From investigating the importance of healthy resacas (former channels of the Rio Grande), to collecting water quality data to inform resource management in our Great Lakes, 86 new and continuing projects benefit from a total of over $7 million in grant funding from the NOAA Office of Education’s Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) program.

All B-WET projects awarded emphasize Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEEs) — sustained, hands-on activities that are aligned with academic learning standards and respond to regional education and environmental priorities. In 2014 activities include a student-teacher-scientist partnership examining stream health in Chesapeake Bay with the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science; exploring local coastal habitats in order to predict how climate change will impact the Gulf of Mexico region in the future; and enabling at-risk San Francisco youth to understand their personal relationship with their local watershed, human impacts on the watershed, and how those impacts migrate through the watershed to the Pacific, all while exploring environmental careers and developing college readiness.

"Our goal at NOAA is to protect and restore the nation’s oceans and coasts. I firmly believe that educating our citizens so that they have the knowledge and skills needed to make informed decisions in the face of today’s most pressing environmental issues is the key to the long-term success of this effort." — Louisa Koch, Director of Education at NOAA

B-WET also provides funding for formal K-12 educator training programs to help teachers incorporate MWEEs, as well as NOAA data and other resources, into their classrooms. Teachers and education professionals involved with the B-WET program is equipped with information they can share with their students and communities for many years to come.

In addition, this year B-WET launched a cross-region, internal evaluation system to monitor program implementation and outcomes on an ongoing basis. Results of this evaluation will be used to make adjustments to B-WET federal funding opportunities and activities in order to improve the program, while grantees will have access to reports aggregating their participating teachers’ responses to help inform their work. This effort will complement the excellent project-level evaluation work conducted by B-WET grantees.

B-WET currently serves seven areas of the country: California, Chesapeake Bay, Great Lakes, the Gulf of Mexico, Hawaii, New England, and the Pacific Northwest. Awards in the Great Lakes region are made possible by funds from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

New 2014 B-WET projects, by region, are:

Please Note: Award amounts listed are amount provided in fiscal year 2014 only and may not reflect the full amount of the award over all years.

FY14 continuing awards:

In addition to the awards listed above, B-WET provided fiscal year 2014 support to the following continuing projects:

California

• University Corp at Monterey Bay-Camp SEA Lab, CA
• Marine Science Institute, CA
• Watsonville Wetlands Watch, CA
• Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History, CA
• Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, CA
• Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association, CA
• Seven Tepees Youth Program, CA
• Earth Team, CA
• Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, CA

Chesapeake Bay

• Elizabeth River Project, VA
• Boxerwood Education Association, VA
• Living Classrooms Foundation, MD
• Alice Ferguson Foundation, MD
• Cecil County Public Schools, MD
• District of Columbia Environmental Education Consortium, DC
• National Council Science and the Environment, DC
• Hartwick College, NY
• The Mountain Institute, WV
• National Wildlife Federation, DE
• Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit, PA
• Chesapeake Bay Foundation , Regional
• Virginia Institute of Marine Science, VA
• University of Delaware, DE
• Maryland Association of Environmental and Outdoor Education, MD
• Montgomery County Public Schools, MD
• Morgan State University, MD
• Ocean Discovery Institute, Regional
• Saint Francis University, PA
• Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, VA
• Virginia Resource Use Education Council, VA
• Worcester County Public Schools, MD

Great Lakes

• Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, WI
• Great Lakes Museum of Science, OH          
• United Way of Buffalo and Erie County, NY
• Community Foundation of Northeast Michigan, MI
• Lake Superior Estuarine Research Reserve at UW-Superior, WI
• Grand Valley State University, MI

New England

• Salem Sound 2000 Inc., MA
• Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, VT
• Save the Bay Inc., RI
• Gloucester Maritime Heritage, MA
• University of Rhode Island, RI
• Education Connection, CT
• University of Maine System, ME
• Sturgis Charter Public School, MA
• Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies, Inc., MA

No new fiscal year 2014 awards were made in the Great Lakes or New England due to availability of funds, though previously awarded projects were sustained. The Pacific Northwest region did not run a 2014 competition due to the transition of program administration, though a 2015 competition was issued.

For more details about B-WET awards, please visit the regional program websites.

These B-WET grants will reach an estimated 69,000 students and 2,600 teachers this year. New awards are from one to three years in duration and range in value from $20,000 to $200,000. Grantees were selected through a rigorous peer review process administered by a NOAA program office in their region. All B-WET applicants are encouraged to partner with local NOAA offices, and/or utilize local NOAA field sites and data where appropriate.