The NASA Science Activation Program’s Cosmic Storytelling with NASA Data (CosmicDS) project, led by Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, works to bring authentic NASA data into the hands of educators and learners. From July 27–29, 2026, the CosmicDS team partnered with the Smithsonian Institution's BEST AQI (Breathing Easier: Supporting Teen Air Quality Investigations) project to host a Leadership Institute at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA) in Cambridge, MA. The Institute brought together 13 formal and informal educators who serve as advisors to BEST AQI, an initiative that guides teens through their own air quality research to support actions that improve air quality in their communities.
On Day 1 of the Institute, the CosmicDS Science Principal Investigator Pat Udomprasert led a hands-on immersion session introducing educators to TEMPO-Lab, a free online tool built with NASA Science Activation Program funding. TEMPO-Lab lets learners explore and analyze near-real-time air quality measurements collected by NASA's TEMPO (Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution) mission, which measures pollution across North America hourly during daylight hours. During Days 2 and 3 of the Institute, as educators worked together to co-develop BEST AQI curriculum and resources, they used TEMPO-Lab to build case studies covering a variety of real-world air quality scenarios, including wildfire smoke and emissions from rush-hour traffic, power plants, and agriculture. These case studies will give the teens in their programs a strong foundation for investigating air quality where they live and deciding what actions they might take in their own communities.
