NOAA's Bay Watershed Education and Training
(B-WET) Program 2009 Conference

Materials

Presentations and other reference materials from the conference are posted here.


Panel: Trends and Policy
The purpose of this panel was to focus on major trends and current policy in environmental education. It featured three leaders in the EE field who gave overviews of their organizations, reviewed legislation related to EE, highlighted research and trends supporting EE, discussed concepts and details of EE literacy plans, and answered questions.

Panelists:
Diane Wood, President, National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF), discusses recent research and trends that support the need for comprehensive environmental education. She also discussed the National Environmental Education Act and how it complements the pending No Child Left Inside Act.
Presentation (597 KB pdf)

Charlie Stek, Policy Director at the No Child Left Inside Coalition, provided a comprehensive overview of the No Child Left Inside Act, including its sponsors on the Hill and the huge coalition of groups signed on to the initiative. He discussed how this legislation potentially impacts funding of EE throughout the country and what it means for the Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience.
Presentation (1239 KB pdf)

Brian Day, executive director of the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE), focused on state Environmental Literacy plans; the concepts behind them, what they require, and what states already have them in place. He highlighted the connection between the development of these plans and the NCLI Act which requires states to form a plan.


Evaluation Presentations:
Evaluation for environmental education programs.

Presenters:
Sonya Padrón – Multicultural Education for Resource Issues Threatening Oceans (MERITO)
Presentation (311 KB pdf)

Lisa Eschenbach – Pacific Education Institute (PEI)
Presentation coming soon

Tammy Shupard – Alice Ferguson Foundation
Presentation (1839 KB pdf)

Gayle Bodge and Sarah Kirn – Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI)
Presentation (951 KB pdf)


Panel: Implementing Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience Infrastructure in Schools, Agencies and Education Departments
Representing three different levels in the formal and informal education realm, the three panel members provided different perspectives and approaches to successfully implementing meaningful watershed educational experiences (MWEEs). The panel members outlined their process for implementing MWEEs in both the formal education setting at the school, district and Department of Education level and the informal setting working with environmental education agencies to create an infrastructure supportive of MWEEs. The panel members also discussed the strategies and techniques involved, the successes and failures, and how to champion adoption of environmental education into formal classroom settings.

Panelists:
Jim Firebaugh – Director (Retired), Office of Middle and High School Instructional Services, Virginia Department of Education
Margaret Tudor – Executive Director, Pacific Education Institute (PEI)
Elisabeth Childers – Teacher, New Haven Unified School District, California

Resources:
Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience (MWEE) Definition Document (49k doc)

A Comparative Model of Field Investigations: Aligning School Science Inquiry with the Practices of Contemporary Science (School Science and Mathematics 2007) (920k pdf)

Value of Field Investigation Models To Natural Resource Conservation Education AFWA White Paper (103k pdf)

Chesapeake Bay Program Education Initiative (16k pdf)

Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Conservation Education


Regional Presentations:
A selection of grantees presenting unique programs and lessons learned.

Presenters:
California – Jim Neiss and Ruben Negrete, San Francisco State University
Presentation (3251 KB pdf)

Chesapeake – Tamra Willis, Mary Baldwin College
Presentation (3925 KB pdf)

New England – Joan Muller, New England National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR)
Presentation (724 KB pdf)

Pacific Northwest – Stephen Streufert, Salish Sea Expeditions
Presentation (1491 KB pdf)

Gulf of Mexico – Jessica Kastler, University of Southern Mississippi, Gulf Coast Research Laboratory
Presentation (2509 KB pdf)


Science Sessions:
Sessions addressing current science issues relating to watersheds and coasts.

Topics and Speakers:
Habitat Restoration – Jenni Wallace, Fishery Biologist, NOAA Restoration Center
Presentation (2350 KB pdf)

Harmful Algal Blooms – Dr. Quay Dortch, Program Coordinator, Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms Program, NOAA Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research
Presentation (2425 KB pdf)
Useful HAB Web Sites (13 KB pdf)

MPA Science – Dr. Robert Brock, NOAA Fisheries Service Office of Science and Technology
Presentation (4863 KB pdf)

Non-point Source Pollution – Dr. David Whitall, Coastal Ecologist, Coastal and Oceanographic Assessment, Status and Trends (COAST), NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science
Presentation (1780 KB pdf)

Climate Change – Frank Niepold, Climate Education Coordinator, NOAA Climate Program Office
Presentation (2374 KB pdf)
Climate Literacy Framework (2.9MB pdf)

Marine Debris – Megan Forbes, National Communications Coordinator, NOAA Marine Debris Program
Presentation (3475 KB pdf)

Ocean Acidification – Dr. LiQing Jiang, Sea Grant Fellow, NOAA Climate Program Office
Presentation (4227 KB pdf)

Coastal Hazards – Audra Luscher, National NOAA Coastal Storm Program Coordinator, NOAA Coastal Services Center
Presentation (3685 KB pdf)


Other NOAA Resources:
NOAA Organization Chart (792k pdf)

NOAA Education Strategic Plan (3.3MB pdf)

Ocean Literacy Framework (3.9MB pdf)

NOAA Student Opportunities
The Student Opportunities website is designed to provide information about educational opportunities that are available throughout NOAA. Information on scholarships, internships and fellowships including a brief description of each program, application deadline, dates and contacts are found on this site.

NOAA National Ocean Service Education Program
The National Ocean Service (NOS) education team engages formal and informal education audiences to build environmental literacy through products and programs that incorporate the applied science of NOS. The team supports teacher infusion of NOS content into local curricula through professional development opportunities at conferences and through Web-based avenues. Features free access to NSTA SciGuides.

Estuaries.gov
Estuaries.Gov helps educators bring the beauty and the importance of estuaries into classrooms and educational programs. This site provides, primarily, an avenue for elementary, middle and high school students, and their teachers, to learn more about estuaries, research, and explore NOAA’s “living laboratories” - the National Estuarine Research Reserves.

NOAA Partnership with NSTA
NOAA and the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) have partnered to provide science educators with the highest quality professional development experiences in earth system science. This partnership enhances classroom-based science, technology, and engineering education through the application of NOAA science and data. NSTA has developed successful methodologies through symposia, Web seminars, SciGuides, and SciPacks that combine both face-to-face and online opportunities for learning. The NOAA-NSTA collaboration provides creative solutions to disseminate cutting edge science content to professional educators to ultimately prepare students to better understand their place in the global ecosystem.

Games@NOAA: Planet Arcade
This arcade is a portal to games and interactive activities focused on ocean and air themes. It highlights the science and the activities of the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and other agencies and organizations promoting environmental stewardship. Features WaterLife: Where Rivers Meet the Sea.

JetStream, the National Weather Service Online Weather School
This site is designed to help educators, emergency managers, or anyone interested in learning about weather and weather safety. The information contained in JetStream is arranged by subject; beginning with global and large scale weather patterns followed by lessons on air masses, wind patterns, cloud formations, thunderstorms, lightning, hail, damaging winds, tornados, tropical storms, cyclones and flooding. Interspersed in JetStream are "Learning Lessons" which can be used to enhance the educational experience.

NOAA Outreach Center
For copies of the B-WET resource CDs prepared for conference attendees and other NOAA resources, please contact the NOAA Office of Education Outreach Center: 1305 East West Highway, SSMC4, Room 1W514 Silver Spring, MD 20910, Phone: (301) 713-1208, email: outreach@noaa.gov