| April 2010 |
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The GLOS Forecast: Strategic Planning Provides Direction for the Future
As I prepare for our next Annual Meeting, I've been reflecting on how much GLOS has achieved over the past year. We've recruited new board members and new staff, and moved to new office space. We're poised to distribute over $3.2 million in resources to increase Great Lakes observing capacity, coordinate and integrate observed data, enhance predictive modeling tools and promote GLOS to resource managers, teachers and countless others across the Great Lakes region. We've also taken on new challenges, including helping to coordinate the bi-lateral US and Canada Group on Earth Observations Great Lakes Testbed initiative and competing in the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. While proud of what we've accomplished this year, however, I am looking forward to equally significant development in the year ahead. As we take these formative steps in developing GLOS and its ability to support Great Lakes observing, it is also important to prepare strategically for our future. Now that we have laid the foundation for the organization, we need to refine operational and programmatic objectives to ensure GLOS works efficiently and effectively toward coordinating the expansive network of observing resources in the Great Lakes. Our goal is to develop a Strategic Plan that provides our consortium with a clear direction for how best to work together to tackle our region's data challenges. That is why GLOS has begun a strategic planning process, working with the board to develop a framework for the vision and mission of our organization. And this is where you come in: as part of the strategic planning process, the board will present our vision and mission at the Annual Meeting and seek input from you, our members and partners, on how best to achieve our common goals. We are looking forward to sharing our progress with you at the Annual Meeting and hope you can join us to take part in this important moment in our organization's history.
Just Around the Corner: GLOS Annual General Meeting Register today for the GLOS Annual Meeting to be held April 28-29, 2010, in Oakville, Ontario. The annual meeting promises an engaging agenda complete with project updates; a presentation from Zdenka Willis, director of the NOAA IOOS Program Office; and an evening reception overlooking Lake Ontario. In addition, GLOS has begun a strategic planning process and is eager to share an update on its progress with members and partners. There will be opportunity for attendees, in-person and online, to provide feedback on the strategic planning update. General members will also be voting on the appointment of three new board members. We hope that you can join us and take the opportunity to learn more about GLOS, collaborate on current initiatives, and provide input that will shape the future. Registration Deadline is Wednesday April 21. For details and registration please visit glos.us/mtgs/2010 or contact Kelli Paige at kpaige@glos.us for more information.
Data in the Classroom: Workshops Underway for Teaching with GLOS Michigan Sea Grant staff Nikki Koehler and Steve Stewart launched the pilot of a teachers' workshop series at the Michigan Science Teachers Association Annual Conference on March 5, 2010. During the pilot workshop, the teachers reviewed a sample lesson for Dead Zones which included graphing dissolved oxygen levels in Lake Erie, interpreting the data to identify hypoxic areas, and evaluating the causes and impacts of these dead zones. The workshop series will promote and train teachers in Great Lakes Lessons (www.greatlakeslessons.com), a program developed by the MI Sea Grant staff in cooperation with COSEE Great Lakes with funding, in part, from GLOS. This program specifically emphasizes incorporating real-time data collected from observing systems into a multidisciplinary curriculum, encouraging students to develop higher-level thinking skills using the data, and enhancing teaching skills through guided inquiry methods. Workshops are scheduled to take place around the Great Lakes region over the coming year. For more information about how you can participate in these workshops stay tuned to the GLOS website (www.glos.us) or contact Steve Stewart at stew@msu.edu.
Upgrade of the Huron-Erie Corridor Model |
Upcoming Meetings and Events
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This quarterly newsletter is prepared by GLOS as a service to its members, partners and the broader Great Lakes community. Please refer to www.glos.us for more information on GLOS products, activities and milestones.
Great Lakes Observing System |
