2022 NOAA Education Accomplishments Report

NOAA Ocean Exploration, in collaboration with the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, developed a mini-grant program to support underserved and underrepresented communities in engaging in various ocean exploration careers and build the capacity for STEAM — science, technology, engineering, art, and math. These grants funded up to $25,000 to each of seven projects. From integrating Native Hawaiian worldviews on ocean literacy and stewardship to incorporating ocean exploration data in undergraduate biology lab courses, each project aimed to build a more equitable ocean exploration workforce pipeline.

In 2020, health and safety restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic placed the NOAA Teacher at Sea Program on hold. Now, teachers are setting sail once more to work with world-renowned NOAA scientists and bring what they learn to their classrooms. The NOAA Teacher at Sea Program offers educators a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get hands-on experience and a unique look into oceanic and atmospheric research. "We are thrilled to be sailing teachers once more on NOAA research surveys for this unique research experience," says director Jennifer Hammond. Meet each of the educators who joined NOAA scientists to learn how to collect data that contribute to our understanding of the ocean and Great Lakes.

A team from Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary turned to the help of tiny living organisms – plankton – to help celebrate the national marine sanctuaries’ monumental 50th anniversary. In collaboration with NOAA’s Teacher at Sea Alumni, the team took plankton on a “road trip” through cyberspace this year, with a goal to teach a plankton program in every state. “This program is reaching youth now so they can appreciate the importance of conserving life in the ocean, even when it's so small that it’s invisible to the naked eye,“ said Justin Holl, visitor center manager for Greater Farallones and Cordell Bank national marine sanctuaries.

The Colorado River Basin is a primary water source for more than 40 million people across several states and Tribal Nations. However, a 20-year drought and warming caused by climate change have significantly impacted water availability resulting in the first-ever declaration of shortage conditions by the Bureau of Reclamation in 2021. NOAA Research and its partners launched the Study of Precipitation, the Lower Atmosphere and Surface for Hydrometeorology (SPLASH) to better understand how precipitation forms in complex, high-altitude terrain and help improve weather forecasts and runoff estimates. Using the power of illustration to educate and inform the public about SPLASH, NOAA Research helped transform some of the instruments into superhero characters that have special powers to capture critical environmental measurements. 

The NOAA Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) program is a competitive grant program that began in 2002 to support a partnership for watershed restoration in the Chesapeake Bay. In the two decades since the B-WET program began, NOAA has awarded more than $117 million to support 929 B-WET projects and expanded to serve seven regions around the country. In 2022, the program celebrated this milestone with the theme "20 years and growing." Learn more about all that B-WET has accomplished in the last 20 years and explore participant perspectives on program impacts. 

Through funding opportunities of up to $5,000, NOAA Planet Stewards supports educators in leading hands-on, action-based projects that conserve, restore, and protect human communities and natural resources from environmental challenges. This year, we’re highlighting six Planet Stewards educators who worked with their students to lead habitat restoration projects. From a tiny forest in Oregon to an acre of restored wetland along the Rio Grande, these projects added vital native habitat and sequestered carbon while providing aesthetic, social, and academic benefits for students and their communities. 

The San Francisco Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve partnered with a local organization called Downtown Streets Team to provide outdoor learning opportunities for the unhoused community. Downtown Streets Team offers volunteer, housing, and employment support for unhoused community members, including opportunities to remove debris and litter from city streets. “I help them learn more about this habitat that they are helping to conserve,” said Bella Mayorga, Education Coordinator at the reserve. Mayorga organized field trips for team members at the reserve that focused on environmental education and wellness. This partnership highlights the power of bringing environmental education experts together with organizations that specialize in supporting some of the most underserved audiences. 

Six high school aquarium volunteers from Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, Illinois set out to support the community around the South Branch of the Chicago River as part of their Coastal Ecosystem Learning Centers (CELC) Network action project. Using the skills and resources they gained from the 2021 CELC Virtual Youth Summit and with funding support from NOAA and the North American Association for Environmental Education, they implemented their project in partnership with Latino Youth High School to improve education on and access to recycling, composting, and proper trash disposal. Meet the students from the project and hear directly from them on what they learned and accomplished together! 

As the nation’s leader in climate science, NOAA works to deliver the best climate products and services to the public. When the Biden-Harris Administration released executive orders on climate change and called for a robust all-of-government response, NOAA’s Climate Program Office (CPO) undertook a project to inventory the work of federal programs related to climate education, engagement, workforce development, and training. CPO worked with four William M. Lapenta interns, who identified more than 500 programs across federal agencies that could or do climate-related engagement and capacity building work. “My hope is that it will bring people together and collaborate and that we become a climate informed society as a whole,” said Jackie Beck, a 2022 Lapenta intern. 

Weather-Ready Nation Ambassadors are organizations that work with the National Weather Service to keep communities safe from weather hazards. In one such partnership, students at a juvenile detention school have taken on that role by sharing weather information in their own voices using the power of music. With support from science teacher Jennifer Hastings, students at Donald E. Long School in Portland, Oregon, an accredited juvenile detention education program, have created “Weather Slap” rap videos. Through these videos, they discuss weather safety, process their concerns about climate change and environmental hazards, and explore the ways that underserved communities are more vulnerable to environmental hazards. This year, Hastings received an Ambassador of Excellence award from NWS in recognition of her work. 

With a grant from NOAA’s Environmental Literacy Program, the Science Museum of Virginia organized a community science campaign to map “urban heat islands.” Volunteers recorded temperatures throughout the entire city, and the information they collected helped generate detailed maps that revealed which neighborhoods were hottest and coolest. Since 2017, more than 60 communities across the United States have followed this model, leading their own mapping campaigns with funding from the Climate Program Office and using the information to make their cities more resilient and equitable in the face of extreme heat. We caught up with Jeremy Hoffman, Ph.D., the David and Jane Cohn Scientist at the Science Museum of Virginia and co-creator of the urban heat island mapping project, to reflect on how the effort has grown.

To maintain a globally competitive workforce, NOAA needs to be able to hire from a pool of highly trained candidates that reflects the diversity of the nation. The José E. Serrano Educational Partnership Program with Minority Serving Institutions (EPP/MSI) and Ernest F. Hollings Undergraduate Scholarship program, administered by the Office of Education, are significant contributors to this pool. Meet three alumni who are making an impact at NOAA and credit the EPP/MSI and Hollings programs with leading them on the path to their current careers. In the three years since CCA direct hire has been available (2020-2022), approximately 220% more program alumni have been hired compared to the three years preceding the CCA direct hire (2017-2019). 

NOAA's Diversity and Professional Advancement Working Group (DPAWG) focuses on attracting, retaining, supporting, and advancing a diverse NOAA workforce. In the eight years since the working group formed, its membership has grown from 14 NOAA staff to more than 60 employees located across the country. DPAWG members have made waves in their careers while supporting each other and their coworkers across NOAA through the inclusive work environment they have built together. Meet eight DPAWG members as they share in their own words about work that the group has accomplished and the impact it has had on their personal and professional lives.