INDUSTRY

The Renaissance Computing Institute’s (RENCI) first Outreach Vehicle for Education and Research—or ROVER—will hit the road this summer in western North Carolina through a collaborative effort that involves RENCI at UNC Asheville, the National Environmental Modeling and Analysis Center (NEMAC) at UNC Asheville and the North Carolina Arboretum. The Arboretum will utilize ROVER to deliver hands-on environmental education programs to youths in the five-county western region. ROVER will help to deliver the Arboretum’s newest outreach youth program, “Our Dynamic Earth,” which will begin this spring as a pilot program. NEMAC assisted in developing the curriculum for the new program, which will be presented in collaboration with three other Asheville area organizations: RiverLink, The Land of Sky Council and The Colburn Museum. "For the first time ROVER will enable community based organizations to reach audiences that may not have had the opportunity to participate in technology-enabled science education,” said Stephenie McLean, RENCI education and outreach director. “Through the use of portable science kits and outfitted with state of the art technology, educators at the North Carolina Arboretum as well as our other partners will be able to extend and expand their services directly to the communities of western North Carolina." RENCI’s state-of-the-art 7–foot-tall Dodge Sprinter ROVER will be equipped with a satellite dish, a telescoping mast for networking, projection screens, computers, field test equipment, and many other supplies necessary for educational presentations on the geology, hydrology, weather, ecology and climate of Western North Carolina. The major focuses of Our Dynamic Earth will be regional and global environmental impacts and disaster preparedness education. The ROVER is part of RENCI’s new engagement center, RENCI at UNC Asheville, which was created this year to expand RENCI’s reach into western North Carolina. RENCI at UNC Asheville works with other RENCI locations, faculty at UNC Asheville and other groups in western North Carolina to leverage education and technological assets to promote economic development in Asheville and Buncombe County. The center focuses primarily on disaster research, taking advantage of western North Carolina’s expertise in weather and climate modeling, visualization and public outreach. ROVER extends the reach of RENCI at UNC Asheville and makes high-tech educational outreach a reality for the Arboretum, giving distant learners the same opportunity for discovery as students visiting the Arboretum’s new indoor and outdoor classrooms, labs, stream station, weather station, ozone garden and watershed. Our Dynamic Earth, made possible by a grant from NEMAC, is the first of several educational programs that will enlist the RENCI ROVER to reach a larger audience. In the fall, the Arboretum plans to use the ROVER to deliver an ecology program.