Welcome to the Thriving Earth Exchange’s (TEX) blog space. The purpose of the blog is to inspire thinking, open-participation and discussion on particular topics or themes. We encourage you to leave comments on any blog post by clicking through to each post and sharing your thoughts at the bottom.
Restoring Our Own Truth through Education and Demonstration (ROOTED) Community Science Project, Willington (McCormick), SC Project Team: Dr. Rev. ErNiko Brown, Dr. Agnes Pasco Conaty & Mr. Samuel Bamidele The Willington, South Carolina project, “Restoring Our Own Truth through Education and Demonstration (ROOTED)” has undertaken the restoration of a historically segregated school building. This […]
The article below is in both English and Spanish Community Lead Highlight: Ana Karen Novoa Rodríguez A native of the community of Coatepec, Mexico, Community Lead and General Manager of FIDECOAGUA, Ana Karen Novoa Rodríguez, joined the 2024 May cohort of AGU Thriving Earth Exchange with the hope of finding the tools and technical skills […]
The article below is in both English and Spanish Fellow Highlight: Elvira Lafuente After living in more than five different countries and furthering her academic research in evolutionary biology, Elvira joined the September 2024 fellow cohort. Originally from Spain, Elvira is a scientist with a Ph.D. in Evolutionary Biology, and her academic research explores how […]
Thriving Earth Exchange is excited to announce the September 2024 launch of community leaders! They will work with Community Science Fellows to launch 22 community science projects in the United States and Mexico. We are proud to recognize our four Hub partners—Capacity Collaborative, Creation Justice Ministries, and Kansas State Center for Hazardous Substances Research […]
Momentum continues to build as the first AGU Thriving Earth Exchange Community Science Hub projects celebrate the 1-year mark. Funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Community Science Hub initiative is building and supporting regional and topically focused hubs that are focused on community science. Capacity Collaborative, Nurture Nature, Creation Justice Ministries and […]
Thriving Earth Exchange is pleased to announce our September 2024 cohort of Community Science Fellows! They’ll be working with communities across the United States, Mexico and South America to launch impactful community science projects. The partnership will connect communities with scientists and technical experts and support them as they work together to tackle local challenges […]
Advancing Faith-Based Environmental Advocacy Creation Justice Ministries is one of four organizations named as an AGU/Thriving Earth Exchange Community Science Hub. Formerly known as the National Council of Churches Eco-Justice Program, the 40-year-old organization has members from almost 40 different Christian denominations across the United States. The Community Science Hubs are funded by the Gordon […]
We know here at Thriving Earth Exchange that water, how much of it is available to whom, where it travels, and what contaminants it carries with it, impacts people everywhere. Roughly one third of Thriving Earth Exchange projects are around the topics of flooding or contamination. Frequently, these issues most affect those who have […]
The Kansas State Center for Hazardous Substances Research (CHSR), a multidisciplinary unit within the College of Engineering at Kansas State University, has been named as one of four AGU Thriving Earth Exchange Community Science Hubs. This hub will focus on working with indigenous communities across the U.S., helping them to revitalize underutilized properties and preserve […]
Thriving Earth Exchange is pleased to announce our May 2024 cohort of Community Science Fellows! They’ll be working with communities across the United States, Mexico and South America to launch impactful community science projects. The partnership will connect communities with scientists and technical experts and support them as they work together to tackle local challenges […]
The Capacity Collaborative, a non-profit built around bolstering resilience in rural communities in the Southeastern United States, is one of four AGU Thriving Earth Exchange Community Science Hubs. Thanks to support from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, each hub is receiving $50,000 a year for two years to launch and support community science projects. […]
The Nurture Nature Center, a non-profit that works to build community resiliency in the face of environmental risks, is one of four organizations recently named as an AGU Thriving Earth Exchange Community Science Hub. With funding from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the hubs program is designed to build regional capacity for community science […]
Join us in welcoming our February 2024 Cohort of Community Science Leads! From Mexico to New York to North Carolina, Illinois, and California this cohort is going to do amazing things with community science. Ana Karen Novoa Coatepec, Veracruz Mexico Ana Karen Novoa is an environmental lawyer with a master degree in environmental and ecological […]
