Training Events

This three-day workshop, hosted by the regional team based at South Central Climate Adaptation Science Center, brought together teams of Native informal educators from across the South Central region. Participants heard from NASA climate science experts, explored science and educational resources, collaborated and network with colleagues, and developed youth outreach activities on climate science to be implemented in their communities.

In our three day, interactive "Recharge!" workshop, we dove into a local climate impact of critical importance to Idahoans: water scarcity. Through conversations and presentations with hydrologists, geoscientists, and environmental humanities researchers, we explored how water scarcity impacts Idahoans, how we might adapt, and how to welcome emotions and storytelling into science spaces.

Shifts in the climate are bringing more severe droughts to the American West, altering the meaning of conservation itself as natural resource managers across the world are facing a future in which some resources cannot be saved. This course explored the science and interpretation of global climate change through the lens of ecosystems at Joshua Tree National Park.

Research shows that water-related impacts will be at the forefront of Idahoans' experience with climate change. This four-part webinar series equips educators to help students and audiences understand the local connections between water and climate – and, equally important, to combat increasingly common feelings of helplessness and climate anxiety as we navigate local climate impacts. Join Idaho's Earth to Sky team as we explore innovative responses to water scarcity and speak with researchers on how to effectively have climate change conversations with your audience and students.

Earth to Sky's Upper Delaware River Watershed (UDRW) Regional Team developed and led this online Earth to Sky course held in Spring 2021.

The course focused on effective communication and consensus building, drawing upon the resources of NASA/Goddard, including data visualization and expert speakers from NASA and regional organizations, institutions and agencies. Content was tailored to climate issues particular to the UDRW region. Topics focused on the science of climate change, moving from a global overview to a regional perspective, and included practical science sessions addressing forests, water, agriculture, health and climate justice issues in the Upper Delaware River Watershed.

Ignite was a 4-part interactive webinar series that explored the science of wildland fire in the context of global environmental change. It also provided strategies to communicate the significance of Idaho’s changing fire regimes with audiences. This series was developed and presented by the Earth to Sky Idaho Region – a partnership between NASA, the National Park Service, City of Boise, and the University of Idaho Confluence Lab.

The Earth to Sky Coastal Alaska Regional Team presented a series of four webinars to explain the NASA Earth to Sky program, explore climate science, and build community in the field of climate change communication.

Participants discussed climate science with specialists from various agencies and institutions, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Park Service (NPS), and others.

Topics included climate and earth science; weather & climate; glacial change research; satellite imagery to illustrate changes on the landscape; climate change impacts on fisheries, oceans, subsistence, & economics; climate science communication skills; and communicating with courage and hope.

Earth to Sky partnered with the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve (GTM Research Reserve) to provide this two-day pre-conference virtual workshop, November 5-6, 2020. The workshop was offered in association with the National Association for Interpretation's annual conference.

The highly interactive workshop emphasized experiential learning in a collegial, resource-rich environment with peers and scientists. Below you will find the preliminary assignments and archived presentations from the workshop.

This workshop was designed to help interpreters meet the challenges of connecting with visitors on climate change. It provided foundational climate science, engagement with scientists and peers, and exposure to new technologies.

We emphasized systems thinking for understanding and interpreting climate change. NASA visualizations and citizen science tools, and examples of climate interpretation were highlighted. We spent the second day at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Mesa Lab, where participants learned about climate modeling, engaged with NCAR’s communication and education professionals, and explored how the Lab interprets and educates about climate. Participants and presenters shared and compared best practices and challenges in climate science communication and audience engagement. 

Each participant created and presented their own plan for integrating the presented science, emerging technologies, and innovative communication techniques into their interpretive efforts.

Interpreting climate change can be challenging! It’s complicated, and audiences may respond on a wide variety of emotional and intellectual levels. This two-day, highly interactive workshop joined interpreters and NASA science and education specialists to learn from each other about climate science and communication. We covered some basics of the science, and explored appropriate techniques for addressing this subject with a variety of audiences, including youth. Abundant interpretation, education and scientific resources were provided to support participants’ climate change interpretation efforts.

Target Audience: Employees from the USFS, USFWS, and other Federal, State and Municipal agencies, as well as non‐profit and private organizations with science communicators, interpreters, environmental educators and education specialists. Participants were expected to have some experience with interpretation/science communication. Knowledge of climate science is not required.