For more information, please contact:Paul Racette • Editor-in-Chief • editor@earthzine.orgJeff Kart • Managing Editor • jkart@earthzine.org

OES

2015 Year-End Report

www.earthzine.org

ii - Earthzine 2015 Year-End Report

SUMMARY

In November 2016, I will celebrate 10 years of working on Earthzine. As I worked on this report, I reflected on how far we’ve come since launching in 2007. Readers whom I meet from time to time warm my heart when they tell me how much they enjoy Earthzine and what a unique publication it is. This report describes our 2015 activities while highlighting many of our accomplishments. Earthzine had a stellar year in 2015.

Our staff and volunteers published 81 original articles covering a broad spectrum of topics relevant to Earth science, observation technologies, and the societal impacts of using Earth information. Our high-quality articles spanned quarterly and monthly themes, Quick Looks, announcements, and book reviews, as well as blogs offering live coverage of the OES Oceans 2015 conference in Washington D.C. and the GEO XII Plenary and Ministerial Summit in Mexico City. This content was distributed in 23 newsletters to our Full Moon and New Moon subscribers.

Science as a human endeavor was a recurrent theme throughout the year, including articles that highlighted the struggles of conducting scientific observations as well as the benefits of successful work. Topics exploring this theme ranged from profiles of influential figures in Earth observation to using poetry and art to communicate challenging issues.

The adoption of Earthzine by the IEEE Oceanic Engineering Society (OES) is fortuitous. OES’ focus on science, engineering, and technology pertaining to bodies of water aligns well with Earthzine’s aim to foster Earth observation and global awareness. Water is essential to sustaining life and the oceans provide life’s sustenance. Earthzine embraced the opportunity to engage the OES. In 2015, 45 percent of Earthzine’s content fell under the topics of oceans and water.

The OES stepped up with critical funding early in the year to bridge operations between grants. In the summer, OES came through with additional funding to expand Earthzine’s oceanic content, engage OES membership, and initiate the process for transitioning Earthzine to an IEEE magazine. During its fall Administrative Committee meeting, the OES formally adopted Earthzine by adding the publication to its bylaws. In December, the OES submitted a Notice of Intent to the IEEE to apply for Earthzine to transition to an IEEE magazine under the

1 Dr. Patricia Gruber, Technical Director at Office of Naval Research Global. Image Credit: U.S. Navy/John F. WilliamsIn exploring science as a human endeavor, Earthzine looked at Dr. Gruber’s childhood fascination with the ocean that guided her journey to the top of the Office of Naval Research Global, the international arm of the U.S. Navy’s science and technology office.

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new name “IEEE Earthzine.” This exciting development will have far-reaching benefits for Earthzine’s readership, members of the OES, and stakeholders in the Earth-observing community.

OES’ commitment of support into 2016 allowed Earthzine to hire Science Editor Kelley Christensen. Joining our staff in November, Christensen has already impacted Earthzine’s operations. She conducted a detailed audit of Earthzine’s content, coordinated Earthzine’s 2016 publication calendar, and published several articles.

In March, NASA’s Applied Sciences Program awarded Earthzine a two-year grant to support coverage of GEO, produce quarterly themes, initiate a series of monthly focus topics and to establish a Writing Club.

Additional funding made available through NASA supported two student interns and the transition of intern Jenny Woodman to part-time science writer. Fostering opportunities for growth and training among young professionals is an important activity for Earthzine, and the Writing Club was established to build capacity among students and early career science professions for communicating the benefits of using Earth information for decision support. Woodman led the development and coordination of Earthzine’s Writing Club. The effort put forth by staff and volunteers paid off; eight participants completed the training, which culminated in each producing an article for Earthzine.

Also in the domain of encouraging young professionals, we published 93 video presentations and abstracts in three NASA DEVELOP National Program Virtual Poster Sessions, a competition designed to encourage students and early-career professionals to creatively present their research in developing applications for satellite observations through video presentations.

While readership saw only modest growth in 2015, Earthzine’s social media presence nearly doubled with the addition of 5,683 Facebook likes and 1,438 followers on Twitter and resulted in 15,539 page views during the year. This growth in social media reach is traceable to advertising and a concerted effort to make regular posts on social media.

I cannot be more proud of Earthzine’s staff or more grateful to our new volunteers and regular contributors who have been with us for years. Earthzine is made possible by the generous support of the IEEE, OES, and NASA.

Sincerely,

Paul Racette • Editor-in-Chief

SUMMARY

This report can be downloaded at earthzine.org/reports.

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Earthzine 2015 Year-End Report - 1

ABOUT EARTHZINE

CONTENT Original Articles Expanding Oceans Coverage In-depth GEO Coverage Themes Live Blogging and Coverage of Events Virtual Poster Sessions Quick Looks and Syndication Capacity Building with the Writing Club Newsletters Redesign and Organization

SITE TRAFFIC Overview Social Media

BUSINESS MATTERS Expanded Staff and Volunteers Meetings and Communication Financial Support

LOOKING AHEAD Implementing Earthzine’s Strategic Plan Becoming a Magazine Goals of 2015 - 2020 Strategic Plan Alignment with OES

EARTHZINE STAFF

APPENDIX 2015 Themes Original Articles

TABLE OF CONTENTS

2

3345 6669

10 1111

131314

151515 16

1717171819

20

212122

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ABOUT EARTHZINE

Earthzine (earthzine.org) is an online source for news, articles, information and educational materials about Earth science, Earth observations, and users of Earth information. Earthzine serves the international Earth-observing community with its emphasis on interdisciplinary observational sciences, technology, applications of Earth information and benefits to society. Earthzine is updated regularly with news from around the world about the Earth, Earth observations, environmental policy, and new and emerging environmentally friendly and Earth-observing technologies.

Earthzine operates under the auspices of the IEEE Oceanic Engineering Society (OES) and supports IEEE’s activities as a participating member of Group on Earth Observations (GEO). Earthzine has broadened its communication to span the interests of the OES, which include all aspects of science, engineering, and technology that address research, development, and operations pertaining to all bodies of water. Earthzine’s focus encompasses the human side of OES members’ professional efforts, including relevant science and technical developments, OES policy, international GEO activities, and the connections between life, water, observation and awareness.

Earthzine seeks to build community among the globally diverse group of Earth observers and Earth information users while providing a pathway to a more informed public. Earthzine publishes content that provides objective, quantitative information on the Earth and its environment to improve understanding of the impact of Earth observation on societal issues and to promote cross-discipline and cross-regional sharing of knowledge and ideas.

Earthzine emphasizes data and analysis over polemic discourse, and serves as an honest broker of the best-available scientific information about the Earth, its oceans and the life it supports.

