HIPPO II - Broomfield, CO

October 21, 2009 : 2pm-4pm

Thank you to all who joined us for a wonderful event on Wednesday, October 22, 2009. The 2-hour open-house and outreach and education event held at NCAR’s Research Aviation Facility (RAF) in Broomfield, CO was a huge success. NCAR/EOL invited students to come and learn more about the HIPPO project. Students were also given the opportunity to climb onboard the NSF/NCAR GV and to ask questions about airplanes, instruments and the science EOL is supporting.

Overall we had about 60 visitors of all ages, the majority of them being kids of elementary school age. Nine NCAR staff assisted with the event. Among the visitors were a group of eleven minority students from Vaughn Elementary School in Aurora, CO, who thoroughly enjoyed themselves and even got to watch the NSF/NCAR C-130 take-off for a test flight for another upcoming field campaign!

EOL staff and many of the HIPPO visiting scientists who were working on the G-V were all very accommodating, patient and understanding during the 2-hour event. They were busy working on their instruments and preparing for another test flight scheduled the following day, as Pavel and other NCAR staff were bringing visitors onto the aircraft in small groups. The E&O group did not interfere with their work.

While visitors were getting tours of both the inside and outside the GV, the Principal Investigators for the HIPPO project, Steve Wofsy and Britt Stephens, gave several interviews about the importance of the research that HIPPO will be conducting in the upcoming weeks, while Vidal Salazar was also interviewed by the Spanish speaking media (Univision and Telemundo) about the importance of bringing minorities into science.

The HIPPO Outreach Event at RAF had a great turnout and received positive feedback from all who were involved. Providing this event for the local community proved to be a wonderful experiential learning opportunity for kids of all ages to learn more about atmospheric science and aviation research. Thank you to all who participated in this fantastic event!