Hi Amy, thanks for your comments, and it is exciting to hear from you. Like you, I do see huge value in students having face to face contact, either in fieldwork or during analysis, or both. Our hypothesis was that most of the compelling aspects of a face-to-face research internship could be created using cloud based data analysis and conferencing tools. We piloted this in 2020, and based on successes, we offered the experience again in 2021- so we already had a system in place to support high school interns during the pandemic.

Our experiment here is to see whether we can scale a truly robust and compelling research experience on line. Our motivations are two: one, to ensure that those students who can't or won't travel for health, cultural or economic reasons can find a place where they can obtain the same quality of experience as others do on-site. We are addressing here some of the under-addressed issues associated with access, equity and inclusion- even if face to face internships provide scholarships, some of our students have responsibilities at home, including jobs and taking care of siblings. Our second reason is scale: our internship is able to support 10x the amount of high school interns, and for a longer time, than the residential experiences associated with the same project (see SEES), which are limited by access to funds for travel and lodging for the participants.

Meet up and Do Science is central to our program- we envision it as replacing the traditional lab bench where informal questions and answers, impromptu discussions and group problem-solving takes place. This is a place where we also get to know each other informally and talk about everything from code issues to careers. Concretely, its students and scientists each working at their desk with Zoom video on, with just in time breakouts offered in conjunction with questions, but after a week or two it begins to feel like much more, like a community of grad students working in a lab. Happy to share more with you, Amy, thanks for visiting our video!

Hi, I got an error and the last post did not go thru, so I will try again! I think it is great that you incorporate Zooniverse in your astronommy course, there are several great projects that connect students to real science and the opportunities to make real life discoveries!

I think working with the Purple Air sensor classes in this way could really work. Feedback from our students suggest that the meet up and do science is something they look forward to-  we usually start with a short presentation (10 or so minutes) to kick things off, and then people work on their projects independently- as with many data  projects, there are steps that are time consuming, and it is more fun to do it with others and chat while passing the time, when classifyiing, coding, etc. The science mentors are available to talk about whatever anyone is interested in talking about- from the data and challenges, to careers, to sharing personal meaningful or challenging science experiences. Because we have an "ask me anything" format, students drive the session with their questions and comments. Especially last year, where our students had too much time in online classes, we wanted to make sure "Meet up and doing science" didn't feel like another online class :-) hope that helps!

Thanks Rusty.  Very helpful.

Hi Brian, thanks so much for your comments. Our virtual Earth Explorers Internship is a research team associated with the STEM Enhancement in the Earth Sciences, a diversity positive initiative led by Margaret Baguio, University of Texas Austin and Texas Space Grant.  Acceptance to the program considers a student's access to STEM experiences in their schools and proactively recruits and accepts students historically excluded in STEM who may not have access to advanced science courses in their schools. You can learn more about the SEES program here: https://stemforall2022.videohall.com/presentati.... Our virtual internship was created in 2020 so that more of the deserving students could be accepted into the SEES summer research internship program, beyond those for which funding for a residential experience was available. We hypothesized that connecting students scientifically to the landscape that they know from day to day life might be particularly engaging for some of our students. 

Here's my thoughts about the democratization point. We want to use all the tools at our disposal to ensure that the summer science experience is compelling and fulfilling for the interns.  Research indicates that a  big motivator for students who are strongly connected to their cultures and communities lies in the power of place-based science. In this internship, they are grounding their environmental data collection in locations  where they bring their own knowledge and experience. This inherent knowledge gives them a bit of an edge, because they have been interacting with the landscape around their homes, schools, parks and neighborhoods in day to day life. This familiarity also provides inflection points where they can begin to pose questions about the data they collect based on this prior knowledge. And in the case of mosquito observations, one of the data collection options for this cohort, they become aware that their surveillance and larval habitat mitigation activities also reduce the risk of disease in the community where they live. A number of students have mentioned that knowing they were contributing to the health of their community as well as collecting data for analysis was highly motivating and something they could share with their neighbors and friends. And at the same time, they ground their exploration of satellite data  (numbers, from space) to a tangible spot on the ground that they know. I'd love to talk about strategies to engage more students, especially reluctant science students, in STEM enhancement programs. Thanks Brian! 

Rusanne, I love so much of what you've said here and also your elaboration of the "lab bench" model for your Zoom "Meet up and do science" component. I am seeing even more clearly that the online model is not a substitute for in-person learning but really capitalizes on research only made possibly by this hybrid model.

The fact that students are on-site in their home locations is a powerful aspect of this program. As you put it "this inherent knowledge gives them a bit of an edge" and allows them to "begin to pose questions about the data they collect based on this prior knowledge." So as they come together online - to meet up and do science - they each come as both students (getting used to data collection and analysis) but also as local experts (the only ones familiar with the specificities of their location). 