Earthzine primarily serves three sources of readership: 1. Professional and technical readers in the IEEE, OES, and GEO

communities; 2. Users and potential users of Earth information in governments,

industry and non-governmental organizations; and 3. The general public seeking reliable Earth information.

Ubiquitous use of Earth information in decision-making will become common practice only through sustained commitment to developing expertise among students and early-career professionals. To that end, Earthzine engages students and early-career professionals through participation in Virtual Poster Sessions (VPSes), a Writing Club, contests, internships, and volunteer opportunities.

2 Prof. René Garello, President of the IEEE Oceanic Engineering Society, addressing the GEO-XII Plenary. Image Credit: Osha Gray Davidson

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CONTENT

Original Articles

Earthzine published 99,992 words in 81 original articles during year 2015 including 27 topical articles, 20 themed articles, 18 Quick Looks, two live blogs from conferences, two book reviews, eight opinion essays, and four announcements. Forty-nine of the 81 articles were written by staff and student interns. The distribution of the word count per article is shown in the scatter plot below. Most articles were between 500 and 3000 words. The majority of our articles longer than 2000 words were contributed by volunteers and professionals.

A full list of articles is included in the Appendix.

These original articles covered a range of topics, from agriculture and biodiversity to climate, disasters, ecosystems, education and energy. Other areas of coverage included oceans, people, policy, sustainability, technology, water, and weather. The following two pie charts show the distribution of topics and the progression of coverage during the past two years. In some cases, an article may be associated with more than one topic and so the numbers shown add to more than the number of articles published.

Distribution of topics under which articles were published in 2014 and 2015.

The majority of our articles were between 500 and 3000 words in length.

2014 Articles by Topic 2015 Articles by Topic10 8

5

14

1

11

8134

26

106

32

8

1622

8

18

4

14

8

BiodiversityAgriculture Disasters

Climate EducationEcosystems Health

Energy

PolicyWaterOceans

7000

6000

5000

Article Number

Num

ber

of W

ord

s

4000

3000

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

1000

0

2000

2015 Article Word Count

Contributed

Staff

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CONTENT

Expanding Oceans Coverage

Earthzine continued to sharpen its focus on the oceans in 2015 under its affiliation with the IEEE OES. A total of 36 original articles focused on oceans and water, representing 45 percent of Earthzine’s original content in 2015, up from 22 percent in 2014.

Seven articles were published in Earthzine’s second-quarter Ocean Acidification Theme, which explored emerging science and technology, societal concerns and community initiatives through

Associate Professor Joaquín del Rio Fernandez, an expert in the development of “smart” electronic interfaces at the Universitat Politécnica de Catalunya in Barcelona, asks a question: “If you’re able to connect a USB device to any computer without problems, why can’t you connect an instrument to any type of platform?”

According to him, the answer is simple: While a number of industries and disciplines have embraced interoperability—most notably the telephone industry where a call is placed and received regardless of the device or means of transmission—the marine sciences community has yet to create an approach for developing an in-situ, end-to-end monitoring system capable of exchanging and making use of information seamlessly, with little human intervention.

That is, until now. Under the auspices of the European Commission’s (EC) 7th Framework Programme, the Ocean of Tomorrow 2013, del Rio and a consortium of interdisciplinary experts have begun the challenging task of designing multifunctional “plug-and-play” sensor systems that scientists could deploy on virtually any fixed or mobile platform to monitor the health and productivity of ocean waters surrounding the European continent and beyond.

Called NeXOS —short for next generation multifunctional web-enabled ocean sensors for a changing ocean—the project also is developing standards and technologies that would allow users to share data and operate the sensors via the Web, creating a complete, end-to-end system that would dramatically reduce the complexity and cost of gathering and disseminating ocean observations—a daunting task given the fact that the seas cover 70 percent of the Earth’s surface.’

3 Ocean Sensing Comes of Age: European Consortium Advances Interoperability in Marine Science

By Lori KeeseyPublished on 24 August 2015

3 The Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands (PLOCAN), which coordinates NeXOS, deploys the ESTOC open-ocean observatory north of the Canary Islands. NeXOS sensors will be demonstrated on this reference mooring, in 3670-meter water depth. Image Credit: PLO

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CONTENT

government programs and industry investments concerning issues of ocean acidification. For example, in 4 Pacific Walrus and Coastal Alaska Native Subsistence Hunting researchers considered the effect of ocean acidification on the Pacific walrus and the impact on Alaska Native hunting.

In-depth GEO Coverage

In 2015, Earthzine worked with Katherine Anderson, Communications Manager for GEO, to identify and cover exciting case studies that grew out of GEO initiatives, such as monitoring water quality and algal growth in the Red Sea region. Articles included coverage of an education tool developed by researchers Marie-Fanny Recault and Dionysios E. Raitsos: 5 A Web-based Lesson on Ocean-Color Observations in the Red Sea: Phytoplankton Phenological Indices and Their Importance for Coral Reef Biology. In October, Earthzine published a three-piece narrative on the GEO Global Agricultural Monitoring initiative (GEOGLAM), describing a global effort to make agricultural projections available to anyone with an Internet connection as key to fighting hunger and reducing poverty. Throughout the year, Earthzine also helped to provide announcements for upcoming GEO events and milestones like the launch of the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data.

Earthzine expanded its coverage of the GEO plenary and conference, with two science writers offering 2 live blog updates from the event. Among the blog highlights were an interview with GEO Director Barbara Ryan, and addresses to the plenary made by Secretary of Interior Sally Jewell and Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Kathryn Sullivan. On the ground interviews with plenary participants highlighted activities and recent advances made by GEO.

Image Credit: Osha Gray Davidson

2 “One big challenge is to make [GEO’s] infrastructure more user friendly, and not just for scientists. That’s a problem, but we’re moving in the right direction... All of these externalities are now starting to come together. And that’s because of efforts like what Earthzine is doing to help us get our message out.”

—Barbara Ryan, GEO Director

4 A group of walruses hauled out on an ice floe at Cape Seniavin, Alaska. Image Credit: Joel Garlich-Miller, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

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CONTENT

Themes

Earthzine published four quarterly themes during 2015. Earthzine staff worked with guest editors, associate editors, and subject matter experts to identify topic areas, recruit authors, and edit content.

A total of 20 articles were published in the four themes in 2015: 6, 7, 8, 9 Indigenous Perspectives on Environmental Change, Ocean Acidification, Water for Agriculture, and Socioeconomic Benefits (the last of which continued into March 2016).

Information on each theme, including the names of guest editors and the articles that were published, is included in the Appendix of this report.

In March 2015, Earthzine introduced a new series of monthly focus topics, which featured two or three articles focusing on a specific topic. Twenty-one articles covered monthly focus topics including Ocean Sensing, Soils, World Water Day, Earth Day, Forecasting, Biodiversity and Women in Science.

