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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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CREATE Connections: Linking a Vision of Resilience to Action

Nurture Nature Center offsite link · Easton, Pennsylvania
Funding: $121,060
Year: 2023
Addressing climate change and its impacts requires the engagement of all community members; it is not enough to have only municipal officials working to create a sustainable system. The Nurture Nature Center's CREATE Connections project uses a whole-community approach to build collective environmental literacy and address current and future environmental hazards related to climate change. This approach brings together a wide range of potential agents of change: community-based organizations, artists, students, educators, municipalities, libraries, and residents.

Addressing climate change and its impacts requires the engagement of all community members; it is not enough to have only municipal officials working to create a sustainable system. The Nurture Nature Center's CREATE Connections project uses a whole-community approach to build collective environmental literacy and address current and future environmental hazards related to climate change. This approach brings together a wide range of potential agents of change: community-based organizations, artists, students, educators, municipalities, libraries, and residents. Building on the CREATE Resilience project, which began in 2018, CREATE Connections focuses on climate action plans (CAPs) recently adopted in two local cities (Easton and Bethlehem, PA) and seeks to build social capital, connectedness, and community resilience through a multi-pronged educational approach. Specifically, CREATE Connections' goals are to provide education about climate and community-specific strategies related to climate action, to enable community-based organizational partners (including libraries, students, and artists) to become effective disseminators of climate education to broad audiences, including underserved populations, and to create pathways and support for communities to implement their CAPs. To achieve these, NNC will develop active learning programming for youth and their families in collaboration with public libraries, leveraging their accessibility and role as a hub in each community. Climate strategy spotlights, storefront educational campaigns, public art installations, and climate-friendly kits are all elements of the project that incorporate scientific information about climate change and the actions that will help with mitigation and adaptation. These elements take into account cultural knowledge and community assets and consider community needs and values. An annual Youth Climate Summit event will provide further opportunities to engage with middle and high school youth around the CAPs, and a "Climate Action Week" will be held in year 3 to highlight CAP progress. All programs will include science, art, and community dialogue elements, incorporate civic learning opportunities, and integrate NOAA assets and subject matter experts. Local college students will help implement the programs, and community partners, including Community Bike Works, will help reach and engage diverse populations. This model is designed to broaden participation and build dispersed community-based leadership on climate issues by youth, library staff, community organizations, and local businesses to help the CAPs be understood and embraced by the community. Resilience is ultimately enhanced through community-scale solutions that support local climate action efforts while creating new partnerships, and youth are empowered as agents of change through programs such as an annual Youth Climate Summit. Once the programming model is developed and tested in each community, lessons learned, and evaluation will inform the creation of a program model template that other communities can use to similarly connect and engage their assets around climate action.

Award Number: NA23SEC0080002
Grant Dates: 10/01/2023 to 09/30/2027
PI: Kathryn Semmens
State: Pennsylvania   County:   Northampton District: PA07
Partners:

Science on a Sphere and Flood Forums: Education to Action

Nurture Nature Center offsite link · Easton, Pennsylvania
Funding: $341,274
Year: 2010
The Nurture Nature Center (NNC) in Easton, PA, a joint project of the multi-state Nurture Nature Foundation and NNC, Inc., will install a Science on a Sphere and develop a new SOS module about climate and flooding. Working with the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore, the Da Vinci Science Center in Allentown, PA, and science advisers from NOAA and research universities, NNC will use existing SOS datasets, as well as new data formats, to create a docent-guided program that explains the connections between climate patterns and flooding.

The Nurture Nature Center (NNC) in Easton, PA, a joint project of the multi-state Nurture Nature Foundation and NNC, Inc., will install a Science on a Sphere and develop a new SOS module about climate and flooding. Working with the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore, the Da Vinci Science Center in Allentown, PA, and science advisers from NOAA and research universities, NNC will use existing SOS datasets, as well as new data formats, to create a docent-guided program that explains the connections between climate patterns and flooding. The Flood Forums: Education to Action program will engage audiences in deliberative forum programming to promote public understanding of the atmospheric, oceanic, and other climatic factors affecting flooding in some regional communities. Project deliverables include a program on climate change and flooding for SOS users; the same program calibrated for Magic Planet users; Forum models on issues related to climate change and flooding; project and evaluation reports; and training materials for SOS network members and other informal educators.

