August 7, 2023
U.S. Ambassador to Estonia George P. Kent joined Estonian Minister of Education and Research Kristina Kallas and GLOBE Director Tony Murphy in Tartu to open the GLOBE Estonia Learning Expedition 2023, an environmental study program run in cooperation with U.S. space research center NASA. During the four-day Expedition, 150 students and teachers from Estonia and abroad will work with scientists to gather environmental measurements. This year’s Expedition will be the first in Estonia to focus on the urban environment, including microclimate and microplastics in the Emajõgi river.
The Expedition is organized by the GLOBE program in Estonia, in cooperation with the U.S. Embassy in Tallinn, the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research, the City of Tartu, Miina Härma Gymnasium, and GLOBE students and alumni.
“This program is a wonderful example of how the U.S. and Estonia are working together to ensure students develop the core science, critical thinking, and data analysis skills necessary to address complex global challenges like climate change,” Ambassador Kent said. In his remarks to the participants, he thanked the teachers and administrators for their commitment to preparing the next generation.
GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) is a global environment-oriented education and research program for primary, elementary, and high school students. GLOBE’s day-to-day operations in Estonia include making environmental measurements and observations and transmitting data to the globe.gov database. Data and research results collected by the students during the 2023 Expedition will be submitted to the GLOBE Global Research Project Competition and will also supplement NASA’s data on land cover, biodiversity, microclimates, and the state of water bodies.
The GLOBE program was initiated by U.S. Vice President Al Gore in 1994, and Estonia joined the program in 1996. Estonia’s GLOBE program was recognized in February 2021 as a GLOBEPlus member, one of only nine such programs in the world, and has been frequently commended for the number and quality of environmental measurements the program has provided.
More information about the 2023 GLOBE Expedition can be found here: https://www.globe.ee/uritused/suvelaagrid/globe-estonia-learning-expedition-2023/.
Photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/usembassytallinn/albums/72177720310313582
