The hallmark of Journey through the Universe programming in a community is collaboration at both the local and national level.  Programs are delivered by a National Team of researchers and educators from institutions across the nation.  Within the community, a Local Team of institutions and educators ensures that programming addresses strategic educational needs, and is implemented to maximize impact. 

Journey through the Universe programming is delivered by a National Team of engineers and scientists, and master science educators—the Visiting Researchers and Visiting Educators—from the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education, and research and education organizations across the nation.  

A total of 114 Visiting Researchers have participated in the Journey through the Universe program to date, representing 38 research organizations, including: NASA field centers, universities, and research companies.

List of Visiting Researchers (PDF, 160 KB) 

The Visiting Researchers are individuals that choose to set aside their research to travel to your community because they feel that education is vitally important.  Their host institutions feel the same way, and support their time with you.  These engineers and scientists are role models and heroes for the next generation, and instill in audiences a sense of national pride in what individuals can aspire to achieve through education.

You can view a list of currently participating Visiting Researchers here.

The Visiting Educators are master science educators specializing in Earth and space science education, with a track record of delivering high quality professional development workshops for grade K-12 teachers.  The Visiting Educators are either from the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education, or are NASA MESSENGER Educator Fellows—a program overseen for NASA by the Center.   The Fellows were selected through a national competition seeking to build a corps of 30 of the best Earth and space science educators across the nation in order to deliver professional development for 3,000 teachers per year. 

You can view a list of currently participating Visiting Educators here.

The prestige and caliber of the National Team provide incentives for community-wide collaboration on program planning, and extensive coverage by the media.

Journey through the Universe is realized through a sustained partnership between the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education and a local consortium—the Local Team—whose members reflect the institutional diversity of the community, including K-12 school districts, informal science education organizations (e.g., museum, planetarium, science center), civic and business groups and organizations, colleges and universities, and research organizations.  Journey through the Universe provides a framework for partnership across an entire community.

A school district either provides the organizational leadership for the Local Team, or shares it with another institution such as a museum or university.  The Local Team includes a curriculum specialist(s) and a corps of Master Science Educators from grade levels identified by the community as the target audiences.

The Local Team is responsible for tailoring Journey through the Universe programming to the educational needs of the community, creating program-buy-in at the local level, and for carrying out logistical arrangements for the programming, e.g., scheduling class visits with the schools, and securing venues for workshops and family/public programs.  Program managers with the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education will work directly with the Local Team, providing: ongoing guidance and assistance with program definition; a robust suite of logistical tools, such as timelines with milestones, classroom visit schedules, a programming ‘How-To’ manual, and templates for advertising; bios and presentation descriptions for the National Team members; and programming resource requirements such as AV needs and supplies for workshop activities.

Sustainability is viewed as key to success, and a Local Team that can ensure local programming over the long term, using regularly provided national resources, is key to sustainability.  The leadership of the Local Team must therefore demonstrate authority to conduct school district-wide programming, and access to the significant local human-power and other resources needed to carry out programming.