Thriving Earth Exchange is pleased to announce our February 2024 cohort of Community Science Fellows! They’ll be working with communities across the United States and Mexico to launch impactful community science projects. The partnership will connect communities with scientists and technical experts and support them as they work together to tackle local challenges related to […]
Vice President of Community Science Raj Pandya started Thriving Earth Exchange in 2013. _____ This month, I am leaving AGU and Thriving Earth Exchange. I wanted to use this last blog to say thank you, reflect on our accomplishments together, and talk about what is next. First, thank you. Thriving Earth Exchange is a team […]
By Marina Cox In the past decade, science communication has acknowledged the urgent need for diversity, equity and inclusion in its practices, methodology, audiences, and organizations. Language is a crucial tool to promote access and inclusion to STEMM, but it is often overlooked. Last month, I had the opportunity to attend the Inclusive SciComm Symposium […]
Thriving Earth Exchange is pleased to announce our October 2023 cohort of Community Science Fellows! They’ll be working with communities across the United States to launch impactful community science projects. The partnership will connect communities with scientists and technical experts and support them as they work together to tackle local challenges related to natural hazards, […]
Thriving Earth Exchange at 10 Years: A Q&A with Thriving Earth Director Natasha Udu-gama 2023 marks 10 years since the founding of Thriving Earth Exchange. It’s a milestone worth celebrating! It’s also a great time to step back and take stock of where we’ve been and where we’re going. To reminisce and reflect, we recently […]
Raj Pandya is Vice President for Community Science at AGU and previously served as founding director of Thriving Earth Exchange So, you want to be a community scientist or incorporate community science into your work in a big way. Congratulations! I say that because I have found in community science — the chance to […]
Thriving Earth Exchange is pleased to announce the June 2023 cohort of Community Leads! They will work with Community Science Fellows to launch 16 community science projects in the United States and Mexico. Stay tuned for more information about the impactful projects to come and the communities who lead and inspire them! Black Appalachian […]
Blog post and photos by Liz Crocker Figure 1 View from the rooftop of the Mediterranean Conference Center. Finding ways to ensure communities have access to the benefits of science and can mobilize science to solve their local priorities is currently a global topic of conversation amongst scientists, institutions, educators, museums, and communities. Last month, […]
Thriving Earth Exchange is pleased to announce our June 2023 cohort of Community Science Fellows! They’ll be working with communities from across the United States and Mexico to launch impactful community science projects. The partnership will connect communities with scientists and technical experts and support them as they work together to tackle local challenges related to […]
In Western European and North American academic sciences, standardized seasons and calendars allow for experts to communicate about specific dates and periods with clarity. But nature is not a homogenous grid to which all environments conform. Our own experiences can confirm that the muggy thick heat of summer can seem endless in some regions while […]
Thriving Earth Exchange is pleased to announce the March 2023 cohort of Community Leads! They will work with Community Science Fellows to launch 14 community science projects in the United States, Brazil and Jamaica! Stay tuned for more information about the impactful projects to come and the communities who lead and inspire them! Braco, Jamaica […]
Thriving Earth Exchange is pleased to announce our March 2023 cohort of Community Science Fellows! They’ll be working with communities from across the United States, Brazil, and Jamaica to launch impactful community science projects. The partnership will connect communities with scientists and technical experts and support them as they work together to tackle local challenges related […]
When I joined Thriving Earth Exchange in 2014, it was only the second year of the program’s existence. To be honest, at the time I wasn’t entirely familiar with the notion of ‘community science’. I had spent the previous decade neck deep in the world of community-based disaster risk reduction (CBDRR), vulnerability and capacity assessments […]
September of 2020, Thriving Earth Exchange launched a cohort of 16 projects with support from the Betty and Gordon Moore Foundation. This cohort was focused on projects that had potential policy-related outcomes and in 2022 an evaluation was conducted by the Beverly Group to better understand the impacts, opportunities and lessons learned from this cohort. […]
