User Facility Outreach Ramps Up at AGU Fall Meeting

 
Published: 1 January 2010
At the ARM outreach display, many visitors unfamiliar with the user facility engaged in lengthy discussions about how to use the sites and obtain data from the Archive.
At the ARM outreach display, many visitors unfamiliar with the user facility engaged in lengthy discussions about how to use the sites and obtain data from the Archive.

The 2009 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in San Francisco once again drew a packed house, with more than 16,000 attendees and a sold-out exhibit area in Moscone South hosting over 200 exhibitors. The Fall Meeting provides an opportunity for researchers, teachers, students, and consultants to present and review the latest issues covering all areas of earth and space sciences. In the scientific program, dozens of posters and oral sessions used ARM data in their results. In the Exhibit Hall, the ARM outreach display saw almost double the traffic from prior years throughout the five-day meeting, held December 14-18.

Many inquiries at the exhibit resulted in in-depth discussions to familiarize visitors with the facility, explaining how to submit proposals to use the sites and how to obtain data from the Archive. Updates to the exhibit this year included a fresh banner to match the new ARM logo and a new center poster highlighting the key features of the user facility: sites around the world; continuous measurements and data; field campaign support; and education and outreach. This year’s exhibit also emphasized the call for proposals to use the ARM mobile and aerial facilities.

ARM participation at AGU kicked off with Exploration Station, a public science fair emphasizing science education for the public and K-12 educators. The ARM Education display featured a nearly life-sized freestanding Professor Polar Bear, which drew both kids and adults to the booth. Interested families stopped by to ask questions about the ARM sites and pick up activity books, while many teachers eagerly picked up sample lessons plans about various climate topics. To reach the user community, ARM also held an evening Town Hall discussion to describe the capabilities of the user facility, the coming enhancements from Recovery Act investments, and how scientists can submit proposals to use the Facility.