Midwest Clean Air Stewardship - Building upon the St. Louis Ozone Gardens: A New EPA Region-7 Environmental Education Initiative

Jack Fishman and Kelley Belina Center for Environmental Sciences

Saint Louis University

• From AQAST award letter: … “NASA policy strongly encourages participation in Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) activities by members of the science community. As a research investigator whose proposal has been selected for award, you …[are] … eligible to propose a supplemental Education or Outreach effort.”

Initial Motivation for the Ozone Garden Project as Part of NASA AQAST (Air Quality Applications Science Team)

• At the first AQAST Meeting in May 2011 in Boulder, Jack Fishman volunteered to lead a coordinated effort for the entire team with the intent of establishing a Network of Ozone Gardens sponsored by AQAST members.

The Ozone Garden Project Builds upon 2 Projects of Personal Interest: • Quantifying the Effect of Ozone Pollution on the Biosphere • Rejuvenation of an Education/Outreach Activity (GLOBE) Started In 1998

The first St. Louis Ozone Garden was opened in May 2012 • It will serve as the prototype for future gardens • Lessons learned from 2012 will be applied as network becomes established

-1.64%ppbv-1[56-70ppbv](Morganetal.,2006)

nodetec bleimpact[38-53ppbv]

-0.92%ppbv-1[48-60ppbv]

(Fishmanetal.,2010)

(Fishmanetal.,2010)

Ozone Garden Provides a Simple Visual Demonstration of

How Increasing Background O3 Damages the Biosphere

Milkweed Coneflower

O3 Tolerant Snap bean

O3 Sensitive Snap bean

Ozone Garden Project Highlights during AQAST (2011-2016)

Project expanded from one prototype garden in 2012 to a network in 2016

Featured as cover article in Bulletin of

American Meteorological

Society (October 2014)

Used as base for NASA SEAC4RS/SEACIONS ozonesonde launches in 2013

Provided facility for spectral measurements to characterize O3 damage to vegetation

Five Ozone Gardens in St. Louis Area in 2016

Loyola Univ.

NCAR

Univ. Colorado

Young Men’s Leadership Academy

Salem High School

Franklin Institute

5 in greater St. Louis

VA Living Museum

NASA Goddard

More than 15 Ozone Gardens Have been Established since 2012

First International “Air Pollution Garden” Opened in Sheffield

Opened – June 2016 Plants include white clover, wheat, snap beans (sensitive and tolerant); coneflower and milkweed to be added

“We are very excited to establish this garden in Sheffield. We want to show the community what polluted, bad air can do to the local plants and explain how harmful it can be to our health. Having clean air in Sheffield requires planning to help reduce traffic, but also needs individual actions. We hope this project will raise public awareness of air pollution effects in a tangible manner and changes people’s behaviours.” – DR MARIA VAL MARTIN, LECTURER, UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD

Prototype Garden Planted in 2012 in Forest Park Moved to New GROW Exhibit of Saint Louis Science Center – June 2016

Some of the signage at GROW Ozone Garden: Exhibit Open to Public – June 18, 2016

Location of new Ozone Garden at SLSC’s GROW

EXHIBIT

New Ozone Garden Located in “Botany Basics” section of GROW Exhibit

First Ozone Garden located in Forest Park in front of McDonnell Planetarium

The SLSC’s GROW exhibit consists of 40 indoor and outdoor exhibits focused

on the science of food

MIDWEST CLEAN AIR STEWARDSHIP: BUILDING UPON THE ST. LOUIS OZONE GARDENS

Jack Fishman, Principal Investigator Kelley M. Belina, Project Manager Center for Environmental Sciences

Saint Louis University St. Louis, MO 63108

Sheila S. Voss, Co-Investigator Vice President for Education Missouri Botanical Garden

St. Louis, MO 63110

Dr. Kent Burkey and Samuel Ray, Collaborators United States Department of Agriculture – Agricultural Research Service

Raleigh, NC 27603

Dr. John Birks, Collaborator TwoB Technologies Boulder, CO 80301

A 15 Month Research Proposal In Response to RFP EPA-EE-14-02 Environmental Education Local Grants Program Environmental Protection Agency, Region 7 Office 11201 Renner Blvd Mail Code RGADOPA Lenexa, KS 66219 March 2015

Approved for Funding: January 2016

Project Started with Trip to NC to Look at Excess Research Plant Chambers –

January 2016

USDA Agricultural Engineer, Sam Ray, travels to SLU to assemble first “on-the-go” ozone chamber – May 2016

Chamber flow system: Much more complicated than I could have ever imagined!

93 ppb in chamber

First signs of O3 damage on sensitive snap beans

Sensitive Cultivar

Tolerant Cultivar: no signs of damage

Sensitive Snap Bean Plants Exhibit Initial Signs of Damage after Six Days In the Ozone Chamber

Climate Science & Stewardship

EDUCATOR WORKSHOP

How real-world climate science investigations and community-based action projects can improve quality of life for all

FREE Educator Workshop | Grades 4-12

ARE YOU…

Missouri Botanical Garden – campus sites: Day 1 & 3: Day 2: Monsanto Center Main Campus 4500 Shaw Blvd. 4344 Shaw Blvd.

