Snapshots: W2U move, WCRP 2011, NCEP review
Jun 9, 2010 - by Staff
9 June 2010 • A popular Earth science website, Windows to the Universe (www.windows2universe.org), has moved from NCAR to the National Earth Science Teachers Association (NESTA). The shift is designed to help make the site an open educational resource and to allow scientists, university faculty, K-12 educators, and others to contribute content more readily, says site founder Roberta Johnson. “Our goal is to position the project as an education and outreach facility for the entire geosciences community,” says Johnson, who has left her post as UCAR's director of education and outreach (EO) to focus on the website transition and her role as executive director of NESTA. http://www2.ucar.edu/magazine/in-the-air/windows-community-earth-and-space-science-website-broadens-its-approach
Denver has been chosen as the venue for the World Climate Research Programme’s Open Science Conference on 24–28 October 2011. Expected to be one of the largest-ever assemblies of climate scientists, the meeting will assess the current state of knowledge on climate variability and change, identify the most urgent scientific issues and research challenges, and ascertain how WCRP can best facilitate research and develop partnerships critical for progress. NCAR’s James Hurrell is chairing the meeting’s scientific organizing committee. www.wcrp-climate.org/conference2011/
A comprehensive review of NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Prediction has been completed by five UCAR-based panels. NCEP includes nine centers that deliver data, analysis, and outlooks on weather, water, climate, and space weather to a variety of partners and users. NOAA asked UCAR, on behalf of the community, to undertake the reviews—the centers’ first since 1996–2001—in order to evaluate their effectiveness and their interactions with each other and other entities. www.vsp.ucar.edu/events/NCEP_reviews_2009.html