 Good morning everyone and welcome My name is Becca Hathaway, and I run the informal education programs at the UCAR Center for Science Education Including the programs we have up here at the Mesa Lab And we're happy to have you all here today as we Celebrate our membership in the Smithsonian Affiliations program and we'll be talking about that today as well as hearing a Talk about climate communication from Jeff Keele. So first off, I'd like to introduce Emily Kobe of Alman Who's the director of UCAR community programs? Thanks Becca. Good morning everybody. I'm so glad you had no idea that we're gonna be this many people I'm glad I dressed up because You know it really wouldn't have been good otherwise. I want to take a moment to thank you all for coming today This this represents an important step forward for UCAR education programs I've been on the job for about 18 months now sometimes it seems a lot longer and One of the things that we've really been trying to do is to integrate our education programs in such a way that we can Become a national center of excellence for STEM education and the Smithsonian affiliations really represents the first piece of that We like the Smithsonian affiliation not just because it's the Smithsonian but because it represents best practices and informal education and It really builds on the work that has been long Ongoing here at the Mesa lab as we try new things we experiment with with Interactives as we try to engage all of the visitors at the Mesa lab in new and exciting ways I'm absolutely convinced that the Smithsonian affiliation will allow us to extend that work even farther Particularly important as the new climate exhibit comes online as we begin to Incorporate things like climate voices into the work that we do and so I want to take a special moment and thank Harold And the Smithsonian team for coming out today because this means a whole lot to this organization. Thank you very much That's all I'm gonna say cuz you know, it's enough. I'd like to introduce Harold Kloster who is the director of the Smithsonian affiliations Thank you very much, and it means a lot to us too It's this is a very important relationship that we're starting and just in the last half hour I've I've learned more about connections between UCAR and the Smithsonian Then I even realized so I think there's there's a lot to build on that is already in place Becca and and Emily. Thank you so much for your kind introduction and good morning everyone It's a really a pleasure to be here on this special occasion I am deeply honored to be here on behalf of the Smithsonian Institution to announce our new partnership what we call an affiliation with the University Corporation for atmospheric research The common interests and goals of UCAR and the Smithsonian are so closely aligned that a partnership between our Organizations almost seems inevitable and probably should have happened a long time ago Both of our organizations are at the cutting edge of complicated and critical efforts To understand what is happening in our world how climate change is affecting everything and what we can do about it Before I go on let me first acknowledge a few special friends in the audience and thank them for joining us my Smithsonian colleague Jennifer Brundage. There you are Thank you. Jennifer is one of our national outreach managers and a part-time resident of Boulder and I don't know is Tim Nims here. He was supposed to he's the director of the Littleton Museum a Great museum outside of Denver and a longtime Smithsonian affiliate Maybe he'll show up and my wife Betsy Closter raise your hand An early childhood advocate and someone who speaks for the generation that will inherit the world that we leave for them a Good one. I hope thanks for being here. I appreciate it You car and the Smithsonian are no strangers to each other in 1997 NCAR's climate change model received the Smithsonian's Computer World Award and was accessioned into our permanent research collection of information technology I'm not sure how you exactly accession a climate change model. It's not a thing, but But we have it and we're very grateful We're very grateful to have it Scientists from both organizations have engaged in joint research and have presented together on prestigious gatherings We now set our sights on the greater possibilities and opportunities of working together as Emily has said in the cause of education and Public education and I think we all agree. There is much that needs to be known Now while most people are aware of the Smithsonian's great assembly of museums and the national Treasures that are housed within it the original star-spangled banner the Wright brothers airplane The Hope Diamond and even Kermit the frog Many are not aware of the profound and historic role the Smithsonian has played in the study of climate atmosphere and environment as Soon as the Smithsonian was established in 1846 Joseph Henry the first secretary of the Smithsonian and an esteemed scientist and Co-inventor of the Telegraph He imagined the possibility of using this revolutionary device the Telegraph to establish a national network of weather watchers We were hardly a nation at the time and little if anything was known about weather patterns the plan was put in place a year later in 1847 and in no time at all more than 500 individuals from all corners of the country were recruited to record the local weather take their findings to the nearest Telegraph station every day and Send it to the Smithsonian Where pins were placed on a giant map in the great cast the great hall of the Smithsonian Castle and this afforded for the first time the ability to predict weather patterns and to track storms This program eventually became the national weather service So we're very proud of our role in in the earliest days of weather research over the past 160 years the Smithsonian's interest in understanding and documenting environment has grown not only globally But through our work in astrophysics to the climates of other planets in our solar system and outside of our solar system and To the very edges of the universe and to the very beginning of time Climate change is high on our agenda as it is here The large number of Smithsonian scientists working around the world see the impact of a warming planet Each day in the course of their diverse studies a sample of our investigations includes anthropologists learning from native peoples of Alaska who see Warming as a threat to their 4,000 year old culture marine biologists Who are tracking the impacts of climate change on delicate corals and tropical waters? Coastal ecologists Investigating the many ways that climate change is affecting the Chesapeake Bay and our forest global Earth Observatory monitoring six million trees in 59 forests in 24 countries the only network of standardized forest monitoring sites that span the globe Similar to you car the dissemination of knowledge gained through research is a public responsibility of the Smithsonian The Smithsonian's unique combination of museums traveling exhibits publications affiliated Organizations media and web-based tools provide platforms to reach Hundreds of millions of people each year around the world Our goal is to explain in clear and objective terms the causes and effects of climate change as documented in our research and in the research of colleagues like you The urgency of climate change requires that we boost and expand our efforts to increase public knowledge And that we inspire others through education and by example This is why our new partnership with you car is so important Your strength and research and your accomplishments in education and public outreach Add a vital dimension to the work that we are doing and that we want to do Together we will be able to reach so many more people in new exciting and hopefully impactful ways Like you car the Smithsonian is committed to helping our society make the wise choices To ensure that future generations inherit a diverse world that sustains our natural environments and cultures For centuries to come We are so honored to now have a home and a new family in Boulder And to be working side by side with you car and all of you in this effort Thank you very much for your support And thank you again Ritual moment of the certificate of affiliation Signed by our secretary G. Wayne fluff and authorized by our board of regents Which is headed by the The chief justice of the united states of congress and elsewhere. So we're very honored and thank you very much And look forward to the long and fruitful part I'm good