Western’s Centre for Planetary Science and Exploration (CPSX) has received a PromoScience grant from Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) for a new community outreach initiative called Interactive Mapping of the Planets (IMaPS).
The CPSX outreach program, which is led by acting director Gordon Osinski and outreach coordinator Alyssa Gilbert, has reached more than 12,000 students and members of the public since it started in 2009.
The $45,000 grant will allow for the development of high-school level inquiry-based activities on topics such as searching for evidence of water flow on Mars, and how researchers study craters on Earth as analogues for craters on other planets.
There are also plans for online educational activities, which could be accessed by anyone around the world.
Through the PromoScience Program, the Government of Canada will provide $2.4 million to 49 organizations promoting science and engineering to young Canadians. These include universities, non-governmental organizations, museums and science centres.
