Dr. Susan L. Brantley, Director, Earth & Environmental Systems Institute
I invite members of EESI, EMS, and the broader university community to engage in a conversation about how electronic media are changing the way we use and find data to understand the environment. Many changes are occurring and EESI would like to encourage a conversation on this broad topic. For example, the fraction of U.S. undergraduates that took at least one online course between 2000 and 2008 increased from 8-20%. National Science Foundation supports an open data policy for all projects. The USGS is providing online water quality and quantity data for citizens; weather models are presented online for all to use and see. Sensors and cell phones are being used for data collection. Growth in computer capability and electronic media are changing our lives as environmental scientists and educators and how we communicate with citizens outside the university. I do not have the answers about where we are going: but I invite interested university members - especially from EESI and EMS -to participate in a conversation on this topic and how Penn State can lead in this area. Please join me on Monday, January 9, at 4:00 p.m. in 112 Walker Building to start the semester-long series and the conversation.