January 5, 2023 Our community leads have reached a settlement agreement with the Spectrum Energy Georgia LLC in the operation of a proposed wood pellet plant in Adel. Effective December 24, 2022, the agreement includes more protections for public health than the permit authorized by state regulators, and stronger enforceability provisions in the case that […]
Are you geoscience faculty with experience in justice and equity, active-learning practices, and working with communities? Take a look at this paid opportunity to contribute your expertise to co-develop learning materials. Advancing Justice-Centered Community Science in the Geosciences Community science is the equitable partnership between scientists and community members to use science to advance justice […]
Thriving Earth Exchange is pleased to announce the October 2022 cohort of Community Leads! They will work with Community Science Fellows to launch 10 community science projects across the United States and in Jamaica! Stay tuned for more information about the impactful projects to come and the communities who lead and inspire them! Bucksport, South […]
Thriving Earth Exchange is pleased to announce our October 2022 cohort of Community Science Fellows! They’ll be working with communities from across the United States and Jamaica to launch impactful community science projects. The partnership will connect communities with scientists and technical experts and support them as they work together to tackle local challenges related to […]
There is a growing awareness about the connection between time spent in nature and our mental health. At the same time, there is a growing concern about the mental health of teens, who spend less and less time outdoors, and more and more time in front of screens. In many historically marginalized communities, a […]
Thriving Earth Exchange is pleased to announce our July 2022 cohort of Community Leads! They will work with Community Science Fellows to launch 16 community science projects. Stay tuned for more information about the impactful projects to come from this launch and the communities who lead and inspire them! Adel, Georgia: Concerned Citizens of Cook […]
Author: Natasha Udu-gama On 12 May 2022, Thriving Earth Exchange hosted a public conversation on “What does equitable co-production look like in practice? A discussion.” I served as an advisory board member for the NSF EAGER grant on Equity in Co-production last year and the organizers asked if Thriving Earth would be willing to […]
Thriving Earth Exchange is pleased to announce our July 2022 regional cohort of Community Science Fellows! They’ll be working with communities from across the United States and Mexico to launch impactful community science projects. The partnership will connect communities with scientists and technical experts and support them as they work together to tackle local challenges related […]
Thriving Earth Advisory Board Members share their views and vision for community science around the globe Thanks to the ambitious and inclusive leadership of AGU and the Thriving Earth Advisory Board, the reach and impact of Thriving Earth Exchange goes well beyond U.S. borders. We recently caught up with two of our esteemed Advisory Board […]
Challenges like climate change, pollution and natural hazards know no borders. Thriving Earth Exchange has long facilitated community science beyond the U.S., and our international activities are accelerating even more thanks to new opportunities and partnerships. Here are six ways for communities, scientists & organizations to engage: Join our WhatsApp group: Our Global Community Science […]
Thriving Earth Exchange is pleased to announce our April 2022 regional cohort of Community Science Fellows! They’ll be working with communities from across the state of Wisconsin to launch impactful community science projects. We are thrilled to be working with University of Wisconsin’s UniverCity Alliance and EPIC-Network to launch a cohort of community science projects in […]
AGU’s Thriving Earth Exchange, in partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s UniverCity Alliance and Educational Partnerships for Innovation in Communities Network (EPIC-N), will support 14 projects across the state of Wisconsin. As participants in the first state-based cohort of Thriving Earth projects, the community leads in the April 2022 cohort will work with Community Science […]
Residents and volunteer scientists collaborate across continents to build flood resilience Ellicott City, Maryland, is part of the Baltimore metropolitan area, but this charming, historic mill town on the banks of the Patapsco River can feel like a step back in time. Unfortunately, homes that are a treasured legacy of the city’s historic roots […]
At their core, many community science projects revolve around one critical question: What decisions can make life better in this community? It’s a tough question, made tougher by the increasingly complex economic, social and environmental issues many towns and cities are facing today. It also happens to be one of the questions government finance officers […]
