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Use the filter menu and interactive map to explore the past competitions offered and grants awarded through the Environmental Literacy Program.

To learn more about project findings and outcomes, view the summaries of our grantees’ summative evaluation reports.

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Global, Local, Coastal: Preparing The Next Generation for A Changing Planet

Funding: $468,428
Year: 2015
This project, “Global, Local, Coastal: Preparing the Next Generation for A Changing Planet," was led by Groundwork Hudson Valley in partnership with Sarah Lawrence College's Center for the Urban River, to integrate and expand the work of three award-winning environmental education centers in Yonkers, NY – The Science Barge, Ecohouse and the Center for the Urban River (CURB). Its primary objective was to prepare low-income students for the impact of a changing climate so that they can participate both personally and professionally in a world in which these issues are increasingly prevalent.

This project, “Global, Local, Coastal: Preparing the Next Generation for A Changing Planet," was led by Groundwork Hudson Valley in partnership with Sarah Lawrence College's Center for the Urban River, to integrate and expand the work of three award-winning environmental education centers in Yonkers, NY – The Science Barge, Ecohouse and the Center for the Urban River (CURB). Its primary objective was to prepare low-income students for the impact of a changing climate so that they can participate both personally and professionally in a world in which these issues are increasingly prevalent. It reached an audience that is not well served by traditional programs and is most vulnerable to the consequences of climate change. Over the course of two years, the project served 544 high school youth from the Yonkers public school system through a new, integrated curriculum that presented these issues from multiple perspectives in an experiential learning format. Beyond its impact on students, the project has had a broader impact on people in our region who have visited the Science Barge, Ecohouse and CURB, which together receive close to 10,000 people each year. The new exhibits have reinforced key themes related to resiliency and adaptation and staff have integrated these concepts into their public tours. Beyond our region, the project has further impacted STEM educators across the country with access to the newly created "Global, Local, Coastal" curriculum and web application which is posted on Groundwork's website and accessible without charge. Other partners included NOAA’s Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve, the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, and Center for Climate Risk in the Urban Northeast (CCRUN), and Yonkers Public Schools. The project has been carried out in a community that has been severely affected by extreme weather in the last decade, including three hurricanes. Outcomes have helped to create “an informed society to anticipate and respond to climate and its impacts” and served to support NOAA’s goal of a developing a “Weather-Ready Nation” and “Resilient Coastal Communities and Economies.”

Award Number: NA15SEC0080004
Grant Dates: 09/01/2015 to 06/30/2019
PI: Ellen Theg
State: New York   County:   Westchester District: NY16
Partners: Columbia University / Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory / Earth Institute · Sarah Lawrence College / Center for the Urban River at Beczak (CURB) · International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) · Consortium for Climate Risk in the Urban Northeast (CCRUN) · National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) Hudson River · NYS Office of Storm Recovery (GOSR) · Yonkers Public Schools / Charles E. Gorton High School · Hitachi America, Ltd. · Yonkers Public Schools / Community School 13 · Action for the Climate Emergency · Yonkers Public Schools / Riverside High School for Engineering and Design · Yonkers Public Schools / Saunders Trades and Technical High School · Yonkers Public Schools · Yonkers Public Schools / Lincoln High School · Yonkers Public Schools / Robert C. Dodson School ·

Science-on-a-Sphere Programming: Presenting NOAA Science at the Maryland Science Center, the Science Museum of Minnesota, and in the National Traveling Exhibition "Water Planet"

Maryland Science Center offsite link · Baltimore, Maryland
Funding: $279,926
Year: 2005
Using the relative strengths of each museum, the Science On a Sphere® Partnership between the Maryland Science Center and the Science Museum of Minnesota has developed two complementary exhibit approaches to Science On a Sphere® (SOS). Audiences interacting with SOS are able to observe global connections in geophysical phenomena not possible with any two dimensional representation of the Earth. The goal of the project is for museum visitors, particularly underserved audiences, to comprehend how human activities are influencing global processes now and might do so in the future.

