ICYMI Webinar Recap for November 2018: Help NASA Track Mosquitoes with the GLOBE Observer App

Posted by kyee on December 6th, 2018 Tags: Dorian Janney, GLOBE program, ICYMI, mosquitos, NASA

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The In Case You Missed It (ICYMI) Webinar Recap series will provide a summary of our monthly SCR CONNECTions webinars. We’ll go over highlights from our guest speakers’ presentations and give some additional thoughts about the connections our attendees could be making from the presented topics!

It might sound weird to be excited about a session on mosquitos, but our last SCR CONNECTions webinar with guest speaker, Dorian Janney, fulfilled all of our excitement and more! Dorian serves as GLOBE Mission Mosquito Campaign Coordinator for NASA, and shared with us all the juicy details about NASA’s campaign to track and monitor mosquito populations and how anyone, including you, can participate!

Mosquitoes are in fact the world’s most dangerous animal, responsible for more human deaths than any other species. In order to help fight the risk of mosquito-borne disease like malaria and Zika, NASA tracks the movement of different types of mosquitoes.

While monitoring mosquito populations may seem like a surprising role for NASA, the observation capabilities of the International Space Station and the 18 satellites NASA maintains in orbit provide the information necessary to predict the spread of mosquitoes across the nation. Satellites provide data on precipitation, soil moisture, vegetation, surface temperature, and relative humidity, all factors that influence mosquito breeding conditions.

Data from orbit isn’t the only source NASA needs to effectively track these pests, however. They also need help from people like you! The average citizen can support NASA’s efforts by downloading the free app, GLOBE Observer, and use it to report mosquito habitats in your area. The app includes a step-by-step guide, and the process is simple: Observe, Analyze, Identify, and Eliminate!

You can download the GLOBE Observer app from the GLOBE Program homepage, and be sure to check out more information about how NASA is engaging and educating students and the public around the world in data collection and the scientific process.

Our next SCR CONNECTions webinar is also the last one of 2018! Join us as we hear from an experienced healthcare professional about Cultural Competence and Its Effect on Healthcare on Wednesday, December 12th at 10am CT / 9am MT!

Check out the full webinar here:

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