Live Blogging and Coverage of Events

In addition to coverage of trending topics, Earthzine provided live coverage of conferences where staff blogged about ongoing activities and posted regular updates on social media.

Earthzine staff provided seven live 10 updates from the Oceans ’15 conference in National Harbor, Maryland, near Washington, D.C. from Oct. 19-22. This provided a look into exciting work occurring in the Marine Technology Society and IEEE’s OES, from create approaches to teaching ocean science to a townhall on creating a “blue economy.”

Live coverage of the 2 Group on Earth Observations 2015 Ministerial Summit and GEO-XII Plenary was also provided. From Nov. 11-13, Elise Mulder Osenga and Osha Gray Davidson traveled to Mexico City and offered daily updates from the event. Eleven blog posts were produced over the course of the week that featured interviews with Plenary participants, coverage of member nation testimonies and new GEO activities such as MBON (the Marine Biodiversity Observation Network).

Virtual Poster Sessions

Earthzine showcased 93 DEVELOP participant projects in 2015, which were published in conjunction with three Virtual Poster Sessions (VPS), during spring, summer and fall. Each VPS presentation included an abstract and short video describing the project. The VPSes featured

Elise Osenga and Osha Davidson attend the GEO-XII Plenary in Mexico City, Mexico. Image Credit: Jay Pearlman

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rounds of commenting and discussion by colleagues and readers, with presentations scored by a judging panel of field experts based on dialogue, scientific merit, and creativity, and prizes awarded by sponsors.

VPSes are presented by participants in NASA’s DEVELOP National Program, part of NASA’s Applied Sciences’ Capacity Building Program. DEVELOP projects highlight practical and innovative applications of NASA’s Earth science missions and increase the understanding of NASA Earth science data and its application. Participants work in 10-week terms to analyze societal and scientific dilemmas and discover ways in which these issues can be better predicted, monitored or mitigated through the application of NASA Earth observations. The VPS provides a platform for DEVELOP interns to reach local and global audiences to maximize the capacity of their research use and application.

A Spring VPS included a total of 29 projects in six categories, applying NASA Earth observations to environmental concerns including monitoring conservation efforts and drought, forecasting water availability and vector-borne disease risk, as well as mapping invasive species distribution and the damage from natural disasters such as

CONTENT

11 A map illustrating the predicted probability of cheatgrass cover. From the winning project in the Fall 2015 VPS, “A Changing Landscape: Monitoring Cheatgrass with Satellite Imagery,” by the four-person Wyoming Ecological Forecasting Team.

12 A view of images used to illustrate categories in the Fall 2015 VPS, clockwise from top: Assessing Human Risk, Mapping Water Quality, Monitoring Change for Resource Management, Forecasting Wetland Cover and Species Habitat.

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CONTENT

flooding, wildfires and hurricanes. These projects partnered with 66 different end-user organizations that could benefit from enhanced decision-support tools through the integrated use of NASA’s suite of Earth-observing satellites and airborne missions.

A Summer VPS included 38 projects in six categories, partnered with 88 end-user organizations. A Fall VPS included 26 projects in four categories, partnered with 60 end-user organizations.

The DEVELOP VPSes brought sizeable traffic and new eyes to the site, due to the use of short videos that accompanied abstracts for each project, and the blogging/discussion period for each session. The Fall VPS, for instance, attracted more than 30,000 pageviews to Earthzine from the time it was launched in Nov. 25, 2015, to the time when the winning team was announced on Jan. 10, 2016. Among the more than 17,000 users who visited the site during this time, almost 81 percent were first-time visitors.

Esri continued to sponsor DEVELOP VPSes in 2015 and awarded 1-year licenses of ArcGIS software to the winning teams.

A list of 2015 VPSes and details on each follows:

• Spring 2015 - 29 projects featuring 107 researchers at 13 DEVELOP locations across the United States

• Grand Prize - 13 “Beyond a Shadow of a Drought: Remote Monitoring in the Navajo Nation,” conducted by a team of four participants at DEVELOP’s location at Ames Research Center. The project utilized satellite imagery and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) analysis to better monitor drought and water resources in the Navajo Nation.

• Summer 2015 - 38 projects, featuring 175 researchers at 15 DEVELOP locations.

• Grand Prize - 14 “There’s Not a Lot of Ocelots: The Search for an Endangered Feline,” conducted by a team of four participants at DEVELOP’s location at Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama. The project used remote sensing to study ocelot habitats in southern portions of Texas and Arizona.

• Fall 2015 - 26 projects, featuring 105 researchers at 13 DEVELOP locations.

• Grand Prize: 11 “A Changing Landscape: Monitoring Cheatgrass with Satellite Imagery,” conducted by a team of four participants at DEVELOP’s location in Fort Collins, Colorado. The project used remote sensing to study cheatgrass cover across the area burned by the Arapaho Fire in south central Wyoming.

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Quick Looks and Syndication

15 Quick Looks are short, news-type blog posts that highlight a timely subject, providing summary information that is more accessible to the general public than more technical articles. Quick Looks also link to further resources and information.

A total of 18 Quick Looks were published in 2015, on subjects including the XPrize, a partnership for sustainable development data launched in part by GEO, the GEOGLAM collaboration, L-band sensing satellites, monitoring the Mediterranean and Black Sea, a partnership by the National Congress of American Indians and Google to map tribal lands, and a Palaeontological Association Annual Meeting.

A total of 306 syndicated articles from outside news and other sources also were posted at Earthzine. Syndicated articles were featured on the landing page, below featured articles from Earthzine’s original content, and updated regularly, to provide readers with fresh and topical information from news sources from around the world.

CONTENT

15 Examples of Quick Looks published in 2015

PLOCAN’s Glider School Explores a New Approach to Underwater Observations

Underwater gliders offer new mobility to the world of ocean observations, and PLOCAN’s glider school helps to increase use of this promising technology.

Friday, 23 October 2015

A Colorful Approach to Investigating the Red Sea: LearnEO! Offers a Lesson Plan to Map Phytoplankton Phenology

An online educational tool called Learn EO! works to provide informa-tion and training to help put remote sensing data to use in the Red Sea region.

Thursday, 8 October 2015

Climate Change Tightening its Grip on Bumblebee Habitat

Bumblebee habitats are shrinking in response to climate change, in a way that differs from the responses of other organisms.

Friday, 7 August 2015

L-band Sensing Satellites Suffer Setbacks

Two recent setbacks to L-band microwave sensing missions have hindered our ability to study soil moisture and ocean salinity.

Thursday, 30 July 2015

Montana’s Sunburst Sensors Wins Wendy Schmidt Ocean Health XPRIZE Tackling Ocean Acidification

A small team of scientists and engineers from Missoula, Montana, were awarded $1.5 million for breakthrough ocean pH sensors.

