Partnerships

The Environmental Literacy Program increases impact through collaborations.

We use partnerships to extend our impact beyond grants. The Environmental Literacy Program supports long-term partnerships that enable the education community to incorporate and deliver NOAA's latest scientific information on the topics of the ocean, coasts, weather, and climate. These are mutually beneficial relationships our partners have a proven track record in K-12 and informal education and the ability to leverage NOAA expertise and products to enrich their offerings. In turn, NOAA leverages their education capabilities to reach diverse audiences in new ways.

Partnerships

AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY DATASTREME
The American Meteorological Society (AMS) Datastreme program comprises K-12 teacher professional development in atmospheric, ocean and climate sciences. Through a national network of local implementation teams, AMS offers semester-long courses to K-12 teachers using weather, climate, and the ocean as contexts for teaching science and improving understanding about the Earth system among K-12 teachers and their students. These courses focus on topics relevant to NOAA’s mission, incorporate NOAA data and data products, and involve NOAA personnel.
 
COASTAL ECOSYSTEM LEARNING CENTERS NETWORK
The Coastal Ecosystem Learning Centers (CELC) network is a consortium of 25 aquariums and marine science education centers located across North America. From youth summits to multi-institution projects, the CELC network works together to engage the public in protecting coastal and marine ecosystems. By coordinating CELC, NOAA’s Office of Education is able to reach over 20 million people across North America, while providing leadership and resources to its members.
 
COMMUNITY COLLABORATIVE RAIN, HAIL AND SNOW NETWORK
The Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow (CoCoRaHS) network engages over 20,000 active citizen science volunteers in observing precipitation. CoCoRaHS originated from the Colorado Climate Center at Colorado State University in 1998. The dedicated CoCoRaHS volunteers have submitted over 50 million daily precipitation observations using standardized manual rain gages mounted in their backyards, workplaces, schools or community centers. In addition to precipitation data, environmental condition data on soil, plants, water bodies, and wildlife are also collected in the CoCoRaHS database. With years of historical data from all 50 states, the observations are important in informing NOAA weather and climate products. NOAA has supported the growth of the network, integration of weather and climate literacy resources, and tools for volunteers to engage with data.
 
EXPLORATORIUM
NOAA has a long-term partnership with San Francisco's Exploratorium that spans all aspects of the agency's mission. Begun in 2009 and motivated by the Exploratorium's 2013 move to Pier 15, NOAA helped build their capacity to observe and interpret this new waterfront location. Through a scientists in residence program, NOAA experts help exhibit developers and educators understand and interpret NOAA’s data, advise on instruments to install to collect environmental data, and provide public presentations on their work. NOAA’s research vessels regularly dock at the Exploratorium, allowing NOAA Corps to conduct tours of ships and on-board scientists to explain the ship’s scientific mission to visitors and Exploratorium employees. This partnership allows NOAA to explore and deploy new methods of presenting the agency’s work in a proven educational setting with unique facilities and capacities.
 
THE GLOBE PROGRAM
The GLOBE Program is a worldwide, hands-on science and education program. GLOBE empowers students, teachers, scientists, and the public to collaborate on inquiry-based investigations of the environment. NOAA supports GLOBE in close partnership with the sponsoring agencies, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Science Foundation. GLOBE utilizes NOAA data and expertise in ocean and atmospheric science, while providing tools that support the study of these systems.
 
NATIONAL OCEAN SCIENCES BOWL
The National Ocean Sciences Bowl, managed by the University Consortium for Atmospheric Research’s Center for Ocean Leadership, is a nationally recognized and highly acclaimed high school academic competition that addresses a national gap in high school access to environmental and Earth sciences. The NOSB fills this gap by providing a forum for talented students to test their knowledge of the biology, chemistry, physics, and geology of the ocean. At the same time, it introduces them to ocean-related careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The competition was created in 1998 in honor of the International Year of the Ocean and has grown to include 25 regional competitions with over 275 schools and 1,800 students participating annually. Since its inception, NOAA has supported the NOSB both financially and through staff participation in regional and national competitions.
 
THE NATIONAL NETWORK FOR OCEAN AND CLIMATE CHANGE (NNOCCI)
The National Network for Ocean and Climate Change (NNOCCI) is a network of individuals and organizations in informal education, the social sciences, and climate sciences. They have worked for more than a decade to advance the science and practice of effective public communication around climate change by developing, evaluating, and deploying communications tools that employ both cutting-edge science and communication research to increase both knowledge of climate change and a willingness to engage in climate action. NNOCCI’s community of practice offers resources, events, and activities to support members’ social, emotional, and intellectual growth, which sustains their long-term commitment to activate the public around climate action. By communicating climate change consistently across the country, they have been changing public discourse to be positive, civic-minded, and solutions-focused. Since 2009, NOAA’s Office of Education has provided financial and subject matter expertise toward the development of core components of NNOCCI, as well as toolkits and training modules that are still in use today. Currently, NOAA is funding NNOCCI to integrate environmental justice and equity into their training modules, expand and diversify the recruitment of new participants, and generally provide ongoing support to their volunteer network of trainers and communicators.
 
OCEAN DISCOVERY INSTITUTE
Ocean Discovery Institute uses ocean science to empower young people from underserved urban communities to transform their lives, their community, and our world as scientific and conservation leaders. NOAA shares its scientific expertise, educational resources, and other assets to support this San Diego-based organization in providing scientifically rigorous programs that also build leadership skills relevant to the community being served. Through this partnership, Ocean Discovery Institute and NOAA are demonstrating effective, long-term strategies for engaging and retaining underserved youth in the fields of conservation and STEM.