Kristen Weaver is the Deputy Coordinator for the GLOBE Observer project, which aims to extend the long-standing citizen science and science education program Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) to non-school-based audiences. She was also previously an Outreach Specialist for the Global Precipitation Measurement Mission. Prior to her work with NASA (as a contractor with Science Systems and Applications, Inc. based out of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.), Kristen taught middle school science for eight years in Montgomery County Public Schools (Maryland) and Denver Public Schools (Colorado), with a primary focus in Earth Science. She holds an M.A. in Education and a B.S. in Computer Science and Psychology, both from the University of Denver.
Kristen L. K. Weaver
(Education Specialist)
Org Code: 612
NASA/GSFCMail Code: 612
Greenbelt, MD 20771
Employer: SCIENCE SYSTEMS AND APPLICATIONS INC
Brief Bio
Current Projects
GLOBE Observer
GLOBE Observer is an app-based citizen science project that allows interested volunteers to submit observations about clouds, land cover, tree height and mosquito habitats, all of which is connected to NASA satellite data in some way, and available for research by students and professional scientists alike. Find out more at observer.globe.gov.
Citizen Science and Eclipses
In addition to the regular tools in the GLOBE Observer app, when a total solar eclipse will pass over GLOBE countries, a special eclipse tool is released, allowing citizen scientists to report air temperature in addition to the other types of data. More information can be found here, observer.globe.gov/eclipse.
Positions/Employment
Deputy Coordinator, GLOBE Observer Project (Lead Outreach Coordinator)
NASA Earth Science Education Collaborative (Science Systems and Applications, Inc.) - NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
November 2016 - Present
Outreach Specialist, GLOBE Observer Project
NASA Earth Science Education Collaborative (Universities Space Research Association) - NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
February 2016 - October 2016
Education & Outreach Specialist
Global Precipitation Measurement Mission (USRA, then SSAI) - NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
October 2013 - October 2018
Master Teacher
Global Precipitation Measurement Mission (USRA) - NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
July 2012 - October 2013
Teacher, Sixth and Eighth Grade Science
Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools - Parkland Magnet Middle School for Aerospace Technology, Rockville, MD
September 2007 - July 2013
Guest Researcher, Research Experience for Teachers
National Institute of Standards and Technology, Polymers Division - Gaithersburg, MD
July 2011 - September 2011
Teacher, Sixth Grade Math/Science
Denver (Colorado) Public Schools - Kepner Middle School, Denver, CO
September 2005 - June 2007
Education
M.A., June 2006, Education: Curriculum & Instruction, focus on Urban Education, Colorado Teacher License (Provisional), General Elementary Education Endorsement (June 2005)
Maryland Educator Certificate (Standard Professional I) issued July 2007, renewed July 2012 (Advanced Professional); certification areas: Earth Science 7-12, Computer Science 7-12, Elementary Education 1-6 and Middle School, Middle School Mathematics 4-9, Middle School Science 4-9
University of Denver, Denver, Colorado
B.S., June 2004, Computer Science and Psychology dual major; minors in Mathematics and Leadership Studies, Summa Cum Laude, University Honors (Computer Science Department thesis), Phi Beta Kappa, Psi Chi, Pi Mu Epsilon
Publications
Refereed
Enterkine, J., B. A. Campbell, H. Kohl, et al. N. F. Glenn, K. Weaver, D. Overoye, and D. Danke. 2022. The potential of citizen science data to complement satellite and airborne lidar tree height measurements: lessons from The GLOBE Program Environmental Research Letters 17 (7): 075003 [10.1088/1748-9326/ac77a2]
Kohl, H. A., P. V. Nelson, J. Pring, et al. K. L. Weaver, D. M. Wiley, A. B. Danielson, R. M. Cooper, H. Mortimer, D. Overoye, A. Burdick, S. Taylor, M. Haley, S. Haley, J. Lange, and M. E. Lindblad. 2021. GLOBE Observer and the GO on a Trail Data Challenge: A Citizen Science Approach to Generating a Global Land Cover Land Use Reference Dataset Frontiers in Climate 3 [10.3389/fclim.2021.620497]
Amos, H. M., M. J. Starke, T. M. Rogerson, et al. M. Colón Robles, T. Andersen, R. Boger, B. A. Campbell, R. D. Low, P. Nelson, D. Overoye, J. E. Taylor, K. L. Weaver, T. M. Ferrell, H. Kohl, and T. G. Schwerin. 2020. GLOBE Observer Data: 2016–2019 Earth and Space Science 7 (8): [10.1029/2020ea001175]
Dodson, J. B., M. Colon Robles, J. E. Taylor, C. C. DeFontes, and K. L. Weaver. 2019. Eclipse Across America: Citizen Science Observations of the 21 August 2017 Total Solar Eclipse Journal of Applied Meteorology & Climatology 58 (8): [10.1175/JAMC-D-18-0297.1]
Non-Refereed
Weaver, K. L., A. L. Davis, and J. D. Giddens. 2019. Can an App Change How You See the World? GLOBE Observer for Interpreters Legacy: The Magazine of the National Association for Interpretation 30 (5): 20-23
Rahman, I. U., K. Czajkowski, J. Yitong, and K. L. Weaver. 2019. Validation of GLOBE Citizen Science Air Temperature Observations Using Data from the Great American Solar Eclipse Celebrating the 2017 Great American Eclipse: Lessons Learned from the Path of Totality 516 501-509
Weaver, K. L., H. A. Riebeek, A. Martin, and A. Burdick. 2019. How Cool Was the Eclipse? Collecting Earth Science Data With Citizen Scientists and GLOBE Observer Celebrating the 2017 Great American Eclipse: Lessons Learned from the Path of Totality 516 511-524
Weaver, K. L., D. W. Janney, and H. Davis. 2015. Engaging Audiences About Rain, Snow and Storms: The Global Precipitation Measurement Mission's Rain EnGAUGE The Earth Scientist 30 (2): 23-27