Thursday, 30 July 2015

Monitoring the Mediterra-nean and the Black Sea: IASON Concludes Work Fostering Scientific-Private Partnerships for Coastal Monitoring

The IASON project concludes its two-year efforts to build upon knowledge from prior partnerships and improve sustainability research in the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions.

Wednesday, 8 July 2015

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CONTENT

Capacity Building with the Writing Club

The Earthzine Essay Contest, held in previous years, transitioned to a 10-week online Writing Club in 2015. The goal of the Writing Club was to build capacity in science communication among the Earth science community by providing students and early-career professionals a mentoring program and opportunity to publish their work.

Science Writer Jenny Woodman designed and coordinated the project, which included a private blog site for club members and a public blog on the Earthzine site that showcased progress by those involved.

Participants were recruited via Earthzine’s network of contacts, which included NASA DEVELOP, science and communication trade organizations, and universities in the U.S. and abroad. Applicants submitted a 300-500 word essay and a letter of recommendation. The program was limited to current students enrolled in an accredited college or university degree program and early career professionals who have completed a degree within the past five years.

Thirty-five applications were received, and eight of nine applicants chosen for the program completed it successfully, each garnering a $200 honorarium.

Earthzine volunteers and staff members provided step-by-step assistance and conducted a review process to help club members reach the final goal of publication. Club members contributed articles to an online blog and the main Earthzine site, including “Essays on Hope” and content for a Socioeconomic Benefits theme. Most of these articles are or will be published in 2016.

Each participant completed an exit evaluation in which they were asked six questions about their experiences. Every participant wrote that they felt positively about the activities and their growth via this program and would highly recommend the club to others.

“It was a great opportunity to get out of my comfort zone and push myself to undertake an intimidating project. I would definitely recommend it to others.”

—Amy Hutton, Writing Club Participant

Hutton is a sustainable farmer and teaches sustainability, agriculture, and science courses at Colorado Mountain College. Her specialty is heritage hogs and dairy sheep, though she also raises cattle, goats, poultry, and rabbits.

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The positive feedback from participants and the improved quality in writing achieved through mentoring indicate high level of success in the Writing Club achieving its goal. Using this first round of the Writing Club as a foundation, Earthzine staff look to build on this professional development-focused writing project in the next iteration of the Writing Club planned in 2016.

Newsletters

Earthzine sends newsletters on the New Moon to contributors and on the Full Moon to a larger list of subscribers. Earthzine newsletters are used to showcase recent content, announce new content, and gather feedback.

In 2015, we switched to the MailChimp service as part of a redesign of our website, covered later in this report. A problem with adding subscribers when we moved to MailChimp resulted in low subscriber growth. This problem has been resolved. As of December 2015, we had 1,722 subscribers to our Full Moon Newsletter. The OES Administrative Committee approved distribution of Earthzine’s newsletters to the OES membership. Arrangements are underway to merge the mailing lists in 2016, which will approximately double the number of newsletter recipients.

The New Moon Newsletter provides updates on what’s happening behind the scenes to more than 100 contributors and stakeholders. Special New Moon newsletters are occasionally sent to our entire list of subscribers.

A sign-up function for the Full Moon Newsletter is available on the Earthzine site. Recipients are added to the New Moon list by invitation. Both newsletters are sent about once a month.

A total of 23 Full Moon and New Moon newsletters were sent in 2015, with an average open rate of almost 20 percent for Full Moon newsletters and almost 29 percent for New Moon newsletters.

Redesign and Organization

Earthzine underwent a successful redesign in late 2014, and refined the design with updates throughout 2015. The new design allows for improved access and searching of our archive through improved use of tags. The landing page layout shows featured articles at the top, in a banner style and a list.

Below the featured articles are the most recent original articles. Users also can sort there, by selecting a topic, region and interest level, to find more content.

CONTENT

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CONTENT

Earthzine continues to syndicate articles from other sources, and those sources were expanded in 2015 after a review of existing feeds. Sorting of syndicated articles also is available with the new redesign.

The site also is mobile responsive, which automatically resizes for devices like smartphones and tablets.

Transitioning to the new site required updating tags and categories related to articles in Earthzine’s archive. Volunteers from NASA’s DEVELOP National Program helped in this effort.

Earthzine also began using a new system to categorize its articles, so new and archived content can be sorted and accessed by topic, geographic region and interest level. A new commenting system also was added to the redesigned site to encourage discussion among readers, and help facilitate monitoring of comments and dialogue during Virtual Poster Sessions.

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SITE TRAFFIC

Overview

Nearly every metric of readership was up in 2015 compared to 2014, albeit moderately. Earthzine had more than 157,000 unique visitors and 280,000 page views. Of the unique visitors, more than 27,000 were repeat visitors. Sessions or “hits” to earthzine.org totaled more than 190,000. A snapshot of 2014 traffic (orange) compared to 2015 traffic (blue) is shown below:

20,000

10,000

Jan 1, 2015 - Dec 31, 2015 SessionsJan 1, 2014 - Dec 31, 2014 Sessions

April July October

Sessions

3.47%190,564 vs 184,168

Users

3.41%157,065 vs 151,891

Pageviews

5.18%280,482 vs 266,666

Pages/Session

1.65%1.47 vs 1.45

Avg. Session Duration

0.49%00:01:13 vs 00:01:13

% New Sessions

0.04%82.09% vs 82.05%

Social media brought in 8,753 hits to the website in 2015. This traffic came mostly from Facebook (65.7 percent) and Twitter (22.4 percent). In total, social media referrals resulted in 15,539 pageviews to Earthzine during the year.

Pages visited per session increased during 2015, along with average session duration (how long people spent on the site). A comparison of calendar year 2015 and 2014 traffic is included in the table above.

Earthzine continued to reach a global audience in 2015, with traffic from the United States, India, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia topping the list, according to Google Analytics.

Traffic from the U.S. increased by 3.25 percent, while traffic from India increased by 15.46 percent. Traffic from the U.K. declined by 11.58 percent, along with Canada by 1.35 percent and Australia by 6.5 percent.

However, traffic from other countries increased, some substantially. Traffic from the Germany was up by 6.77 percent, from the Philippines by 0.55 percent, from Russia by 334 percent, from France by 1.63 percent and from Kenya by 131 percent. These latter increases were due in part to social media promotions targeted to geographic areas where research was spotlighted in Earthzine articles.

Earthzine reached more than 200 countries in 2015. The following map, from Google Analytics, shows sessions by continent.