I also find this so compelling: "A number of students have mentioned that knowing they were contributing to the health of their community as well as collecting data for analysis was highly motivating and something they could share with their neighbors and friends."

I'm just seeing how that Andee keyed on on the same passage and asked if the students ever have the chance to take their findings to local authorities to advocate for change. I'd also love to hear a follow-up on that.

Thanks for this wonderful discussion! Such a nice supplement to your video.

Thanks, Amy. It is rewarding to be able to be part of this and the other discussions at this videoplex!

We do have a few examples of this action from our students. One intern decided to work with a local water treatment facility and his research was shared with the municipality. For this his summer project grew into a regional science fair winner, for which he won a $scholarship prize. Another student in Texas found an unusual mosquito larva and reached out to the vector control agency and reported his findings, which were very useful to the research being conducted on vector surveillance and control. I think that the kind of sharing and agency interaction would be a logical step for students in classrooms that are conducting this kind of citizen science research, because a small class would be able to cover more sites and provide a representative data sample. Many of our students choose to focus their research on examining larval habitats in the context of satellite data, building data analysis and coding skills- there is a real variety of ways that these data are used by these creative early career researchers.

Hi Andree, thank you for the kind words. In retrospect, one of the things I like about the structure of this project is that participating interns can choose the direction of research based on existing skills, the acquisition of new skills, and their science comfort level. Some of our students come in with basic skills and are most comfortable with conducting a controlled experiment similar to what they have done in science classrooms,  using mosquitoes as a test organism. Others want to dig into the data, and use or develop digital tools to extract, process and analyse data. All students have the option of completing a Python coding course in conjunction with the research. For some of the more advanced students, students do exactly what you suggest: we see application of a big data approach to their research, whereby they examine the shape of the shared data, and use those observations to develop questions and hypotheses, and test them using algorithms they have built and computer vision-AI tools. The wonderful thing for me, about this project, is that the students who have not yet built strong data literacy skills provide important on-the-ground observations that feed into and support work of coders, and vice-versa. All data is uploaded by the data collection app (GLOBE Observer Mosquito Habitat Mapper and Land Cover tool) and shared with others via the GLOBE database. RE: sharing with local authorities, and for those projects where there is important local information to be shared, that is highly encouraged. This kind of data outcome is less common when you have one student working alone in an area than if you have a classroom monitoring mosquito habitats as a class project- because then you are able to provide a representative data sample that one individual is unlikely to create- but we do have some examples of this. I appreciate this discussion, thank you!

Thank you for your in-depth response.  I like that you are considering multiple entry points for students with different backgrounds and different interests.  If I may, I'd like to stand on my data science educator soapbox for a moment and suggest that there are good ways to analyze and visualize data that don't require either Python or designing algorithms.  I don't know how the GLOBE tools work, but even seeing a map of all of the mosquito observations color-coded by frequency can help student gain the kind of data skills that we all need - and that provide meaning to individual data points.  I hope that students who aren't Python programmers still get the opportunity to make meaning of the data they've helped to collect.

I've gotten off my soapbox - and want to thank you again for your work and your responses.

Hi Andee, Absolutely they do! All of the data obtained in the field can be visualized using a built-in automated map interface and a data dashboard, and can be downloaded as .csv files for generation of graphs and charts. We also use ArcGIS online for spatial analysis and visualization. Best "soapbox" there is, thanks so much for your comments!!

Thank you Autumn! Nice to see so many of our immediate colleagues here on this platform with compelling and exciting projects to share!

Thank you, Ana, you and everyone else in our GLOBE community of practice have contributed to the evolution of this model :-)

Thanks, and I really enjoyed your video and project as well- other comments below! Thanks Connie!

Thanks for your comment! I am wondering if there is a citizen science project that you have worked with has been productive working with students? See also comment below!

Hi John, I didn't know that Sriram was working with you- I know he is serving as a peer leader for you in your project- such a talented student.  I loved your video and all you are doing with the CubeSats. You have always been at the forefront of cool things with students- I hope we see each other again soon in person! :-)

Thank you Marta, I agree completely. These students are using GLOBE Observer and making a difference in their communities, while also contributing to a global scientific database and also conducting original scientific investigations. Good to see you here at the Videoplex!

HI Andrea, that is a great question. We provide a lot of scaffolding for student use of data access and analysis platforms (like Collect Earth, AppEEARS)- and do this in our coworking sessions (Meet up and do science). They seem to not have trouble working using the Canvas LMS, possibly because of on line learning platforms used at their school. Interns also self-organized and created a Discord channel, where a lot of their interaction took place between the interns

I also watched your video with interest, and was particularly impressed with Bianca's testimonial- we also have a cadre of peer mentors (returning from a previous summer), that assist in supporting the interns- great model you have!

Thanks, Claudia- I had never seen this video before and it is wonderful0 thanks for sharing this with us!