St. Louis, MO 63110 St. Louis, MO 63110

Seeking a clearer, science-based understanding of global climate change?

Wanting more ideas of how to use your campus and community as an investigative learning lab?

Looking to enable and support your students to apply science skills to personally relevant, real-world stewardship projects?

JULY 20–22, 2016 WHO: Educators from across the greater St. Louis region working with students in grades 4-12, district administrators and curriculum specialists, educators from local informal learning institutions, research professionals, and other community partners.

WHY: To broaden and deepen understanding of climate science through local, real-world investigations and community stewardship projects. Building on recent work associated with the St. Louis Ozone Garden Network, this workshop will enable participants to more confidently navigate and explore the complex and often overwhelming topic of climate change in ways that relate to timely, quality-of-life issues:

· Human health and wellness

· Native wildlife and biodiversity

· Urban heat island effect

· Resilience to weather extremes

· Environmental justice

· Walkability/livability/economic vibrancy of neighborhoods and communities

WHAT: Co-convened by Missouri Botanical Garden and Saint Louis University, with funding from the U.S. EPA, this 3-day workshop will feature:

· Local professionals sharing perspectives on how climate change affects their work and life

· Replicable investigations that apply and hone STEM skills and critical thinking

· Professional networking and planning time

· Action project guidance, support, and resources

· Light meals provided

Learn more and register at:

www.mobot.org/schoolprograms You can also call Sheila Voss at 314.577.0284 or email teachertraining@mobot.org

Participation is FREE, but registration is required. Space is limited to 60 educators.

Registration Deadline: Friday, July 8, 2016

DON’T MISS IT!

Ozone Chamber will be Featured in Upcoming Educator Workshop to be Held at the Missouri Botanical Garden

60-70 teachers and administrators expected >30,000 students come to MBG every year on class field trips

Teaching Environmental Science at Saint Louis University: Unique Opportunity to Merge Science with Social/Moral Issues

• Pope Francis released his encyclical on climate in June 2015 • An encyclical letter is used to state the Church’s official position on specific issues • SLU is a Catholic Jesuit university • Francis is the first Jesuit pope

• Timing of the release of Encyclical: - After release of IPCC AR5

- Before Paris climate meeting (Dec. 2015)

An

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/ænˈθrɒpəˌsiːn/ Noun 1. the Anthropocene, a proposed term for the present geological epoch

(from the time of the Industrial Revolution onwards), during which humanity has begun to have a significant impact on the environment

Word Origin C21: from anthropo- and -cene, coined by Paul Crutzen (born 1933), Nobel-winning Dutch chemist

Theme of the “Anthropocene” Resonates throughout the Encyclical

CHAPTER ONE WHAT IS HAPPENING TO OUR COMMON HOME

The continued acceleration of changes affecting humanity and the planet is coupled today with a more intensified pace of life and work which might be called “rapidification”. Although change is part of the working of complex systems, the speed with which human activity has developed contrasts with the naturally slow pace of biological evolution. Moreover, the goals of this rapid and constant change are not necessarily geared to the common good or to integral and sustainable human development. Change is something desirable, yet it becomes a source of anxiety when it causes harm to the world and to the quality of life of much of humanity. (Paragraph 18)

http://www.anthropocene.info/en/home

The Concept of the Anthropocene Indicators of Human Activity:

1750 - Present

Global-scale changes in the Earth System as a result of the dramatic increase in human activity (~1750 - present)

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Same X-Axis 1750-2000

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Other Geophysical Parameters

The Change in the Human Enterprise from 1750 to 2000 “Great Acceleration” begins ~1950

Same X-Axis 1750-2000

1870 2000 1870 2000 1870 2000

1870 2000

Observed Increase in Tropospheric Ozone during the Anthropocene: Similar to Increases of Greenhouse Gases

(from Marenco et al., 1994; JGR, doi: 10.1029/94JD00021)

Workshop Held in 2014 to Gather Input

• Much of the information in the Encyclical gathered from a PAS/PASS Workshop held in May 2014

• Paul Crutzen (since 2001) and Veerabhadran “Ram” Ramanathan (since 2012) are are PAS Council members with strong science backgrounds in climate science

“ If significant tropospheric ozone production takes place, it follows that the concentrations of ozone in the lower troposphere in the NH have increased substantially since the inception of the industrial era.”

Possibly the first paper to describe what we now refer to as the Anthropocene:

Fishman and Crutzen (1978)

(from Marenco et al., 1994; JGR, doi: 10.1029/94JD00021)

Saint Francis praises God for [all] his creatures: Everything is connected. Concern for the environment thus needs to be joined to a sincere love for our fellow human beings and an unwavering

commitment to resolving the problems of society.

Inspiration from Saint Francis of Assisi

• The primary motivation for the Ozone Garden is to provide a platform where the concept of interconnectedness can be visualized by showing how pollution is damaging vegetation at 21st century concentrations of O3 in the “clean” atmosphere

• It is meant to show the interdisciplinary of three sciences: - atmospheric science - chemistry - biology

• Intended primarily to reach school-age students (grades 4-12)