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SITE TRAFFIC

The top countries for visitors, in descending order of visits were:Country Sessions % Total

United States 75,010 39.4

India 23,372 12.3

United Kingdom 9,533 5.0

Canada 6,004 3.2

Australia 4,721 2.5

Germany 4,713 2.5

Philippines 3,874 2.0

Russia 3,440 1.8

France 3,245 1.7

Kenya 2,914 1.5

Other 53,738 28.2

Total Sessions 190,564 100.0

Social Media

Social media is a key avenue for interacting with and informing readers about new content from Earthzine, and attracting existing and new users to the website. Earthzine expanded its reach on social media through regular postings and paid advertisements to boost followers and viewership of Earthzine content including Virtual Poster Sessions from the NASA DEVELOP National Program.

Earthzine primarily used Facebook and Twitter to highlight original articles, outside resources and important news of the day. Earthzine also maintained a presence on Google+ and LinkedIn. During 2015, we restructured our management of social media. Woodman took over the management of Earthzine’s Facebook page, while Kart continued to manage the Twitter account.

At the end of 2015, Earthzine’s page likes on Facebook had reached nearly 11,000, an increase of 93 percent from 5,683 on Jan. 1, according Facebook Insights. On Twitter, Earthzine ended the year with 1,438 followers, an increase of 84 percent from 782 in January 2014. This growth is attributed in part to investments made in promoting Earthzine through advertisements.

On Facebook, a total of $521.83 was spent in 2015 on campaigns to promote Earthzine content. Forty campaigns were completed for this cost, reaching more than 117,000 people and resulting in 11,281 post likes (which expose the content to additional users) and 3,805 new page likes.

On Twitter, $300 was spent. This resulted in about 513,000 impressions (ads and promoted posts showing up on people’s feeds), and more than 3,700 engagements. These engagements included 2,681 clicks, 68 retweets, and 291 new followers. Earthzine staff intend to continue to bolster presence on social media networks in the coming year.

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BUSINESS MATTERS

Expanded Staff and Volunteers

The work Earthzine does would not be possible without its dedicated staff and network of volunteers. The year saw an expansion of staff and contributions from new and seasoned volunteers.

Elise Mulder Osenga was promoted to senior science writer and principal coordinator of Earthzine’s GEO coverage. Jenny Woodman served as science writer, Facebook curator, and coordinator of our new Writing Club. Osha Gray Davidson transitioned from science writer to contributing editor and supported coverage of GEO and special topics. Managing Editor Jeff Kart continued to serve as the primary facilitator of Earthzine’s editorial process, heading up the handling of submissions, editing and publication via an online database. Late in the year, Kelley Christensen joined our staff as Science Editor.

In 2015, Ohno Design Inc. was contracted for site hosting, maintenance, and content management. Ohno’s Tristan Robb joined Earthzine’s team as syndication and content manager. Earthzine also commissioned five articles by Lori Keesey, a freelance writer, who specializes in new technology development, on ocean-related subjects.

Volunteers continued to play a central role in supporting the activities of Earthzine. In 2015, roughly 30 volunteers contributed as associate editors, guest editors, writers and peer reviewers. Volunteers and professional contributors wrote 31 articles including Quick Looks and announcements. Anthea Lacchia joined our staff of volunteers as assistant editor. Annie Dye supported our outreach to South America, educational activities, and Writing Club. Associate Editor Tim Hewison stepped in at a moment of critical need to lead syndication activities for several months. Associate Editor Barbara Hofer, whose idea spawned the Writing Club, provided support in implementing the Writing Club and contributed as a writer and editor throughout the year. Volunteers from the DEVELOP program supported the review and cataloging of Earthzine’s content in transition to a new website design and advised on the development of Earthzine’s 16 EarthNow, a new feature that presents near-real-time Earth data. Earthzine relies on the generous contribution of volunteers in the production of its content and support of its activities.

Meetings and Communication Earthzine staff and volunteers continued regular, weekly meetings during 2015. Communication was conducted via Skype, and meetings focused on daily and weekly activities, page updates, ongoing and new initiatives, and planning.

Minutes were taken for each meeting, with weekly action items, and posted on a password-protected area of the site.

16 - Earthzine 2015 Year-End Report

BUSINESS MATTERS

Added to communication efforts in 2015 was the use of an online scheduling application called Wunderlist and an online message system called Slack. The use of these products allowed staff to better collaborate on a daily basis, coordinate activities on special projects, and track activities.

In her new role as science editor, Christensen helped coordinate monthly focus topics, plan for upcoming themed articles and seek and attract Guest Editors for quarterly themes. Christensen also took over tracking the progress of articles as they are edited and reviewed via Google Spreadsheets.

The managing editor continued to use an editorial flowchart to refine the process by which articles are solicited, received, categorized, checked for originality, reviewed for accuracy, edited, posted, and distributed. The originality of articles published in Earthzine, along with the need for proper sourcing of information, was further strengthened through the continued use of an online plagiarism checking service.

Financial Support

Earthzine is largely funded by grants through NASA as a contribution to GEO by the United States and resources made available through the IEEE OES. In March 2015, Earthzine received a two-year, $150,000 grant through NASA’s Applied Sciences program. The grant objectives include: Introduction of monthly focus topics, a series featuring “Science as a Human Endeavor,” production of quarterly themes, coverage of GEO, and capacity building through a Writing Club. Earthzine received additional support from NASA through student internships, auxiliary funding for staff, infrastructure and graphics design support.

Earthzine received nearly $55,000 from the OES in 2015 to strengthen Earthzine’s alignment with OES. Efforts focused on establishing Earthzine as an IEEE magazine, increasing coverage of oceans and water, and expanding readership and impact across oceanic communities.

Commitment from the OES into 2016 allowed Earthzine to hire a new science editor.

Earthzine 2015 Year-End Report - 17

LOOKING AHEAD

Implementing Earthzine’s Strategic Plan

Earthzine’s 17 2015-2020 Strategic Plan includes alignment with the OES and growing our capacity to serve as a contribution of IEEE to the Group on Earth Observations (18 GEO) by providing up-to-date information on the science, technology and participants of Earth observation and information utilization.

Several goals under the plan were realized in 2015. Achievements in line with the plan’s goals include: monthly focus topics on specific timely subjects; expanded coverage of “science as a human endeavor,” with personal stories on how Earth observations and utilization of Earth information impact people on a social and personal level; and expanded coverage of ocean-related news and research. We also increased visibility through the use of social media, advertisements, and announcements in Earthzine and other media; established a Writing Club; and continued to increase student participation through focused content and competitions.

In the years ahead, Earthzine will look to grow its readership, increase its monthly subscriber base, add new features, and improve its alignment with OES and leverage the resources available through the IEEE and its membership.

Becoming a Magazine

In December 2015, the OES submitted a notice of intent to the IEEE to transition Earthzine to an IEEE magazine with the new name “IEEE Earthzine.”