Award Number: NA10SEC0080020
Grant Dates: 10/01/2010 to 07/31/2013
PI: Catherine Brandes
State: Pennsylvania   County:   Northampton District: PA07
Partners: Maryland Science Center · Da Vinci Science Center · Lehigh University · NOAA Regional Climate Center / Northeast Regional Climate Center ·

CREATE Resilience: Community Resilience through Education, Art, Technology, and Engagement

Nurture Nature Center offsite link · Easton, Pennsylvania
Funding: $429,420
Year: 2018
CREATE Resilience: Community Resilience through Education, Art, Technology and Engagement, is a multi-disciplinary collaboration between youth and community to 1) improve environmental hazards literacy, and 2) increase engagement in resiliency actions by youth and adult residents in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. CREATE Resilience is designed to increase community knowledge about weather and climate science, risks from local hazards, and strategies for hazard mitigation, while co-creating a vision for community resilience.

CREATE Resilience: Community Resilience through Education, Art, Technology and Engagement, is a multi-disciplinary collaboration between youth and community to 1) improve environmental hazards literacy, and 2) increase engagement in resiliency actions by youth and adult residents in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. CREATE Resilience is designed to increase community knowledge about weather and climate science, risks from local hazards, and strategies for hazard mitigation, while co-creating a vision for community resilience. Developed by Nurture Nature Center (NNC) in Easton, PA, the four-year project will work with local, state and federal partners in three hazard-prone communities in the Lehigh Valley (Easton, Bangor and Wilson areas). Hazards, particularly weather-related hazards including flooding, have had major impacts in these communities historically and recently, causing extensive damage to property and disruption to community services. Damaging river flooding along the Delaware River in 2004, 2005 and 2006 highlighted major planning and safety challenges for many municipalities in the area with high flood risk, and a recently updated regional Hazard Mitigation plan highlighted other hazards – as well as the need for public education about hazards and mitigation. CREATE Resilience’s advisory board will work with NNC to bring education and engagement events to teach the science of these hazards, as well the household and community-level strategies and tools available for resilience. Partners include the National Weather Service (NWS) Middle Atlantic River Forecast Center and Mt. Holly, NJ Weather Forecast Office, and Weather Prediction Center, as well as LV Planning Commission, Northampton County Emergency Management Agency, LV Community Foundation, Lafayette College, and FEMA Region 3 Mitigation Division. In years 1 and 2, the project will form CREATE Youth Ambassador teams, in which student interns from area high schools will meet NWS meteorologists, engage in community storytelling events, develop local hazard and resilience tours, and learn from climate and other scientists about hazards and strategies for resilience. Ambassadors will also develop and lead programming for community residents. Simultaneously, residents will participate in active-learning education events, dialogue forums, arts-based activities, technology-based programs using NOAA assets, and hands-on preparedness activities. Each community will build a collective understanding of local hazards and mitigation strategies, and co-create a vision for resilience, represented in traveling visual artist-designed murals in the third year of the project. This education and shared vision will build community support for planning and resilience and help households in making better preparedness decisions. Dissemination through Science on a Sphere® and guidebooks will share the replicable model with other organizations and communities, extending the reach of the project. Close cooperation with NWS offices helps the project meet key goals of NOAA’s Education Strategic Plan, related to safety/preparedness and a science-informed society. Through public events and print materials, the project will showcase and interpret NOAA-related science and data with area residents, while creating collaborative learning opportunities for youth and community to interact with NOAA scientists. CREATE Resilience also engages youth and adults in preparing for hazards, and in multi-generational learning to improve community awareness and involvement in preparedness and mitigation.

Award Number: NA18SEC0080005
Grant Dates: 10/01/2018 to 09/30/2023
PI: Rachel Carr
State: Pennsylvania   County:   Northampton District: PA07
Partners: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center · City University of New York (CUNY) / Hunter College · NOAA National Weather Service (NWS) / National Centers for Environmental Prediction · NOAA Climate Program Office (CPO) · Consortium for Climate Risk in the Urban Northeast (CCRUN) · NOAA National Weather Service (NWS) Mount Holly, NJ Weather Forecast Office · NOAA National Weather Service (NWS) State College, Pennsylvania Forecast Office · Lehigh Valley Community Foundation · Lafayette College / Civil and Environmental Engineering · Easton Area School District · Wilson Area School District · Northampton County Emergency Management Services · Lehigh Valley Planning Commission · Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency · NOAA National Weather Service (NWS) / Middle Atlantic River Forecast Center (RFC) · Bangor Area School District · American Society of Civil Engineers / Lehigh Valley Section · Northampton County Conservation District · Northampton County Parks & Recreation Division · City of Easton · Martins-Jacoby Watershed Association · Borough of Wilson · PAZA, Tree of Life · Williams Township Municipal Building ·

