Educator Ambassadors 2008

Sonoma State University

July 28 – August 1

Welcome!

• This is our fourth EA training!• EAs have directly reached over 50,000

teachers, students and public in workshops since 2002!

• Program is recognized in an evaluation report (Schwerin 2007) done for NASA HQ as a “unique aspect/notable approach” for Educator Professional Development. (Copy of report available upon request.)

Changes to SSU E/PO• You may have noticed a few changes

around here since the last training:– We have moved to Schulz (since January

2007) – nice new offices, lots of space!– We have a few new faces

• Dr. Kevin McLin – GTN Director• Kamal Prasad – Science Education Specialist• Kevin John – Educational Science Support

Assistant• Dr. Ellie Galvez-Hard – Diversity Program

Coordinator

– And one “old face” has returned:• Logan Hill – Production Assistant

Changes to EA Program

• Welcome to two new EAs!– Bill Panczner – Walter L. Sickles High

School in Tampa, FL – will be funded through NuSTAR mission

– Neta Apple - Astronomical Society of Kansas City in Adrian, MO – will join Chris Royce on XMM-Newton

• Increase in yearly travel allotment to $2000!

• As of 10/1/07, annual stipend was raised to $3000 for four workshops ($750 each)

News from SSU missions

• GLAST – is launched! June 11, 2008

• Swift was rated #1 in the NASA Senior Review (held every 2 years, rates all missions on science/dollar) – it even beat out Chandra and Spitzer, which are Great Observatories!

• NuSTAR was brought back by NASA HQ and is now in Phase B, and on track for confirmation to become a flight mission with launch in 2011

Let’s Get Reacquainted!

• Please turn to someone you don’t know very well and have a discussion for two minutes

• Then afterwards, we will go around in a circle and each person will introduce the person they just spoke with, telling us:– The person’s name– What they do and where– What they would like to get out of this week’s

training– Something we probably don’t know about this

person

New SSU Web-based Features

• Swift Newsletter #9 – July 2008 (and the other 8 of them, if you haven’t seen them)

• New E/PO group home page – redesigned by Kamal (and Aurore of course) (http://epo.sonoma.edu)

• New GTN website – entirely reorganized and redone by Kevin McLin (http://gtn.sonoma.edu)

• Epo’s Chronicles – Kamal• Galactic Doom Space Mystery – Kevin John