Great Lakes Bay Education and Training Program

b-wet field study
Field Study 4: US Fish and Wildlife staff work with Transit Middle School students to identify macroinvertebrates as part of the Reinstein Nature Center B-WET grant, (Transit Middle School)

The Great Lakes B-WET region serves projects in the Great Lakes watershed in the states of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Funded projects support the environmental priorities of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, committed to creating a new standard of care that will leave the Great Lakes better for the next generation.

B-WET is an environmental education program that provides competitive funding for projects that support place-based experiential learning for students and related professional development for teachers. The core component of B-WET funded projects is the Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience (MWEEs), multi‐stage activities that include learning both outdoors and in the classroom.

B-WET Program Highlight

Get to Know Great Lakes B-WET video
Get to know the NOAA Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) program in the Great Lakes region through this profile of grantee, Inland Seas Education Association. Through their Great Lakes Watershed Field Course, they educate students and teachers on the importance of the Great Lakes watershed. Students featured here, inspired by their field experience, returned to Ohio motivated to take action to help their local watershed.

2024 awards

FY 2023 grantees
  • Cuyahoga Soil and Water Conservation District: Implementing Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences in the Tinker's Creek Watershed
  • Friends of the St. Clair River: St. Clair River Watershed Pen Pals: From Creeks to Coast
  • Great Lakes Stewardship Initiative: Advancing K-12 Environmental Literacy through Place-Based Stewardship Education (PBSE) in Michigan and the Great Lakes Region
  • Huron-Clinton Metropolitan Authority: Science and Stewardship in the Heart of the Great Lakes
  • ODC Network: River Keepers: Understanding the Impacts of Human Activity and Climate Change on Local Watersheds
  • Riveredge Nature Center Inc: Water Journeys: Empowering Middle-Schoolers to Improve the Milwaukee River
  • University of Michigan at Ann Arbor: Climate Change in the Bay: Designing Meaningful Student Experiences in the Saginaw Bay Watershed

Indigenous Community Awards

Michigan Technological University with support from the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community: Increased Water Literacy & Stewardship with the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC): “Water is Life”

Seneca Nation of Indians: Seneca Nation B-WET Project

Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council in collaboration with the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians: Title Nimiigwechwendam Nibiish (I am thankful for water): Caring for Our Local Watersheds

2023 awards

FY 2022 grantees

Indigenous Community Awards

Creating Meaningful and Cultural Watershed Educational Experiences for the Students of the Ojibwe Charter School, The Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan (ITCMI)

Braiding Knowledge Systems for Increased Earth and Climate Literacy: “Inawendiwin: Connection, Observation, & Learning Together”, Michigan Technological University with support from the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community

Nibi gaa-gikinoo’amaage, Nibi gaa-bimaaji'iwemagak (Water Will Teach, Water Will Give Life) II, Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Earth Partnership Indigenous Arts and Sciences initiative

Ninkchiwaawenindimin – “We honor each other”, The Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe

2022 awards

FY 2021 grantees

2021 awards

FY 2020 grantees

2020 awards

FY 2019 grantees

2019 awards

FY 2018 grantees
b-wet clear lake
Clear Lake Aquatics: Students investigate macroinvertebrates at Clear Lake Education Center as part of the Delta-Schoolcraft ISD B-WET grant. (Carol Gould)

2018 awards

FY 2017 grantees

2017 awards

FY 2016 grantees
b-wet snowshoeing with nps
Snowshoeing with NPS: Fourth-grade students from Bayfield WI explore the Lake Superior coast on snowshoes with staff from Apostle Islands National Lakeshore as a part of the Rivers2Lakes B-WET Project from University of Wisconsin-Superior. (Melissa Kjelvik)

2013 awards

FY 2012 grantees

2012 awards

FY 2011 grantees

Funding:
FY2024: $850,500

FY2023: $1,100,000

FY2022: $1,250,000

FY2021: $1,187,232

FY2020: $900,000

FY2019: $890,000

FY2018: $890,000

FY2017: $786,000

FY2016: $796,700

FY2012: $427,468

FY2011: $998,000

Contact:
Sarah.A.Waters@noaa.gov

For more information, see also Great Lakes Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET), National Marine Sanctuaries