News Release| Satellites & Education Conference; Cal State L.A.

August 10, 2010

MEDIA ADVISORY:  August 12-14

High school students study global issues via GIS software, satellites

FOX-11 meteorologist to keynote
Cal State L.A.’s Satellites & Education Conference

Los Angeles, CA – Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping software and satellite data, six Los Angeles high school students will join like-minded peers from around the world to pose and present solutions to global concerns at the Satellites & Education Conference XXIII.

Hosted at Cal State L.A. for the ninth year in a row, the three-day conference – Aug. 12-14 – showcases new ways for educators to help K-12 and college students appreciate the complex interrelationships among science, technology, individuals, societies and the environment.

As a project of the conference, the Los Angeles teens connected virtually with other students from as far away as China, England, Florida and New Jersey to learn how to use the GIS software and to build micro-satellite sensors. They also studied ocean temperature’s effects on coral reefs and local marine mammals by analyzing the satellite data provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The students will be giving a presentation on Friday, Aug. 13, 9 a.m., in King Hall C2091, on the CSULA campus.

This year, students from Puerto Rico (Friday morning) and Australia (Friday afternoon) will also report via Skype on their micro-satellite sensors and their satellite data collection.

Simultaneously on Friday morning at 9 a.m., meteorologist Rick Dickert will present an opening keynote speech at the Golden Eagle Ballroom on the CSULA campus. Dickert provides the weather, traffic and breaking news from SkyFox during the FOX-11 Morning News and Good Day L.A.

Dickert, who received a degree in geography, studied meteorology at San Jose State and UCLA. He was elected a full member of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) in 1994 and is president of their local chapter. In May of 2005, he was the first weathercaster in Los Angeles to be awarded the prestigious Certified Broadcast Meteorologist seal by the AMS.

The NOAA-cosponsored conference will include sessions covering topics, such as “Cooperative Remote Sensing Science,” “Satellites in Orbit,” “Climate Change Education,” “Survival in a Galactic Wilderness,” “NASA ArctiQuest Expeditions,” “Tracking Gulf Oil Spill” and much more.

For the complete program and more information, go to www.SatED.org(click on “Conferences”).

#  #  #

 

Working for California since 1947: The 175-acre hilltop campus of California State University, Los Angeles is at the heart of a major metropolitan city, just five miles from Los Angeles’ civic and cultural center. More than 20,000 students and 215,000 alumni—with a wide variety of interests, ages and backgrounds—reflect the city’s dynamic mix of populations. Six Colleges offer nationally recognized science, arts, business, criminal justice, engineering, nursing, education and humanities programs, among others, led by an award-winning faculty. Cal State L.A. is home to the critically-acclaimed Luckman Jazz Orchestra and to a unique university center for gifted students as young as 12. Programs that provide exciting enrichment opportunities to students and community include an NEH- and Rockefeller-supported humanities center; a NASA-funded center for space research; and a growing forensic science program, housed in the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center. www.calstatela.edu