Currently, Earthzine is classified by the IEEE as a newsletter. With magazine status, IEEE Earthzine would become a sanctioned peer-reviewed publication that is included in the IEEE registry. An added benefit of this transition includes digital object identifier (DOI) numbers that will make Earthzine content easier to find and cite. These benefits are anticipated to attract more contributions from academia and professionals. As a magazine IEEE Earthzine would have access to IEEE publishing tools like ScholarOne, which tracks articles through the review process. There is a two-step application process to becoming a magazine. The soonest Earthzine could be approved to transition to a magazine is November 2016.

Earthzine developed new branding to reflect the interests of the OES. A new logo features a globe, water drop, double helix and constellation of stars to symbolize the intricate link between water, life on Earth and the cosmos. The intent is to introduce the new brand as Earthzine transitions to magazine.

18 - Earthzine 2015 Year-End Report

LOOKING AHEAD

17 Goals of 2015 - 2020 Strategic Plan

Content• Expand coverage of ocean- and water-related news and

research; • Publish a focused series on GEO projects and international

programs entailing collaborations, with an emphasis on developing regions, Societal Benefit Areas, and location-based stories centering around human impacts;

• Expand coverage of “science as a human endeavor,” with personal stories on how Earth observations and utilization of Earth information impact people on a social and personal level;

• Publish monthly focus topics concentrated on specific timely subjects;

• Increase use and development of custom graphics, maps, and video to accompany and enrich published articles;

• Add new features to redesigned website, including daily images and near-real-time Earth information from other agencies and content providers;

• Continue to improve access to Earthzine’s content through, for example, search engine optimization and improvements to site speed and loading times;

Reader Engagement• Increase traffic and newsletter subscribers;• Increase visibility through the use of social media,

advertisements, and announcements in Earthzine and other media;

• Complete an updated survey of readers; document and respond to feedback;

Student Involvement• Establish a “writing club” as an extension of annual essay

contests that Earthzine has run in the past; Earthzine’s Associate Editor for Education will guide students and young professionals in preparing original articles for publication;

• Continue to increase student participation through focused content and competitions;

Volunteers and Staffing• Engage additional volunteers through new features including the

writing club and continued publication of Virtual Poster Sessions (VPSes) by NASA DEVELOP and other programs;

• Establish guidelines and criteria for volunteer positions;• Utilize newly added staff and volunteers to assist with outreach

and communications;

Funding, Sponsorship, and IEEE Relations• Expand the resource base through grants and sponsorship from

new organizations;• Improve alignment with IEEE by more effectively leveraging its

membership and society resources;• Acquire Digital Object Identifier (DOI) registration through IEEE.

Earthzine 2015 Year-End Report - 19

Alignment with OES

In December 2015, Earthzine signed an agreement with the Universidad Nacional Del Centro De La Provincia de Buenos Aires (UNICEN). This partnership seeks to expand Earthzine’s coverage of oceanic research and development and reach in South America. Through this partnership Earthzine will publish articles on research and development in oceanic technologies and increase social media presence in South America.

Earthzine plans to incorporate ocean issues into future quarterly themes, and invites OES members and their colleagues to become involved in various aspects of the publication. In 2016, five monthly mini themes will be directly related to oceans and water. A second quarterly theme, Ocean Stewardship, will focus on efforts around the globe to demonstrate how Earth observations and the people who do them are having a direct impact on the health of the oceans. The 2016 fourth quarterly theme will focus on coastal environments.

Funding from OES in 2015 allowed Earthzine to expand its coverage of ocean issues with additional staffing and other initiatives. Live coverage is planned for Oceans ’16 in Monterey, California in September 2016.

LOOKING AHEAD

20 - Earthzine 2015 Year-End Report

EARTHZINE STAFF

Paul Racette • Editor-in-ChiefJeff Kart • Managing EditorElise Mulder Osenga • Senior Science WriterKelley Christensen • Science EditorJenny Woodman • Science WriterOsha Gray Davidson • Contributing EditorTristan Robb • Syndication & Content ManagerAnthea Lacchia • Assistant Editor

Board of DirectorsJay PearlmanRené GarelloAl Gasiewski

Associate EditorsDaniel McInerney • Forestry EditorBelay Demoz • African AffairsDan Ziskin • All Things GreenBarbara Hofer • EducationJosiane Zerubia • European Space Organizations & Industries, Space Signal & Image ProcessingTim Hewison • (MetOffice) European AffairsJohn Kostelnick • Geographic Information SystemsSergio Freire • DisastersBrian Wardlow • AgricultureLeonard Berkoski III • TechnologyJ. Marshall Shepherd • WeatherMichael G. Bosilovich • Climate

Regional CoordinatorsGerardo Acosta • South AmericaBiswajeet Pradhan • Southeast Asia

Business ManagementBill Kirkwood • OES TreasurerTom Compton • IEEE ResourceAlyson Karsch • IEEE ResourceMatt Lafleur • IEEE ResourceChristoph Aubrecht • Senior Advisor

Equal Accessibility OfficerPaul Mogan

Site Development and MaintenanceOhno Design

Earthzine is committed to ensuring equal access for all persons to our website, newsletters, events, programs, facilities and opportunities for employment. Earthzine publishes content in accordance to documented standards and 508 compliance.

Earthzine 2015 Year-End Report - 21

APPENDIX

2015 Themes

The following is a list of articles published under each of Earthzine’s four themes in 2015, and Guest Editors (GEs) who helped coordinate promotions, submissions and reviews of articles.

1st Quarter: Indigenous Perspectives on Environmental Change Dec. 4, 2015 - March 19, 2015. GE: Dr. Cynthia-Lou Coleman, Portland State University1. Ethics of Traditional Knowledge Exchange in Climate Change Initiatives2. Remote Drought Monitoring in the Navajo Nation: Utilizing NASA Earth

Observation Data3. How Winegrowers from Rheinhessen and Cognac Cope with Climate Change4. Considering Gender Roles and Intercultural Immersion for Water Infrastructure

Projects in Indigenous Communities5. National Congress of Americans Indians and Google Partner to Map Tribal

Lands6. Why Indigenous Voices Matter7. How a Google Engineer, 66,000 Computers, and a Brazilian Tribe Made a

Difference in How We View the Earth8. Call for Papers - Indigenous Perspectives on Environmental Change

2nd Quarter: Ocean Acidification Dec. 5, 2014 – March 20, 2015. GE: Dr. Elizabeth (Libby) Jewett, Director, NOAA Ocean Acidification Program1. Stress Tests for the Sea: Can Fisheries Withstand Ocean Acidification?2. New Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network Brings Multi-National

Approach3. Ocean Acidification, Global Warming’s ‘Evil Twin’4. Ocean Acidification: A Global Issue Affecting a Maine Oyster Farm5. Pacific Walrus and Coastal Alaska Native Subsistence Hunting: Considering

Vulnerabilities from Ocean Acidification6. Probing Human Vulnerability to Ocean Acidification Uncovers Mitigation and

Adaptation Opportunities7. Altered Waters: Ocean Acidification Leads Shellfish Growers to Adapt for

Survival8. Call for Papers – Ocean Acidification.

