USING SATELLITE DATA AT SEA LEVEL

Q: CREDITS

Expert Sources: Celeste Rivenbark Marine Educator Shannon Matzke Marine Educator Author: Emily Kenworthy Communications Director Artists: Trey Cooper Creative Design Specialist Shanon Wise Digital Content Coordinator

UGA-led project brings NASA science down to earth to help students and educators understand a changing Georgia coast

A group of people standing in a body of water surrounded by lush green marsh grass and trees. Some of the people are wearing hats and sneakers, and the sky is filled with white, fluffy clouds.

On a hot and humid summer afternoon at the UGA Aquarium, the plankton lab is buzzing.

Shannon Matzke, an educator with UGA Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant, stands at the front of the room asking middle school campers to describe the physical features of a satellite. 

All 16 campers call out different parts, like antennas and panels, and she translates their observations into a drawing on the whiteboard. 

“What about the parts that help it move?” she prompts, generating a chorus of responses. 

As the satellite starts to take shape, Matzke shifts into a discussion around NASA’s GRACE-FO satellite, which is currently circling the earth and measuring ice loss in Greenland. She pulls up satellite images on the classroom screen, showing students the level of change that has occurred to help them understand how scientists monitor sea level rise from space. 

This is the final year of the Sea Level Rise Changemakers Camp, which is offered as part of a multimillion-dollar project funded through NASA’s Science Activation program. The team includes Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant, the UGA Carl Vinson Institute of Government, Georgia Tech, California Sea Grant, and the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium.

For the past three years, the team has worked to build sea level rise literacy in coastal communities by translating complex NASA data into hands-on learning, delivering information and resources to communities through summer camps, educator workshops and outreach events. 

A marine educator points toward the distance while leading three middle school campers through a muddy salt marsh, with one student carrying a white PVC quadrat sampling frame and another holding a clipboard. — Matkze leads a team of students through the salt marsh to collect vital field data, anchoring NASA's satellite observations of sea level rise within the complex ecosystem of the Georgia coast.

Matkze leads a team of students through the salt marsh to collect vital field data, anchoring NASA's satellite observations of sea level rise within the complex ecosystem of the Georgia coast.

A student raises her hand during a Q&A session on remote sensing data in the UGA Aquarium plankton lab.

Middle school students share their observations during a classroom discussion on how NASA data helps track coastal change.

During the four-day camp at the UGA Aquarium on Skidaway Island, students wade into salt marshes to observe how changing tides alter plant and animal communities. They analyze data collected by NASA scientists, collect their own data in the field and engage directly with researchers using drones to study sea level rise in Georgia. They also learn about community adaptations to flooding and careers related to coastal resilience.

For rising eighth grader Gray Tuberville, who wants to be an astronaut when he grows up, attending the camp was an easy decision. His favorite activities involved building houses with Lego blocks and figuring out how to protect them from floods. He also enjoyed using the augmented reality sandbox developed by Georgia Tech that uses NASA datasets to help students model sea level rise impacts and explore adaptation strategies in their own communities.  

“I thought those were very interactive and helped me understand the consequences of sea level rise,” said Tuberville. “Not only does it affect the climate and ecosystems along the shores, but it also affects us. And if it affects us, maybe we want to care more.” 

“Not only does it affect the climate and ecosystems along the shores, but it also affects us. And if it affects us, maybe we want to care more.”
Gray Tuberville

Recruiting first-time campers, cultivating their curiosity around STEM topics, and introducing them to environmental changes occurring in their own communities is exactly what the project team was hoping for.  

“They’re thinking like scientists, engineers and community planners all at once,” said Celeste Rivenbark, an educator at Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant who is helping lead teacher workshops and camps as part of the project.

“It’s not just about learning about the challenges communities are facing, it’s about encouraging innovation and introducing ways to mitigate these challenges.”

In a muddy, grassy salt marsh under an overcast sky, a marine educator, bending over and wearing a navy blue t-shirt and green cap, points into a white PVC quadrat sampling frame on the ground. Two crouching youths, one in a teal cap and one in a red shirt, watch intently. In the background, two other people stand, one with a red clipboard and a long measuring staff. The marsh landscape extends to a treeline in the distance. — Rivenbark (left) points out ecological details within a quadrat frame, guiding campers through field sampling of the salt marsh environment.

Rivenbark (left) points out ecological details within a quadrat frame, guiding campers through field sampling of the salt marsh environment.

“They’re thinking like scientists, engineers and community planners all at once."
Celeste Rivenbark

More than 40 middle school students have participated in the Sea Level Rise Changemakers camp since it was first offered in 2023.

