Biodiversity poster from the Science Literacy website library
Hello everyone,
For those who do not know, this week is Science Literacy Week. Science Literacy Week began as an awareness week to promote STEM fields and careers, and address different STEM topics and issues each year to the public. This year the theme is Biodiversity on Earth From Space. Biodiversity describes the natural processes and ecosystems that occur and co-exist on our planet. From fish migration to climate change, biodiversity covers a range of topics. It is an important theme for this year because we are starting to see the planets environment and climate change both subtly and drastically. The bush fires in Australia and the forest fires in California and Oregon, record breaking temperatures in the Canadian High Arctic, the loss of a glacier in Iceland, etc are a few examples of climate-based changes that have occurred in the past couple of years. To monitor biodiversity, traditionally, biologists, meteorologists, and geographers would take equipment into the field and measure different atmospheric and hydrological parameters to see how environments are changing. In the late 20th century, satellites became a new technique to monitor biodiversity since it could track changes and measure parameters at a global scale. From space, we can monitor and track the growth of urban development and infrastructure, the recession of ice sheets, extreme weather patterns, volcanic eruptions and earthquake damage, climate change, and deforestation. It is why this Science Literacy Week has included space in its theme. Earth observation needs to be made aware to the public, politicians and industrial CEOs because it is our best tool to not only studying our planet and its biodiversity, but ensuring we understand how it is changing and learning how we can mitigate extreme climate change and devastations.
I am contributing to Science Literacy Week this year by developing an education video explaining the important role space plays in monitoring Earth's biodiversity. My role entails interviewing speakers to obtain information about earth observation and biodiversity research, make and edit the video, and help promote it during Science Literacy Week and Space Week in October (this years theme is satellites, so a perfect match!). I have three speakers for the video. I cannot release their names until the video is released to the press so please stand-by for a second update to this post.
I have experience editing videos and audio clips from my role as a host and producer on the graduate student podcast committee GradCast. Getting the opportunity to talk to professionals using earth observation to study biodiversity or systems that impact biodiversity really helped me learn more about our planet, research involving biodiversity, and just getting the chance to meet really interesting people in the STEM field. If you ever have the chance to contribute to Science Literacy Week, you should go for it. It is a great way for you to expand your knowledge about different STEM fields and meet new people.
The latter for why you should contribute is the biggest point for me because one of the people who I interviewed held a postdoctoral scholarship at her previous position at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and it is the same scholarship I am applying to this semester! The world is a lot smaller than you realize and you never know, you might meet someone who has great advice for you and who could be a great contact to have in the future!
Stay tuned for an updated post where I will hopefully be able to post the education video for you guys!
Until next time.