Empowering Climate Change Resiliency through Education in an Underserved Community

Ocean Discovery Institute offsite link · San Diego, California
Funding: $500,000
Year: 2018
Understanding climate change and its exacerbating effects on local environmental phenomena (e.g., increase in frequency and/or intensity of drought, ocean acidification, water shortages, degraded fisheries) and how to create resiliency is critical for underserved communities as they are disproportionately impacted by these hazards and yet, have the least capacity to actively respond.

Understanding climate change and its exacerbating effects on local environmental phenomena (e.g., increase in frequency and/or intensity of drought, ocean acidification, water shortages, degraded fisheries) and how to create resiliency is critical for underserved communities as they are disproportionately impacted by these hazards and yet, have the least capacity to actively respond. To address this issue, Ocean Discovery Institute and its partners will build understanding of climate change and impacts on local hazards, human-nature interactions, and individual and community capacity for resilience through place-based education in the underserved community of City Heights, San Diego, CA. This project, titled “Empowering Climate Change Resiliency through Education in an Underserved Community,” will involve a wide range of partners, including California Sea Grant, the California Nevada Climate Applications Program, NOAA’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, Cabrillo National Monument, San Diego Canyonlands, RECON Environmental, Inc., and the San Diego Unified Port District. Project activities encompass the design, piloting, and implementation of multi-grade level, integrated curricula that incorporate hands-on student climate science research, innovative solution building, and teacher professional development. This project will serve 1,500 middle school students annually and is expected to increase students’ understanding of scientific concepts and processes and human-nature interactions, improve their ability to make science-informed decisions, and contribute to local resilience efforts.

Award Number: NA18SEC0080004
Grant Dates: 10/01/2018 to 09/30/2024
PI: Lindsay Goodwin
State: California   County:   San Diego District: CA52
Partners: Birch Aquarium at Scripps · San Diego Unified School District · NOAA Research Lab / Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory · National Sea Grant College Program / University of California at San Diego / California Sea Grant · City of San Diego · U.S. National Park Service / Cabrillo National Monument · Port of San Diego · RECON Environmental · San Diego Canyonlands · California Nevada Applications Program (CNAP) · San Diego Unified School District / Clark Middle School · San Diego Unified School District / Wilson Middle School · UC San Diego / Scripps Institution of Oceanography ·

Building Environmental Literacy: How the Ocean Community Can Connect More Effectively With the American Public

Ocean Foundation / The Ocean Project offsite link · Washington, District of Columbia
Funding: $375,100
Year: 2007
In 1999, The Ocean Project completed a comprehensive opinion research on public attitudes, perceptions, and knowledge of the ocean ever conducted. The research identified a broad vacuum in public understanding of the ocean; a fundamental issue of ocean literacy. To further increase effectiveness in building ocean literacy, this project updates and expands The Ocean Project's research to create a more highly detailed database of public awareness, knowledge, and attitudes about the ocean and the impact of climate change on the ocean.

In 1999, The Ocean Project completed a comprehensive opinion research on public attitudes, perceptions, and knowledge of the ocean ever conducted. The research identified a broad vacuum in public understanding of the ocean; a fundamental issue of ocean literacy. To further increase effectiveness in building ocean literacy, this project updates and expands The Ocean Project's research to create a more highly detailed database of public awareness, knowledge, and attitudes about the ocean and the impact of climate change on the ocean. It develops recommendations to enable free-choice learning educators to improve the ocean and climate literacy of their visitors. The study includes a comprehensive review of existing literature, qualitative and quantitative research, analysis of the data, and publication and broad dissemination, including recommendations for programs and content that build ocean and climate literacy. The work done by The Ocean Project is helping the ocean education community better understand the motivations, psychology, and emotions behind segments of the public's attitudes toward the ocean. These data are essential as the institutions, agencies and organizations of the ocean community work together and independently to engage people, inform decision-makers, and enhance ocean and climate literacy throughout the Nation.

