Geoscientists often spend significant research time identifying, downloading, and refining geospatial data before they can use it for analysis. Exploring interdisciplinary data is even more challenging because it may be difficult to evaluate data quality outside of one’s expertise. QGreenland, a newly funded EarthCube project, is designed to remove these barriers for interdisciplinary Greenland-focused research and analysis via an open data, open platform Greenland GIS tool. QGreenland will combine interdisciplinary data (e.g., glaciology, human health, geopolitics, hydrology, biology, etc.) curated by an international Editorial Board into a unified, all-in-one GIS environment for offline and online use. The package is designed for the open source GIS platform QGIS. QGreenland will include multiple levels of data use: 1) a fully downloadable base package ready for offline use, 2) additional disciplinary and/or high-resolution data extension packages for select download, and 3) online-access-only data to facilitate especially large datasets or updating time series. Software development has begun and we look forward to discussing techniques to create the best open access, reproducible methods for package creation and future sustainability. We also now have a beta version available for experimentation and feedback from interested users and the Editorial Board. The version 1 public release is slated for fall 2020, with two subsequent annual updates. As an interdisciplinary data package, QGreenland is designed to aid collaboration and discovery across fields. Along with discussing QGreenland development, we will also provide an example use case to demonstrate the potential utility of QGreenland for researchers, educators, planners, and communities.

Why would hundreds of scientists from around the world freeze a ship in Arctic sea ice for an entire year, braving subzero temperatures and months of polar darkness? This may sound like a fictional adventure movie plot, but from September 2019 through October 2020, the MOSAiC (Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate) Arctic research expedition did just this. Currently, the Arctic is warming twice as fast as the global average (a phenomenon known as Arctic amplification) and due to a lack of observations, there is considerable uncertainty in climate models projecting the Arctic climate of the future. The MOSAiC expedition aims to better understand the changing Arctic climate system by gathering data from ground zero over a full seasonal cycle to augment satellite observation data. Using the expedition as an engagement hook, scientists and curriculum developers developed a high school earth science curriculum anchored by the phenomenon that climate scientists are actively trying to explain: Arctic amplification. The curriculum follows the model-based inquiry instructional framework where each lesson provides students with learning experiences (e.g., virtual reality tours of MOSAiC field sites, analyzing authentic Arctic satellite datasets) that relate back to the phenomena. Focusing on explaining natural phenomena provides an authentic context for students to learn and apply scientific understanding, which research shows can help engage students in NGSS scientific practices. Here we present an overview of the learning sequence using refinement of mental models throughout the unit and present preliminary results from pre-post assessments from two educator workshops (~100 teachers) that show that participants’ understanding of Earth’s climate system improved significantly after engaging with the curriculum. Based on these results, we expect this curriculum to be an important tool in engaging students in Earth’s systems thinking.

Scientific expeditions can be used to engage the public in science learning within an exciting and compelling context, giving insight into the often messy and serendipitous nature of science and the humanness of scientists. The 2019-2020 MOSAiC (Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate) research expedition allowed scientists from around the world to study all aspects of the Arctic climate system at ground zero for a full seasonal cycle. The German icebreaker Polarstern was intentionally frozen in Arctic sea ice and drifted almost continuously across the Arctic Ocean for a year. The Polarstern served as the central research observatory for MOSAiC, allowing scientists to study Arctic sea ice, atmospheric processes, and more. Here we present our U.S.-based MOSAiC expedition outreach efforts and the role of MOSAiC scientists in them. By harnessing the public’s fascination with the Arctic and the excitement of the expedition, coordinated MOSAiC communication, outreach, and education efforts promoted a broad understanding of the changing Arctic and the societal implications of these changes, hopefully inspiring a future generation of potential scientists. Many MOSAiC scientists were directly engaged in MOSAiC outreach efforts with students, teachers, and the public, and outreach materials were developed that could be accessed and distributed virtually. The expedition was brought to life for learners of all ages by providing them with immersive experiences like VR Google Expeditions and 360-degree videos from the field, opportunities to connect directly with scientists through video calls and an #askmosaic question submission campaign, and insight into what day-to-day life on an icebreaker in the remote Arctic is like. Our outreach efforts helped us better understand the importance of providing scientists with diverse outreach opportunities that are fulfilling to them and the power in using scientific expeditions to engage the public.