NOAA Climate Stewards is now NOAA Planet Stewards

As of November 2017, the NOAA Climate Stewards Education Project will be known as the NOAA Planet Stewards Education Project. This popular educator training and granting program from the National Ocean Service has expanded its scope to include a wider range of NOAA topics related to understanding and protecting our environment.

Elementary Students in NOAA Climate Stewards project from New York. In 2017, Climate Stewards became Planet Stewards, with an expanded scope to include a wider range of NOAA topics related to understanding and protecting our environment.

Elementary Students in NOAA Climate Stewards project from New York. In 2017, Climate Stewards became Planet Stewards, with an expanded scope to include a wider range of NOAA topics related to understanding and protecting our environment. (Image credit: National Ocean Service)

In this new incarnation, the program will focus on more subjects, such as decreasing the impacts of marine debris, conserving and restoring natural resources, and understanding and responding to severe weather events. NOAA Planet Stewards will maintain its emphasis on climate as a driver of environmental impacts to humans and natural ecosystems.

This change will allow the program to better serve many educators looking to engage their students in citizen science and hands-on stewardship activities that relate to the broad range of NOAA's mission programs.

NOAA Planet Stewards is organized into two groups, the education community and the stewardship community. The education community is open to everyone. Participants are invited to attend monthly webinars, book club discussions, and in-person workshops. The stewardship community supports educators in developing hands-on action-based projects with their students. The application to join the stewardship community offsite link will be open through November 27th, 2017.

"If you have engaged us in the past through our distance learning efforts — webinars, book club meetings, face-to-face workshops, or the development and implementation of an action project — we thank you for your support and look forward to bringing you an exciting program this year," commented Bruce Moravchik, NOAA Planet Stewards program manager.

Check out the new NOAA Planet Stewards website to learn more.