Four second year SENSE CDT researchers (Bryony Freer, Emily Dowd, Calum Hoad and Morag Fotheringham) have won National Environment Research Council (NERC) funding for their proposed outreach project “SatSchool”. This bid was made as part of a wider NERC initiative to engage the public with environmental sciences.
The project aims to create a high-quality school outreach package consisting of a general introduction to Earth Observation and five specialised modules – Getting Hands on with Data, Atmosphere, Oceans, Cryosphere and Biosphere. SatSchool will highlight the cross-curricular nature of environmental science and STEM careers, address the digital skills agenda and promote NERC science highlights.
SatSchool will run in two phases. The first phase is the funded development of SatSchool between now and March 2022. SENSE PhD students will use their expertise to build the outreach modules by creating new resources and collating existing ones. Consultation with a high school teacher will then allow the modules to be tailored to the school curriculum. We have also partnered with ESERO-UK, who will aid in the development of materials and contribute to outreach training for SENSE PhD students. This collaboration means SatSchool will contribute to ESERO-UK’s One Million Interactions initiative.
After March 2022, SENSE students will use the resources and guidance developed by SatSchool to deliver outreach throughout their PhDs. The preparation time and stress associated with school outreach visits will be reduced, while allowing the delivered outreach to be consistent and of high-quality. SatSchool should empower SENSE students to become role models for the next generation of Earth Observation Scientists.