Campers' hands shaping sand inside an augmented reality sandbox, with bright pink and purple topographic contour lines projected onto the sand and their hands.

Using an augmented reality sandbox, campers explore real-time topographic projections to model coastal flooding and community adaptation strategies.

Empowering educators

While the camps engaged students through experiential learning, educator workshops provided a way to extend the project’s reach. In May, educators at Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant and Georgia Tech hosted a training designed to equip K-12 teachers with tools to bring sea level science into their classrooms.

Twenty educators from seven Georgia counties explored coastal estuaries aboard Carolina skiffs, practiced with NASA datasets and tested new classroom tools. Among them was Rontra Brown, a Georgia Department of Education specialist who works with rural school districts in southwest Georgia.

“I loved the way the leaders fostered collaboration,” Brown said. “They were so flexible in allowing educators to be true scientists… to observe and ask questions.”

Brown noted how traditional professional development often overloads teachers with information without providing opportunities to test or work through material together. 

"[The workshop] allowed me to be able to explore and when you're able to explore something that you can implement in the classroom, it's different, because when I'm exploring it, I'm also reflecting...I'm thinking 'how can I modify this to fit my learning environment?'"

Participants left with ready-to-use lessons and activities that are expected to reach approximately 800 students during the academic year.

Brown was able to share materials during a recent professional learning session for teachers at a school in Bibb County.

“I referenced what is happening with Georgia’s sea levels and some of the research that is taking place and how they can bring the experience to Bibb County, where some of the students may have never gone to the actual beach in coastal Georgia,” she said.

By training teachers and providing accessible, relevant educational resources, the project ensures NASA science reaches far beyond the coast, helping students across Georgia better understand the challenges and opportunities associated with a changing shoreline.

A group of adult educators sitting along a long lab table during a workshop, engaged in a discussion while working with notebooks and stacked colorful blocks. — Educators participate in a hands-on workshop session to explore coastal curriculum activities and classroom resources.

Educators participate in a hands-on workshop session to explore coastal curriculum activities and classroom resources.

Educators seated at tables in a wood-paneled presentation room listening to a speaker at a podium next to a display screen showing a slide titled "NASA Sea Level Science". — Workshop participants learn how NASA satellite data and remote sensing tools can be translated into lessons on coastal resilience.

Workshop participants learn how NASA satellite data and remote sensing tools can be translated into lessons on coastal resilience.

A group of people standing around a table with a laptop on it. On the table there are various objects, and in the background there are boards attached to the wall. The people are wearing glasses and one person is wearing a hat. — Rivenbark demonstrates the augmented reality sandbox to educators, showing how real-time topographic projections model flood impacts and adaptation strategies.

Rivenbark demonstrates the augmented reality sandbox to educators, showing how real-time topographic projections model flood impacts and adaptation strategies.

"When you're able to explore something that you can implement in the classroom, it's different, because when I'm exploring it, I'm also reflecting...I'm thinking, 'how can I modify this to fit my learning environment?'"
Rontra Brown

Reaching the community

In addition to summer camps and teacher training, public outreach was key to connecting the broader community with coastal science. Over the summer, Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant hosted a free World Ocean Day event at the UGA Aquarium, welcoming just over 1,000 visitors, many of whom were at the aquarium for the first time.

To engage audiences of all ages, organizers adapted the NASA activities and educational resources for a public setting. Featured activities included the augmented reality sandbox, a sea level rise-themed tumbling tower game and a bracelet-making station where participants used colored glass beads to represent the number of inches of sea level rise recorded along the Georgia coast each decade.

Looking ahead

As the project comes to an end, the team leaves behind data, educational material, stories and experiences shared with hundreds of campers, educators and members of the coastal community who can pass their knowledge on to future generations, moving Georgia toward a future where people are better informed and better prepared. 

“Sea level rise can feel overwhelming,” said Rivenbark “But when people understand the science and see how it connects to their own lives, they’re empowered to become stewards.” 

By combining NASA’s view from space with local knowledge and hands-on learning, the project has helped cultivate a new generation of informed citizens, educators and problem-solvers.

A group of middle school campers and educators pose on a dirt path surrounded by palmettos and pine trees, holding white square PVC sampling frames, dip nets, and collection buckets.

Campers and educators pause along a maritime forest trail with their field sampling gear.

CREDITS

Expert Sources:
Celeste Rivenbark
Marine Educator
Shannon Matzke
Marine Educator

Author:
Emily Kenworthy
Communications Director

Artists:
Trey Cooper
Creative Design Specialist
Shanon Wise
Digital Content Coordinator