Award Number: NA07SEC4690007
Grant Dates: 10/01/2007 to 09/30/2010
PI: William Mott
State: District of Columbia   County:   District of Columbia District: DC00
Partners: California Academy of Sciences · Monterey Bay Aquarium · National Aquarium / National Aquarium In Baltimore (NAIB) · Tennessee Aquarium · Texas State Aquarium · NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries · NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research · NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program · John Ball Zoological Garden · Antioch University New England ·

Applying Social Research to Build Environmental Literacy and Public Engagement in Protecting Ocean Resources

Ocean Foundation / The Ocean Project offsite link · Washington, District of Columbia
Funding: $1,117,002
Year: 2010
This project will expand and enhance an initiative that offers zoos, aquariums, and science museums the market research they need to engage and motivate the public on issues related to the ocean and climate change. The three-year project will measure changes in public awareness and action on ocean and climate-related issues.

This project will expand and enhance an initiative that offers zoos, aquariums, and science museums the market research they need to engage and motivate the public on issues related to the ocean and climate change. The three-year project will measure changes in public awareness and action on ocean and climate-related issues. It will integrate these research findings into recommendations offered to staff working at zoos, aquariums, and science museums as well as to the ocean conservation community and provide professional development for staff members at these institutions in order to support and shape public outreach efforts that connect climate change, the ocean and individual actions, especially among our nation's youth.

Competition: 2010: NOAA Broad Agency Announcement for FY 2010—2011
Award Number: NA10SEC0080029
Grant Dates: 10/01/2010 to 09/30/2013
PI: William Mott
State: District of Columbia   County:   District of Columbia District: DC00
Partners: Aquarium of the Pacific · North Carolina Aquarium Society / North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher · California Academy of Sciences · Exploratorium · Monterey Bay Aquarium · National Aquarium / National Aquarium In Baltimore (NAIB) · New England Aquarium Corporation / New England Aquarium (NEAq) · Science Museum of Minnesota · Sea Research Foundation / Mystic Aquarium · Seattle Aquarium · John G. Shedd Aquarium / Shedd Aquarium · Tennessee Aquarium · Florida Aquarium · Pacific Science Center · Association of Zoos and Aquariums · Detroit Zoological Society · Fresno Chaffee Zoo · Gladys Porter Zoo · Texas State Aquarium · Aquarium of the Bay · Lincoln Park Zoo · Oregon Coast Aquarium · Virginia Aquarium · Utah's Hogle Zoo · Philadelphia Zoo · Woodland Park Zoo · Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum · Georgia Aquarium · New York Aquarium · Cabrillo Marine Aquarium · Disney’s Animal Kingdom · San Antonio Zoological Society · YouthMuse · Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) · Brevard Zoo · Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium · Chicago Botanic Garden ·

Conservation Solutions: Developing America's Zoos and Aquariums into Centers for Leadership and Innovation

Ocean Foundation / The Ocean Project offsite link · Washington, District of Columbia
Funding: $546,898
Year: 2013
The Ocean Project will empower America's zoos, aquariums and science museums to become centers of innovation and effective leadership for healthy oceans and conservation in their communities, providing meaningful engagement opportunities for their 200 million annual visitors to become involved in helping with solutions.

The Ocean Project will empower America's zoos, aquariums and science museums to become centers of innovation and effective leadership for healthy oceans and conservation in their communities, providing meaningful engagement opportunities for their 200 million annual visitors to become involved in helping with solutions. To help them do so, The Ocean Project is launching a competitive "Innovative Solutions Grants Program" that will provide financial resources for zoos, aquariums and science museums to develop innovative local and regional ocean conservation solutions and stewardship initiatives, with a special emphasis on engaging youth and minorities. To leverage and maximize the benefit of this small grants program, The Ocean Project will also provide the awardees with opportunities for capacity building in strategic communications and share the resulting new strategies and successes with our growing partner network of 2000 zoos, aquariums, science museums and other conservation and education organizations in all 50 States and worldwide.

Competition: 2012: NOAA Broad Agency Announcement for FY 2012—2013
Award Number: NA13SEC0080013
Grant Dates: 10/01/2013 to 09/30/2016
PI: William Mott
State: District of Columbia   County:   District of Columbia District: DC00
Partners: National Aquarium / National Aquarium In Baltimore (NAIB) · New England Aquarium Corporation / New England Aquarium (NEAq) · Florida Aquarium · Oregon Coast Aquarium · North Carolina Aquarium Society · Philadelphia Zoo · Riverbanks Zoo and Garden · Woodland Park Zoo · Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum · Saint Louis Zoological Park · NOAA Office of Education ·