (WTO) politics, the article seeks to investigate the inclusiveness of civil society in the international trade regime. The research question is developed in the context of normative literature which argues for the inclusion of civil society in international politics as a remedy for its democratic deficit. By addressing political equality as a core value of democracy, the question of the inclusiveness of global civil society emanates. Literature objects to the inclusiveness of global civil society contesting equal representation. Business interests and societal interests of developed countries are assumed to dominate non-governmental interest representation in the WTO. The article examines the extent to which these objections hold true by evaluating the regional and sectoral distribution of CSOs that participated in WTO’s public outreach programmes between 1996 and 2007.

Using Newspaper Coverage Analysis to Evaluate Public Perception of Management in River-Floodplain Systems

Traditional natural resource management approaches often focus on a specific natural resource and ignore social components other than economic value. In contrast, new approaches to resource management, such as those employing ecosystem management strategies, recognize and strive to incorporate other social components of the managed system. This study uses a content analysis of regional newspaper coverage of two relatively new reserves in river-floodplain systems, the Lower Wisconsin State Riverway and the Middle Elbe Biosphere Reserve, to analyze each reserve's success in managing the social components of its resources during each reserve's first ten years. The results suggest that positive coverage of both reserves has increased, as has the perceived authority of the reserve staff, as measured by trends in the quantity of direct quotes. The Middle Elbe Biosphere Reserve received approximately three times more coverage than its Wisconsin counterpart, suggesting that the more extensive public outreach program of the former is an important tool in dealing with social issues within a conservation reserve.