Current Events

  • Irish Chronicles Document Links Between Volcanoes and Weather
    A study of over 40,000 written entries in Irish Annals and ice core measurements shows a strong corr...Read more

    x

    Irish Chronicles Document Links Between Volcanoes and Weather

    A study of over 40,000 written entries in Irish Annals and ice core measurements shows a strong correlation between the occurrence of volcanic eruptions and extreme cold weather in Ireland over a 1200 year period. Data analyzed in this study cover the period from 431 to 1649, during which time up to 48 volcanic eruptions are identified in Greenland ice core records through deposition of volcanic sulfate in annual layers of ice. You can find the study (open access), published on 6 June 2013 in IOP Publishing's journal Environmental Research Letters, at http://iopscience.iop.org/1748-9326/8/2/024035/article. Find out more about how volcanoes can influence climate.
  • EF-5 Tornado in El Reno, Oklahoma Widest Ever Recorded in US
    The EF-5 tornado that hit El Reno, Oklahoma on May 31st was the widest ever recorded in the US, acco...Read more

    x

    EF-5 Tornado in El Reno, Oklahoma Widest Ever Recorded in US

    The EF-5 tornado that hit El Reno, Oklahoma on May 31st was the widest ever recorded in the US, according to the National Weather Service in Norman Oklahoma. The tornado, which remained on the ground for 40 minutes and reached 2.6 miles across (4.2 km), took the lives of 18 people including storm chasers Tim Samaras, Paul Samaras and Carl Young. For more information on the tornado, visit http://ow.ly/i/2hfDG.
  • Atmospheric CO2 Level Tops 400 ppm
    During the week of May 13th, the CO2 level at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii topped 400 ppm rep...Read more

    x

    Atmospheric CO2 Level Tops 400 ppm

    During the week of May 13th, the CO2 level at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii topped 400 ppm repeatedly. Daily levels of CO2 can vary due to weather, and there are seasonal trends as well. The level of atmospheric greenhouse gases continues to increase, now over 120 ppm since the Industrial Revolution began. For more on the Keeling Curve, see http://keelingcurve.ucsd.edu/. Find out more about greenhouse gases and warming.

Becca Hatheway

I joined the Windows to the Universe team as an educational designer in the spring of 2007.

My professional background is in science and environmental education. I studied religion and environmental studies as an undergraduate at Colgate University (B.A. 1994) and science education at Western Washington University (M. Ed. 1999). My Master’s thesis topic was "The Effects of Experiencing Wilderness on Washington Adolescents".

For ten years I was involved in teaching in a variety of capacities, including: teaching kindergarten, leading recreation programs with preK-5 students, teaching field based natural history to grades 3-12 students in the Rocky Mountains, and guiding summer field experiences for adolescents in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. I worked at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science four years, where I managed the preK-12 classroom programs in cultural and natural history, developed and facilitated teacher professional development programs, and developed the Early Childhood Education (ECE) Online Guide. Since joining the UCAR Office of Education and Outreach in 2004, I have worked on a K-4 project called Elementary GLOBE, developed curriculum and classroom activities, and facilitated in-person and distance learning teacher professional development programs for K-12 teachers. I am also working hard to learn Spanish so I can better use it with my job.

Outside of work, I enjoy hiking, biking, snowboarding, gardening, reading, and traveling.

Last modified August 1, 2007 by Becca Hatheway.

Shop Windows to the Universe Science Store!

Learn about Earth and space science, and have fun while doing it! The games section of our online store includes a climate change card game and the Traveling Nitrogen game!

Windows to the Universe Community

News

Opportunities

You might also be interested in:

Changing Climate, Changing World Workshop

Welcome to the online resources for our NSTA workshop Changing Climate, Changing World. This workshop provides information and data-rich classroom activities about the impacts that climate change is having...more

Emily Lenhart

Emily Lenhart currently holds two half-time positions at the University of Michigan; one as the Acting Executive Director for the Association for Library and Information Science Education (ELISE), and...more

Hank Thoenes

Hank Thoenes is a science teacher at Boulan Park Middle School in Troy, Michigan. Over the past ten years, Hank has taught science in grades six through eight. In addition to his teaching, Hank has been...more

Janet Kozyra

Janet Kozyra has been active in space plasma physics and aeronomy concentrating on processes that couple the atmosphere and ionosphe with near-Earth space. She has extensive experience in data analysis...more

John Bravender

John Bravender (bravende@engin.umich.edu) is a student in the Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Space Sciences department at the University of Michigan. His emphasis in the department is meteorology. More specifically,...more

Jon Linker

Dr. Jon A. Linker is a research scientist in the Applied Physics Operation of Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) in San Diego. He is an expert in the development and application of large-scale...more

Michael Burek

Hello! I am an Engineer that specializes in designing and building measurement systems for scientific research. On the Windows to the Universe Project I am responsible for the technical portions of the...more

Michelle McDonough

Michelle has recently joined the Windows to the Universe team as a Senior at the University of Michigan School of Art & Design. She spent last semester studying fine arts at the Lorenzo di'Medici Institute...more

Shop Windows to the Universe

Young Voices for the Planet DVD in our online store includes 8 films where students speak out and take action on climate change.

Windows to the Universe, a project of the National Earth Science Teachers Association, is sponsored in part by the National Science Foundation and NASA, our Founding Partners (the American Geophysical Union and American Geosciences Institute) as well as through Institutional, Contributing, and Affiliate Partners, individual memberships and generous donors. Thank you for your support! NASA AGU AGI NSF