Using the relative strengths of each museum, the Science On a Sphere® Partnership between the Maryland Science Center and the Science Museum of Minnesota has developed two complementary exhibit approaches to Science On a Sphere® (SOS). Audiences interacting with SOS are able to observe global connections in geophysical phenomena not possible with any two dimensional representation of the Earth. The goal of the project is for museum visitors, particularly underserved audiences, to comprehend how human activities are influencing global processes now and might do so in the future. The project also tests new partnership models for working with NOAA and other science research organizations to broaden the educational impact on all groups.

Award Number: NA05SEC4691008
Grant Dates: 10/01/2005 to 09/30/2009
PI: Robert Cooks
State: Maryland   County:   Baltimore City District: MD07
Partners: National Geographic Society · Science Museum of Minnesota · Science Museum of Minnesota · Global Imagination · NASA Goddard Space Flight Center · Franklin Institute · Johns Hopkins University · Morgan State University · University of Maryland / Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research · University of Maryland (UMD) Baltimore County · WMAR-Television ·

Science-on-a-Sphere Installation: Presenting NOAA Science at the Maryland Science Center, the Science Museum of Minnesota, and in the National Traveling Exhibition "Water Planet"

Maryland Science Center offsite link · Baltimore, Maryland
Funding: $170,000
Year: 2005
This award supports the installation of a Science On a Sphere® in two museums comprising the SOS Partnership®, a collaboration between the Maryland Science Center ( Baltimore ) and the Science Museum of Minnesota ( St. Paul ). Each of the two museum installations will take advantage of the wide variety of NOAA data sets that Science On a Sphere® (SOS) projects onto a six-foot sphere, creating unique, animated, whole-planet views of real-time, past and forecasted, weather, climate and geophysical processes, and many other dramatic visualizations of the whole Earth.

This award supports the installation of a Science On a Sphere® in two museums comprising the SOS Partnership®, a collaboration between the Maryland Science Center ( Baltimore ) and the Science Museum of Minnesota ( St. Paul ). Each of the two museum installations will take advantage of the wide variety of NOAA data sets that Science On a Sphere® (SOS) projects onto a six-foot sphere, creating unique, animated, whole-planet views of real-time, past and forecasted, weather, climate and geophysical processes, and many other dramatic visualizations of the whole Earth.

Award Number: NA05SEC4691017
Grant Dates: 10/01/2005 to 09/30/2006
PI: Manjit Goldberg
State: Maryland   County:   Baltimore City District: MD07
Partners: American Museum of Natural History · Science Museum of Minnesota · Field Museum of Natural History · Great Lakes Science Center · San Diego Natural History Museum ·

From Mt. Rainier to the Pacific Coast: Fostering Resilient Climate Leaders, Communities and Coastal Ecosystems

Funding: $298,713
Year: 2015
Nisqually River Foundation with partners (South Sound GREEN, Chehalis Basin Education Consortium, and Mount Rainier Institute) with support from NOAA Fisheries’ West Coast Region implemented their project, “From Mt. Rainier to the Pacific Coast: Fostering Resilient Climate Leaders, Communities and Coastal Ecosystems,” over 3 years, from 2016-2018. Our region faces the climate change threats of sea level rise, receding glaciers, extreme weather/flooding, ocean acidification and impacts on humans and important local resources, such as surface and groundwater, salmon, forests, and shellfish.