3rd Quarter: Water for Agriculture May 17, 2015 – Sept. 23, 2015). GE: Paul Racette, Earthzine Editor-in-Chief1. GEOGLAM: Working Together to Reduce Poverty and Fight Global Hunger2. Big Data Flows: Water, Outsourcing, and the Flood of Data3. Meters Matter: How Water Metering Promotes Conservation and

Technological Development4. Call For Papers – Water for Agriculture.

4th/1st Quarter*: Socioeconomic Benefits Sept. 12, 2015 - March 21, 2016. GE: Paul Racette, Earthzine Editor-in-Chief1. Mapping for a Healthier World2. The Trouble with Trees: Volatile Organic Compounds Exacerbate Climate

Change and Air Pollution3. Data to Decisions: GEO Value Plans Workshop for 20164. Call for Papers – Socioeconomic Benefits.

* Still in progress as of this writing.

22 - Earthzine 2015 Year-End Report

LOOKING AHEADAPPENDIX

Article # Title Authors Publication Date

1 Estimating the Effects of Water-Induced Shallow Landslides on Soil Erosion Earthzine 1/1/15

2Using Their Powers for Good: Aubrecht and Shepherd Recognized for Work in

Earth SciencesElise Mulder Osenga 1/4/15

3 Good Enough? Nichesourcing in Data Quality Assessment

Francisco J. Lopez Pellicer, Jesus

Barrera1/9/15

4 An Integrated Modelling Framework for the Forest-based Bioeconomy Sarah Mubareka 1/19/15

5How a Google Engineer, 66,000

Computers, and a Brazilian Tribe Made a Difference in How We View the Earth

Jenny Woodman 1/27/15

6Citizens Observatories: Improving Socio-Economic Relations in the

Context of Odor NuisancesPhilippe Ledent 1/31/15

7 Palaeontological Association Annual Meeting: An Insider’s Perspective Anthea Lacchia 2/2/15

8Putting the ‘Justice’ in GIS: Supporting

Communities using EPA Citizen Science Tools

Laura Stewart 2/2/15

9 Why We Should Start Thinking About Soil Moisture Liza Brazil 2/3/15

10 NASA Launches New Satellite to Help Measure Soil Moisture Elise Mulder Osenga 2/3/15

11 The Wonders Beneath Our Feet—The International Year of Soils Elise Mulder Osenga 2/3/15

12Science, Science Everywhere, Nor Any Drop to Drink: Three Solutions for an

Outdated SystemFaisal Hossain 2/10/15

13 Sanitation and Social Justice: Developing Simple Technology for a Cause Elise Mulder Osenga 2/19/15

14 Why Indigenous Voices Matter Cynthia-Lou Coleman 3/2/15

15 Bringing Soil Biodiversity Into the Light Elise Mulder Osenga 3/4/15

16 Imaging Earth: Utilizing Advances in Earth Observation Sarah Frazier 3/4/15

17 STEP M: Space to Effectively Prepare for Migration

Prateep Basu, Dawoon Jung, Jeremy Milne

3/5/15

18 Ocean Plastic Gets Cloudy Rachel Chenven Powers 3/11/15

19 Clues from Space Help Track Freshwater on Earth Elise Mulder Osenga 3/11/15

20 In the Journals: Water Jeff Kart 4/2/15

21 3D Visualizations for a Three-Dimensional World Jenny Woodman 4/13/15

22Altered Waters: Ocean Acidification

Leads Shellfish Growers to Adapt for Survival

Jenny Woodman, Rachel Chenven

Powers4/14/15

23Probing Human Vulnerability to Ocean Acidification Uncovers Mitigation and

Adaptation Opportunities

Sarah Cooley, Julia Ekstrom, Lisa

Suatoni4/15/15

Earthzine 2015 Year-End Report - 23

APPENDIX

Article # Title Authors Publication Date

24 National Congress of Americans Indians and Google Partner to Map Tribal Lands Jenny Woodman 4/20/15

25 Using Poetry to Promote Science Elise Mulder Osenga 4/21/15

26Pacific Walrus and Coastal Alaska Native

Subsistence Hunting: Considering Vulnerabilities from Ocean Acidification

Katya Wassillie, Melissa Poe 4/24/15

27 8th Annual Global Day of Conversation Will Focus on Coastal Cities Emily Sullivan 4/27/15

28 Call For Papers: Water For Agriculture Earthzine 5/17/15

29Learning to See the Forest for the Trees: Using a Health Index to Communicate

ChangeElise Mulder Osenga 5/18/15

30

Considering Gender Roles and Intercultural Immersion for Water

Infrastructure Projects in Indigenous Communities

Liza Brazil 5/21/15

31 Ocean Acidification: A Global Issue Affecting a Maine Oyster Farm

Bill Mook, Dr. Joe Salisbury 5/26/15

32Water on Our Planet: Colombian Students Learn About Sources,

Distribution and ThreatsSt. George's School 5/29/15

33 Ocean Acidification, Global Warming’s ‘Evil Twin’ Osha Gray Davidson 5/29/15

34New Global Ocean Acidification

Observing Network Brings Multi-National Approach

Dr. Jan Newton, Dr. Libby Jewett, Dr. Phil

Williamson6/1/15

35 Stress Tests for the Sea: Can Fisheries Withstand Ocean Acidification?

D. Shallin Busch, Michael J. O’Donnell, Isaac C. Kaplan, Errin

Ramanujam

6/3/15

36 How Winegrowers from Rheinhessen and Cognac Cope with Climate Change Leen Revallier 6/4/15

37Remote Drought Monitoring in the

Navajo Nation: Utilizing NASA Earth Observation Data

Cheryl Cary, Vickie Ly, Clayton Sodergren, Amber

Brooks

6/5/15

38The Mercurial World of Weather:

Comparing the UK’s Met Office in FitzRoy’s Time and Today

Elise Mulder Osenga 6/25/15

39 In the Journals: Forecasting Jeff Kart 7/1/15

40 OCEANS ’15 to Focus on Changing Oceans and Emerging Opportunities Earthzine 7/1/15

41 Weather, Risk, and Searching for Normal in a Rapidly Changing World Jenny Woodman 7/1/15

42Meters Matter: How Water Metering

Promotes Conservation and Technological Development

Alec Drobac 7/7/15

43

Monitoring the Mediterranean and the Black Sea: IASON Concludes Work

Fostering Scientific-Private Partnerships for Coastal Monitoring

Elise Mulder Osenga 7/8/15

44 Book Review: Elizabeth Kolbert’s ’The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History’ Kyle Turner 7/27/15

