Building Successful Partnerships Between Scientists and Educators to Bridge Scientific Research to Education and Outreach Audiences at a National Research Laboratory

The scientific missions of National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) community offer numerous opportunities to integrate content on atmospheric, climate, and related sciences into formal and informal public education and outreach programs. The UCAR Office of Education and Outreach currently coordinates a variety of partnerships with science PI's catalyzing activities that include work-study experiences for teachers and students in the laboratory; creation of EO resources for scientists to utilize when visiting K-12 classrooms; extension of exhibit content in K-12 teacher guides; topic-specific web site content for the public, K-12, and undergraduates; professional development for K-12 educators; and public broadcast quality documentation of emerging technology. This presentation will review how these partnerships are developed, what works best, and plans for the future drawing from examples of collaborations with scientists. The scientists represent the NSF-funded Analytical Photonics and Optoelectronics Laboratory (APOL), the Boston University Center for Integrated Space Weather Modeling, and the High Altitude Instrumented Platform for Environmental Research Program (HIAPER); the NASA-funded Earth System Modeling Framework; collaborations with the Windows to the Universe project sponsored by multiple agencies; the NCAR Climate Assessment Initiative; and several NASA-funded Sun-Earth Connection Research Programs.