2020 B-WET awards

B-WET fiscal year 2020 grant awards support watershed education projects for K-12 teachers and students around the country.

NOAA brings thousands of K-12 teachers and students around the country outside for hands-on environmental education opportunities as part of Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) projects. In fiscal year 2020, one hundred and sixty new and continuing projects benefitted from a total of over $7 million in funding from the NOAA Office of Education’s B-WET program.

Girl stands at water's edge holding a plankton net preparing to complete a plankton tow (sampling) for a video being made to share watershed concepts with students at home due to COVID-19
Student volunteer conducts a plankton tow in April 2020 for the "At Home with the Bay" plankton video, part of a video series by Galveston Bay Foundation, a Gulf of Mexico B-WET grantee, to share watershed concepts with students at home due to COVID-19. "At Home with the Bay" is featured in the NOAA Education Aquatic Food Webs resource collection. (Mariah Waters, Galveston Bay Foundation)
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B-WET currently serves seven areas of the country: California, Chesapeake Bay, Great Lakes, Gulf of Mexico, Hawaii, New England, and Pacific Northwest. 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. Awards in the Great Lakes region are made possible by funds from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

2020 B-WET awards, by region, are:

California

Recipient Project State Amount
California State University, Channel Islands Crossing the Channel Camarillo, CA $59,031
Coastal Watershed Council Watershed Rangers Santa Cruz, CA $32,210
Explore Ecology Flows to the Ocean Project Santa Barbara, CA $59,946
Greater Farallones Association LiMPETS Climate Literacy Project San Francisco, CA $45,375
Local Earth Action Forum (Sonoma Ecology Center) Inspiring Water Wonders and Creating Climate Champions Sonoma, CA $39,986
Marin County Office of Education Marin's Ocean and Bay Backyard  San Rafael, CA $100,000
Marine Science Institute Redwood Creek Watershed Investigators and Sea Level Rise Heroes Redwood City, CA $55,701
MERITO Foundation Energy Efficiency to Mitigate Climate Change and Ocean Acidification Ventura, CA $69,979
Napa County Resource Conservation District LandSmart Youth Stewards: Salmon to Sanctuary Napa, CA $59,963
One Cool Earth San Luis Obispo County Watershed Project San Luis Obispo, CA $60,000
Strategic Energy Innovations Discovering Watersheds through Experiential Learning San Rafael, CA $59,629
Ventana Wildlife Society MBNMS Watershed Exploration Program for Teens Salinas, CA $59,983
Watsonville Wetlands Watch Building Capacity in Environmental Literacy in the Pajaro Valley Watsonville, CA $60,000

Chesapeake Bay

Recipient Project State Amount
Chesapeake Bay Trust Environmental Education Capacity Building in the Region: A Regional Outdoor Learning Network Initiative and Mini-Grants Program Annapolis, MD $641,858
Otsego County Conservation Association Chesapeake Bay Headwaters Educational Ecosystem Cooperstown, NY $226,273
Stroud Water Research Center Expanding Environmental Literacy and MWEE Implementation Capacity Across Pennsylvania Avondale, PA $170,000
Virginia Institute of Marine Science Virginia Teachers Innovating and Designing Experiential Science Gloucester Point, VA $167,945

Great Lakes

Recipient Project State Amount
Board of Education of City of Chicago Calumet Is My Back Yard: Burnham Park Expansion Chicago, IL $79,549
Eastern Michigan University Stormwater Stewards: Youth-Led Responses to Community Watershed Challenges Ypsilanti, MI $80,000
Flint River Watershed Coalition Flint River Bridges Flint, MI $72,851
Friends of the Rouge The Rouge Education Project Plymouth, MI $80,000
Grand Valley State University Deer Creek GEEKS Allendale, MI $79,931
Hope College Prep for Day 1: K-12 Students Jump into West Michigan Watershed Holland, MI $79,971
Huron Pines Terrestrial Systems Today for Healthy Waters Tomorrow Gaylord, MI $80,000
Lake Superior State University Developing Great Lakes Stewards through Place-making In Urban and Rural Classrooms Sault Ste. Marie, MI $76,575
Muskegon Area Intermediate School District The Power of Place: Connecting Students to Their Watershed Muskegon, MI $78,170
St. John Fisher College Our Lakes, Streams, and Rivers: Experiential Education and Stewardship in the Lake Ontario Watershed Rochester, NY $79,972
University of Toledo Great Lakes Student Research Campaign Toledo, OH $79,467

Gulf of Mexico

Recipient Project State Amount
Baylor University Matagorda Bay B-WET Waco, TX $84,176
Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation Facilitating Learning in Our Watershed (FLOW): St. Bernard Parish New Orleans, LA $149,996
Mississippi State University Magnolia Bayou Watershed from Schoolyard to the Northern Gulf Stennis Space Center, MS $83,627
Southeastern Louisiana University Project CREATES Hammond, LA $149,417
University of New Orleans Hydrosphere and Estuary Investigations New Orleans, LA $99,399

Hawaii

Recipient Project State Amount
Akaka Foundation for Tropical Forests Immersive Professional Development in Watershed Science to Support Peer-to-Peer STEM Learning Among Public School Educators on Hawaii Island Hilo, HI $119,057
Kipahulu Ohana Maui Hikina Opio Stewardship Development Project Hana, HI $131,830
Learning Endeavors Champions of Coastal Resilience: A Coastal Field Ecology Professional Development Program for Teachers Wailuku, HI $149,700
Malama Maunalua Instilling Community Kuleana Through Experiential Learning Honolulu, HI $149,326
Malama Pupukea-Waimea Ka Papa Kai: Kids Making the Connection Between the Pupukea MLCD and the Pae Aina Haleiwa, HI $77,060
Pacific American Foundation Wisdom of the Watershed Phase I for K-12 students Kaneohe, HI $150,000
Polynesian Voyaging Society Kapalama Ahupuaa Bioremediation Honolulu, HI $130,000
University of Hawaii Systems Providing Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences for High School Teachers Through Na Kilo Aina Honolulu, HI $149,691

New England

Recipient Project State Amount
Gulf of Maine Institute Bringing Community-Based Steward to the Gulf of Maine West Newbury, MA $220,500

Pacific Northwest

Recipient Project State Amount
Discover Your Northwest (Cascade Head Biosphere Reserve) Story of Life as Told by Water Otis, OR $59,782
Dungeness River Audubon Center North Olympic Watershed Science: Schools Supporting Salmon Sequim, WA $53,272
Environmental Science Center Salmon Heroes: Understanding Watershed Health in Diverse Communities Through Salmon Field Studies, Water Quality Training, and Stewardship Action Projects Burien, WA $49,383
Lummi Indian Business Council Outreach and Education on Marine Resources for Native American Youth Bellingham, WA $59,948
Mid-Columbia Fisheries Enhancement Group Central Washington Watershed Connections White Salmon, WA $59,984
National Wildlife Federation Fish Eggs to Fry; Eco-School USA Stewards Milwaukie, OR $52,615
Nisqually River Foundation Climate Literacy, Action, and Monitoring in South Sound Olympia, WA $59,715
Northwest Maritime Center Salish Sea Stewards Program: Integrating Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences into the South Whidbey Public School District Port Townsend, WA $60,000
Port Townsend School District Developing Understanding of Ocean Acidification and Building Solutions in Coastal Communities Port Townsend, WA $59,968

Funding amounts listed above are full federal award amounts for all years of the award. In addition to the awards listed above, NOAA supported 118 continuing awards. For more details about B-WET awards, please visit the regional program websites.