Engaging Scientists and Educators in the IHY: 
A Case Study of Stanford's Space Weather Monitoring Program

D.K. Scherrer, B. Burress, J.T Hoeksema

The IHY offers unique opportunities to provide education and public
outreach programs throughout the world. The Stanford Solar Center has
developed a student-focused space weather monitoring program aimed at
developing global understanding of the response of Earth's atmosphere
to terrestrial and extraterrestrial drivers. Through our educational
component, we hope to inspire the next generation of space and Earth
scientists and spread the knowledge of our solar system and the exciting
process of scientific exploration to the people of the world! Stanford's
Solar Center in conjunction with the Space, Telecommunications and
Radioscience Laboratory and local educators have developed inexpensive
Space Weather Monitor instruments that students around the world can use
to track and study solar- and lightning-induced changes to the Earth's
ionosphere. Through the United Nations Basic Space Science Initiative
(UNBSSI) and the IHY Education and Public Outreach Program, we are
deploying these instruments for student use at high school and early
university levels. The distribution includes science resources as well as
classroom materials and educator support. A centralized database allows
collection of, and free access to, world-wide data. Scientists and radio
experts serve as mentors to students, and assist them in understanding
their data. We will describe the monitor distribution program, focusing
particularly on how we are engaging scientists to participate and on the
role of educators, plus the resources provided to them, in high schools
and universities throughout the world.