Nisqually River Foundation with partners (South Sound GREEN, Chehalis Basin Education Consortium, and Mount Rainier Institute) with support from NOAA Fisheries’ West Coast Region implemented their project, “From Mt. Rainier to the Pacific Coast: Fostering Resilient Climate Leaders, Communities and Coastal Ecosystems,” over 3 years, from 2016-2018. Our region faces the climate change threats of sea level rise, receding glaciers, extreme weather/flooding, ocean acidification and impacts on humans and important local resources, such as surface and groundwater, salmon, forests, and shellfish. Together we engaged more than 120 teachers and their 3,000+ students from the Nisqually, South Puget Sound and Chehalis watersheds to understand and predict changes in climate, weather, oceans, and coasts. We held three Summer Teachers Institutes to bring teachers connect teachers with local science experts in climate change impacts in the Pacific Northwest. Our 2017 Institute was held in partnership with Mount Rainier Institute, who also hosted Climate Resilient Youth Leadership Programs for 350 12-18-year olds. Participants generated and participated in Community Resilience Action Projects to conserve local ecosystems and increase resiliency in their communities to extreme weather events and changing climate. These projects included: riparian habitat restoration in the Nisqually, Chehalis, and Deschutes basins; creating recycling and composting programs on school campuses; eliminating Styrofoam from school cafeterias; creating a Migration Parade event to explore climate impacts on migratory species; the “Pick a DOT- Do One Thing - What’s your thing?” on-line videos; and the creation of high-impact environmental education art installations, to name a handful. Students also monitored local stream flows, temperatures, and water quality, building on a previous Targeted Watershed Grant from the EPA and a data set that goes back to 1992. NOAA’s mission of Service was supported as teachers and students shared their knowledge in their classrooms, with school districts, at community meetings, and through social media. NOAA assets used included the NW Marine Fisheries staff, Data in the Classroom, CoCoRaHS, NOAA-NASA Cloud Watcher Chart, NOAA’s Climate Literacy Principles, Beat the Uncertainty game, Game of Floods, Thermal Expansion label, the Marine Mammals of the US West Coast, and more. Other local contributing partners include the Nisqually Indian Tribe, the Squaxin Tribe, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Nisqually Land Trust, Thurston Conservation District and Capital Region Educational Service District 113.

Award Number: NA15SEC0080007
Grant Dates: 04/01/2016 to 07/31/2019
PI: Justin Hall
State: Washington   County:   Thurston District: WA10
Partners: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) / West Coast · Chehalis Basin Education Consortium · South Sound GREEN (Global Rivers Environmental Education Network) · Mount Rainier Institute · U.S. National Park Service / Mount Rainier National Park · Nisqually Land Trust · Capitol Land Trust · Chehalis River Basin Land Trust · NOAA Office of Education · U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service / Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge · Nisqually Tribe · Joint Base Lewis–McChord · Mason Conservation District · Squaxin Island Tribe · Puget Sound Estuarium · Washington State Department of Ecology / Ecology Youth Corps ·

Science on a Sphere – Earth Systems Display Center at Science Museum of Virginia

Funding: $297,396
Year: 2010
The Science Museum of Virginia has assembled a unique team of federal, state, and private institutions to create The Earth System Display Center based on the Science on a Sphere (SOS) platform. The goal of the Center is to capture the visitor's attention and spur interest in climate change literacy and how impacts on a local scale can have an aggregate effect globally.

The Science Museum of Virginia has assembled a unique team of federal, state, and private institutions to create The Earth System Display Center based on the Science on a Sphere (SOS) platform. The goal of the Center is to capture the visitor's attention and spur interest in climate change literacy and how impacts on a local scale can have an aggregate effect globally. Of particular significance are a docent training program to stimulate and facilitate visitor interaction with the Sphere through dialogue, and formative and summative evaluation of the impact of docent led Sphere experiences with the general public. SOS will anchor a new data display center for examining global impacts of energy consumption, stormwater management, agriculture practices, and climate change - tying together Earth system themes from four major projects now underway at the Science Museum in Richmond, Virginia. Use of NOAA data sets and the Sphere as a dynamic presentation tools coupled with flatscreens will enable the conveyance of local and statewide trends and issues into a compelling global context.

Award Number: NA10SEC0080023
Grant Dates: 10/01/2010 to 09/30/2012
PI: Richard Conti
State: Virginia   County:   Richmond City District: VA04
Partners: University of Wisconsin–Madison / Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) · George Mason University / Center for Climate Change Communication (4C) · James Madison University · NASA Goddard Space Flight Center · Virginia State University (VSU) ·

Learn, Prepare, Act – Resilient Citizens Make Resilient Communities

Funding: $477,052
Year: 2015
The Science Museum of Virginia’s three-year informal climate change resilience education project, “Your Actions Matter: Resilient Citizens Make Resilient Communities,” yielded three overarching lessons learned: 1) understand and use organizational strengths and limitations to advance resilience education, 2) Arts and Humanities are critical for resilience education, and 3) localize the story of climate change and its solutions.

