Increasing impact through collaborations.

The Partnerships for Collaborative Learning program supports long-term partnerships that help enable our nation’s education community to incorporate and deliver NOAA's scientific information about the ocean, coasts, weather, and climate. These are mutually beneficial relationships. We provide support to organizations and networks that have proven track records in engaging the public and align with our education goals. In turn, these partners integrate NOAA expertise and products into their programming to help us reach audiences in new ways.

Partnerships

American Meteorology 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

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 gauges 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.

eeBLUE

eeBLUE is a five-year partnership between the NOAA Office of Education and NAAEE to help create a more environmentally literate society that has the knowledge, skills, and motivation to conserve our natural resources and build more resilient communities across the country. Partnership activities strengthen professional networks, support high-quality STEM education, and provide education and outreach for educators and other audiences. NOAA is also a dissemination partner for ee360+, a multi-year initiative that supports environmental education leaders to increase environmental literacy for everyone, everywhere.

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 onboard 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 community of citizen scientists from around the world that includes students, educators, scientists, and volunteer observers of all ages. They aim to understand and advance Earth system science through data collection and analysis. NOAA supports GLOBE in close partnership with the sponsoring agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and our fellow supporting agencies, the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of State. GLOBE utilizes NOAA data and expertise in ocean and atmospheric science while supporting expanded public study of these systems.

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Gulf Research Program

The Gulf Research Program (GRP) partners with NOAA's Office of Education to enhance resilience and provide educational offerings to community members across the U.S. Gulf States (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida) through place-based education. With NOAA's support, GRP offered a funding opportunity for projects that educate community members on local environmental challenges, engage learners in solutions-oriented activities, and empower participants to engage in them. The application deadline for this funding opportunity has passed, and award decisions are being made.

National Ocean Science 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. In 2026, it included 15 regional competitions with 123 schools and 874 students participating. Since its inception, NOAA has supported the NOSB both financially and through staff participation in regional and national competitions.