UT Tyler University Academy Students Recognized at Regional GLOBE Research Symposia

May 31, 2024 | Hannah Buchanan

The University of Texas at Tyler University Academy – Tyler students Rebekah Daniel, Olive Hall, Uma Khan and Ian Orr were recognized for best science presentation and use of data at the 2024 Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment Student Research Symposia.

They presented how GLOBE data can be used to assess human impact on soil quality and how it will contribute to their work with Dr. Jennifer Honda, School of Medicine associate professor, and Dr. Josh Banta, professor of biology, regarding Nontuberculous Mycobacterial lung disease.

Sponsored by NASA, the annual symposia featured work focused on using citizen science data to
investigate scientific hypotheses.

Other UA-Tyler scholars who presented at the regional event and their work are Gavin Green,
Hayden Burns and Dallas Nolan, using citizen science data to predict extreme weather events; and
Sara Pierson, Melissa Hilbig and Sofia Garcia, establishing a UA butterfly garden to provide usable
butterfly habitat and assess the success of butterfly gardens in supporting healthy populations.

“We are proud of our students who presented this year, and we value our School of Education’s
leadership and dedication of supporting students in exploring and carrying out research in the local environment,” said Dr. Jo Ann Simmons, UA superintendent.

The GLOBE Program is a hands-on, science and education program that unites students, teachers
and scientists from around the world in study and research about the dynamics of the Earth's
environment. Dr. Michael Odell, professor of STEM education, and Dr. Teresa Kennedy, professor STEM education, manage the university’s GLOBE program. The UT Tyler GLOBE Partnership trains GLOBE teachers across the state and facilitates GLOBE student research activities in Texas schools.

For more information about the partnership, contact Odell at modell@uttyler.edu.

The UT Tyler University Academy provides free, innovative and rigorous K-12 education using
Project-Based Learning designed to prepare students for university study and the STEM workforce.
Operated by the UT Tyler College of Education and Psychology, the district currently serves more
than 1,000 students in Tyler, Longview and Palestine. For more information, visit uttua.org/.

With a mission to improve educational and health care outcomes for East Texas and beyond, UT
Tyler offers more than 90 undergraduate and graduate programs to nearly 10,000 students.
Through its alignment with UT Tyler Health Science Center and UT Health East Texas, UT Tyler has
unified these entities to serve Texas with quality education, cutting-edge research and excellent
patient care. Classified by Carnegie as a doctoral research institution and by U.S. News & World
Report as a national university, UT Tyler has campuses in Tyler, Longview, Palestine and Houston.