The Science Museum of Virginia’s three-year informal climate change resilience education project, “Your Actions Matter: Resilient Citizens Make Resilient Communities,” yielded three overarching lessons learned: 1) understand and use organizational strengths and limitations to advance resilience education, 2) Arts and Humanities are critical for resilience education, and 3) localize the story of climate change and its solutions. Our programming relied on planning and executing two, 5-week “Climate Connections” Lecture Series featuring national climate science researchers, three annual “Prepareathon” events to connect communities with emergency management personnel and services (as well as local meteorologists and climate scientists), two community-focused workshops to engage guests in building resilience to extreme precipitation and urban heat, producing dozens of radio and video programs for public dissemination of climate science concepts, hosting several “Extreme Event Challenge” facilitations for guests to assume manager roles in a crisis, designed numerous scripts and dataset playlists for daily SOS presentations, production of a large format film about cosmic perspectives on climate change, performed theatrical scripts of human sides of climate impacts, leveraged artistic expression and sonification of climate science datasets in public events and exhibits, and undertook the first citizen science climate change campaign in the Museum’s history. Our audiences regularly stretched from preschool learners to retirement-aged individuals, served many thousands from formal education and professional organizations, and that our programming regularly attracted audiences from government agencies, policymakers, fine arts institutions, and urban planners. Our audience reach easily surpassed 1.2 million people locally, nationally, and internationally, with most from metro-Richmond, Virginia. Based on formative evaluation, our substantial restructuring of our initially proposed programming model yielded high-impact educational outcomes. “Ready Row Homes: Preparing for a Hotter, Wetter Virginia” experience achieved highest educational impact of communicating both climate change science and individual resilience behaviors. Our SOS facilitations and Large Format Film, Cosmic Climate Cookbook, performed highly in communicating climate science, but relatively limited in resilience behavior. Extreme Event Challenge has high impact for communicating resilience strategies, but not as well in communicating climate science. Our informative climate science Lecture Series were comparatively limited in communicating resilience. This array of programming successes was greatly improved by collaborations with project partners: WCVE disseminated audio and video programs; George Mason University's Center for Climate Change Communication guided our storytelling techniques for SOS; NOAA assets (i.e., NWS, Chesapeake Bay Office, SOS Network) contributed information and speakers; Randi Korn & Associates provided evaluation; Resilient Virginia marketed programs and designed workshops; and Virginia Institute of Marine Science provided significant expertise through speakers and datasets. New, substantial project partners included Groundwork RVA (co-developed “Throwing Shade in RVA” teen program and participated in urban heat island citizen science projects); Alliance for Chesapeake Bay (provided free rain barrels and workshop educational content); Richmond City’s Department of Planning Review and Sustainability Office coordinated dissemination of outreach materials and executed urban heat island citizen science project; and Franklin Institute (helped guide development of a Virginia-specific facilitation of Ready Row Home hands-on experiences).

Award Number: NA15SEC0080009
Grant Dates: 12/31/2015 to 12/30/2018
PI: Jeremy Hoffman
State: Virginia   County:   Richmond City District: VA04
Partners: University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) Center for Science Education · George Mason University / Center for Climate Change Communication (4C) · Franklin Institute · Nature Conservancy Headquarters · Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) / Marine Advisory Services · NOAA Climate Program Office (CPO) · Resilient Virginia · Community Idea Stations · NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office · NOAA National Weather Service (NWS) Wakefield, VA Forecast Office · National Sea Grant College Program / Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) · Virginia Environmental Endowment · Virginia Commonwealth University / Center for Environmental Studies · Virginia Foundation for the Humanities · University of Richmond · Virginia Commonwealth University / School of the Arts · Virginia Commonwealth University / School of Engineering · Richmond City Sustainability · Portland State University / Sustaining Urban Places Research (SUPR) Lab · Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VDEQ) · Virginia Department of Health · Sierra Club / Virginia Chapter · Virginia Academy of Science · Groundwork RVA · City of Richmond / Planning and Development Review · Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay · Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden / Beautiful RVA · Maryland Department of Health · Department of Energy and Environment · Enrichmond Foundation ·