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WWNFF ESI'98 @ Rutgers University
El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO)
Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation

El Nino Research Team

Process, Participants, Products

Introduction: The Process

Woodrow Wilson Fellows at Rutgers were divided among several research mentors. Those studying El Nino worked with Dr. Anna Matteoda at the Marine and Remote Sensing Laboratory. The process of science was our focus as we established the goals for our unit. Many questions about El Nino and its cyclic behavior with its opposite, La Nina, have been asked over the years, and have lead to a systematic monitoring of the Pacific Basin, both the sea and atmosphere. These monitoring protocols, were established by governments and research agencies from around the world, as each group sought to understand how ENSO affected the local weather and seas. (See Data page for the types of observations made.)

While researchers from the Marine and Remote Sensing Laboratory have their own set of questions, it became obvious that to work within this unit, each Fellow had to establish a personal question as part of the research team. Those questions led to our hypotheses. Our process in developing and testing our hypotheses is outlined for teachers to use (see Teacher Resource Page), in order to promote student inquiry, involvement, and understanding in science.

Fellows involved in the El Nino studies had two goals:

As a group it was decided to work on the local effects of El Nino, La Nina, and the Southern Oscillation (ENSO), with each person examining a particular aspect of those effects.  Fellows, topics, and home regions are as follows:

Fellow
School
Hypothesis
Don Gibbs 
dgibbs@stj.k12.vt.us
St. Johnsbury Academy 
7 Main Street 
St. Johnsbury, Vermont 
   05819
Global warming influences El Nino and the amounts of snow in Vermont.
Peter Montel
DPMontel@juno.com
Irvington High School
28 Clinton Avenue
Irvington, New Jersey
   07111
La Nina increases hurricane numbers and strength, while El Nino decreases hurricane numbers and strength in the Atlantic Basin.
George Stickel
gstickel@mindspring.com
Harrison High School 
4500 Due West Rd. 
Kennesaw, Georgia 
   30152
Atlanta and Georgia rainfall levels and temperature highs, lows, and averages are moved to extremes by ENSO effects.
Kelly Wintch 
kellyvegas@earthlink.net
Rancho High School 
1900 E Owens Ave. 
North Las Vegas,Nevada 
   89030
El Nino effects water resources in the Nevada region.
Michael Wintermote 
wintermotemi@dmps.des-moines.k12.ia.us
GoodrellMiddleSchool 
3300 East 29th St. 
Des Moines, Iowa 
   50317
El Nino events prolong growing seasons in the corn belt.

Woodrow Wilson
El Nino Research Team Products
Remote Sensing
How Data is Obtained
Teacher Resource Page
ENSO Cirriculum Ideas
Links to Data
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El Nino Research Team
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Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation

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