Running the Incoherent Scatter Radar Summer School Virtually During a Pandemic

Abstract:

Starting in 2008, under funding from the National Science Foundation Geospace Facilities (GEO/AGS/GF) program, MIT and SRI International collaboratively organized a summer school to educate undergraduate and graduate students about Incoherent Scatter Radar (ISR) theory and techniques, through an intense hands-on program involving a radar experiment and lectures from experts in the field. ISR research ranges from space weather forecasting, satellite drag, atmospheric loss, plasma physics, atmospheric turbulence, and communications disruption. A community of highly trained scientists operates and uses the data from these radars; however, there is no clear path for graduate students to become a part of this community. While a handful of universities do provide some training in ISR theory and techniques, most interested students need to cobble together an educational path for themselves or pursue the program through a postdoctoral position. Many students trained in the ISR summer schools have continued in the field and become a part of the ISR community. Over the past twelve years, the program has proven highly successful and is always fully subscribed with both U.S. and international students. Some schools have been held outside the country, fostering international collaborations on lectures and experiments. Due to COVID-19, the ISR Summer School was held virtually for the first time. The 2020 school employed the flipped classroom model and accommodated twenty-four students from around the world. Students ran experiments remotely, analyzed data in virtual collaborative spaces, and presented their results. We will discuss the challenges and opportunities we experienced in running a virtual summer school. This school is made possible with funding from the following grants: AGS-1332771 (ISR Summer School), AGS-1952737 (Millstone Hill Geospace Facility), AGS-1840962 (AMISR Cooperative Agreement), AGS-1821135 (Boston University).