45 L-band Sensing Satellites Suffer Setbacks Alec Drobac 7/30/15

24 - Earthzine 2015 Year-End Report

APPENDIX

Article # Title Authors Publication Date

46 Big Data Flows: Water, Outsourcing, and the Flood of Data Alec Drobac 7/30/15

47Montana’s Sunburst Sensors Wins

Wendy Schmidt Ocean Health XPRIZE Tackling Ocean Acidification

Kyle Turner 7/30/15

48 The Ethics of Traditional Knowledge Exchange in Climate Change Initiatives

The Climate and Traditional Knowledges Workgroup

7/31/15

49 Climate Change Tightening its Grip on Bumblebee Habitat Alec Drobac 8/7/15

50 Condor Conservation in Three Dimensions

Rachel Chenven Powers 8/18/15

51Ocean Sensing Comes of Age: European Consortium Advances Interoperability in

Marine ScienceLori Keesey 8/24/15

52Painting the Consequences of Climate Change: Audubon Teams up with New York Artists to Portray Threatened Birds

Kyle Turner 8/24/15

53Enhancing Ocean Color Observation

from Space: A Look Forward to NASA’s PACE and GEO-CAPE Missions

Kyle Turner 8/26/15

54 Untouched Oceans Provide Context for Earth’s Uniqueness Alec Drobac 9/1/15

55Women of Tomorrow: European Space

Agency Seeks to Set Girls on a Trajectory Toward Space

Kyle Turner 9/11/15

56Eye on Earth Summit Comes During

a Turning Point for Sustainable Development

Jeff Kart 9/24/15

57Women in Science: Dr. Patricia Gruber

Scours the Globe for International Partners and Innovative Technology

Jenny Woodman 9/24/15

58Scientists Studying Record-breaking Algal Bloom Ask: Why Is This Year

Different?

Jenny Woodman, Rachel Chenven

Powers9/26/15

59

A Web-based Lesson on Ocean-Color Observations in the Red Sea:

Phytoplankton Phenological Indices and Their Importance for Coral Reef Biology

Marie-Fanny Racault, Dionysios E. Raitsos 9/26/15

60 From Space to Earth with John Mather Alec Drobac 10/8/15

61A Colorful Approach to Investigating the Red Sea: LearnEO! Offers a Lesson Plan

to Map Phytoplankton PhenologyElise Mulder Osenga 10/8/15

62 OSGeo: Mapping the World of Open Source Geospatial Software Alec Drobac 10/8/15

63European Marine Observation and Data

Network (EMODnet): Making Fragmented Marine Data Relevant and Accessible

Maria Judge 10/8/15

64 Live From MTS/IEEE Oceans ‘15 Earthzine 10/15/15

65 Open Source Geospatial Tools – Applications in Earth Observation Hofer 10/20/15

66How Acoustic Waves Help Us to See

the Sea Floor: An Interview with Gerardo Acosta

Elise Mulder Osenga 10/21/15

Earthzine 2015 Year-End Report - 25

APPENDIX

Article # Title Authors Publication Date

67 PLOCAN’s Glider School Explores a New Approach to Underwater Observations Elise Mulder Osenga 10/23/15

68 GEOGLAM: Working Together to Reduce Poverty and Fight Global Hunger Osha Gray Davidson 10/28/15

69GEOGLAM Collaboration Builds Bright Future for a Strong Earth Observation

TraditionAmy C. Hutton 10/28/15

70 The ‘Great Grain Robbery’ of 1972 Rachel Chenven Powers 10/28/15

71 GEO Helps Launch Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data Elise Mulder Osenga 11/7/15

72 Live Coverage of GEO-XII Osha Gray Davidson, Elise Mulder Osenga 11/7/15

73Branding the Blue Economy: Award-Winning Branding Expert Accepts the

ChallengeLori Keesey 11/17/15

74 The Man Behind the Ubiquitous Recycling Symbol Lori Keesey 11/17/15

75 WANDA, Meet Flimmer: NRL Engineers Create New-Fangled Unmanned Vehicle Lori Keesey 11/24/15

76 Benthic Microbial Fuel Cell Uses Ocean Microorganisms to Generate Power Lori Keesey 12/1/15

77 Call for Papers: Socioeconomic Benefits Earthzine 12/10/15

78 XPrize Challenges Researchers to Explore the Great Depths of the Ocean Elise Mulder Osenga 12/15/15

79 Data to Decisions: GEO Value Plans Workshop for 2016 Elise Mulder Osenga 12/22/15

80 Hope in Our Final Hour Amy C. Hutton 12/24/15

81 Traveling for Change Chandra Fowler 12/24/15

26 - Earthzine 2015 Year-End Report

1. http://earthzine.org/2015/09/24/women-in-science-dr-patricia-gruber-scours-the-globe-for-international-partners-and-innovative-technology/

2. http://earthzine.org/2015/11/07/live-coverage-of-geo-xii/

3. http://earthzine.org/2015/08/24/ocean-sensing-comes-of-age-european-consortium-advances-interoperability-in-marine-science/

4. http://earthzine.org/2015/04/24/pacific-walrus-and-coastal-alaska-native-subsistence-hunting-considering-vulnerabilities-from-ocean-acidification/

5. http://earthzine.org/2015/09/26/a-web-based-lesson-on-ocean-color-observations-in-the-red-sea-phytoplankton-phenological-indices-and-their-importance-for-coral-reef-biology/

6. http://earthzine.org/category/themed-article/indigenous-perspectives-on-environmental-change/

7. http://earthzine.org/category/themed-article/ocean-acidification-2015/

8. http://earthzine.org/category/themed-article/water-for-agriculture-theme/

9. http://earthzine.org/category/themed-article/socioeconomic-benefits-2016/

10. http://earthzine.org/2015/10/15/live-from-mtsieee-oceans-15/

11. http://earthzine.org/2015/11/25/a-changing-landscape-monitoring-cheatgrass-with-satellite-imagery/

12. http://earthzine.org/develop-fall-2015-vps/

13. http://earthzine.org/2015/04/04/arc-navajo-nation-climate/

14. http://earthzine.org/2015/07/30/theres-not-a-lot-of-ocelots-the-search-for-an-endangered-feline/

15. http://earthzine.org/topic/quick-looks/

16. http://earthzine.org/earthnow/

17. http://earthzine.org/strategic-plan/

18. http://earthzine.org/geo-and-geoss-the-group-on-earth-observations-and-the-global-earth-observations-system-of-systems/

APPENDIX

is dedicated to protectingLife on Earth.

For more information, please contact:Paul Racette • Editor-in-Chief • editor@earthzine.orgJeff Kart • Managing Editor • jkart@earthzine.org

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