Thriving Earth Exchange

http://thrivingearthexchange.org/

Project Leader: Rajul Pandya

Program Description

Our program connects community leaders and scientists and helps them work together to advance local priorities using Earth and space science. Projects range from helping neighborhood groups in Denver, CO measure and mitigate dangerous environmental chemicals to helping the sustainability manager in Chelsea, MA evaluate strategies to protect residents from extreme heat. A few key things about us: we begin by understanding the broad range of community priorities and looking for the places geoscience can advance those priorities; our definition of science is expansive, and includes science education, application, citizen science and science policy as well as research. For us, community means anything from a neighborhood to a region, or even a community of professionals tackling similar issues in many places. Community leaders can be decision-makers, policy-makers, and citizen-leaders, really anyone who is engaged in making their community (however defined) better.

Program Assets

We are seeking to grow the educational aspects of TEX- so that projects engage more students, and include more link to formal and informal educational programs. INCLUDES is a way to develop that aspect of TEX.

Program Operations

We have projects in about 35 cities in the US, and a small but growing number of programs internationally.