LED Statement
LuAnn Dahlman
Science Writer and Editor, CollabraLink Technologies, Inc
Contractor to NOAA Climate Program Office
I'm pleased that several ESIP folks have encouraged me to serve as the Education Committee Chair for a second year. I absolutely, positively couldn't do it without the support of the committee's long-time vice-chair, Margaret Mooney.
I've been involved in efforts to increase the use of data in education for many years, and have participated in the ESIP community as both a Type III and Type 1 member. From my perspective, I believe that the Venn diagram circles representing ESIP's data scientists and educators don't have as much overlap as might be optimal for the organization's benefit... As chair during 2015, I've encouraged people across the organization to consider how the Education committee might provide additional support for ESIP's main mission. To that end, the committee is currently collaborating on the development of a program to encourage use of recreational drones for science activities or science fair projects. The cleverly disguised goal of this exciting program is to inspire youth to consider what scientific explorations they could perform with their drones, ultimately increasing their value for data science, and launching further exploration of Earth science data, information, and tools.