STEM Education Programs at NOAA Carrie McDougall, Ph.D. NOAA Office of Education

1. STEM Education Programs at NOAACarrie McDougall, Ph.D.NOAA Office of Education Triangle Coalition Annual Conference on STEM Education Policy October 21, 2010

2. NOAA-Science & Service Agency • Major Organizational Units • National Weather Service • National Marine Fisheries Service • National Ocean Service • National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service • Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research • National Climate Service (proposed)

3. NOAA Vision An informed society that uses a comprehensive understanding of the role of the oceans, coasts, and atmosphere in the global ecosystem to make the best social and economic decisions

4. Mandate to Educate America COMPETES Act of 2007 • The Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall conduct, develop, support, promote, and coordinate formal and informal educational activities at all levels to enhance public awareness and understanding of ocean, coastal, Great Lakes, and atmospheric science and stewardship by the general public and other coastal stakeholders, including underrepresented groups in ocean and atmospheric science and policy careers. 2008 Annual Sea Ice Minimum

5. Education Strategic Plan NOAA’s education mission To advance environmental literacy and promote a diverse workforce in ocean, coastal, Great Lakes, weather, and climate sciences, encouraging stewardship and increasing informed decision making for the Nation. Goal 1: An environmentally literate public supported by a continuum of lifelong formal and informal education and outreach opportunities in ocean, coastal, Great Lakes, weather, and climate sciences. Goal 2: A future workforce, reflecting the diversity of the Nation, skilled in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and other disciplines critical to NOAA’s mission.

6. Science Literacy Essential Principles • Ocean Literacy Principles and Concepts: • Community driven effort to clarify fundamentals of ocean literacy • Used as guiding document by many institutions (e.g., Smithsonian Ocean Hall, Aquariums, Sanctuaries, Coastal America, Centers for Ocean Science Excellence in Education, K-12 school districts) • Model for other literacy efforts (e.g., Climate) • K-12 scope & sequence & NSES alignment companion documents • Climate Literacy Principles and Concepts: • Community driven effort to clarify fundamentals of climate literacy • Used as guiding document by many partner organizations (e.g., the GLOBE Program, TERC, Association of Science Technology Centers, National Science Teachers Association) • Support Other Literacy Efforts: • Great Lakes, Earth Science, Atmospheric Science, Energy Literacy and others

7. NOAA’s Education Resources • Grant & Scholarship Opportunities • Lesson Plans & Curricula • Teacher Professional Development • Multimedia, Games, & Interactives • Experiential Learning • Innovative Education Technology • Place-based and Research-focused Resources • Real-time Data & Information

8. NOAA’s Competitive Grants & Scholarships • K-12 & Informal Science Education • Bay-Watershed Education & Training (B-WET) Grants • Environmental Literacy Grants • Undergraduate & Graduate Science Education • Educational Partnership Program with Minority Serving Institutions • Ernest F. Hollings Undergraduate Scholarships (~120 new students supported each year) • Dr. Nancy Foster Graduate Scholarships

9. Bay-Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) Grants 9 http://www.oesd.noaa.gov/BWET/ • A regional competitive grants program supporting projects that integrate classroom instructional requirements with meaningful outdoor experiential learning • Managed in partnership with Sanctuaries, Chesapeake Bay Office and Coastal Services Center • Existing programs in Chesapeake Bay, California, Gulf of Mexico, Hawaii, New England, and the Pacific NW

10. Environmental Literacy Grants • A national competitive grants program for K-12 and informal education • 71 funded projects = $26.9M • Annually 8-10 awards, $3.2-$7.5M total • $100,000-$1.5M awards • Types of projects funded: • Citizen Science • Science On a Sphere & Others • Data Visualization & Interpretation • Museum Exhibits • Civic Engagement • Public Opinion Research • Teacher PD (in-service & pre-service) • Curriculum Development http://www.oesd.noaa.gov/grantprog.html

11. Educational Partnership Program • Goal: • Increase the number of students from underrepresented communities who are educated, trained, and graduated in fields that directly support NOAA’s mission. • Cooperative Science Centers funded through competitive grants at minority serving institutions (MSIs) • Builds research capacity in the NOAA sciences at MSIs • Increases the graduation rates of students from underrepresented minority communities in NOAA sciences • Graduate Sciences Program • Undergraduate Scholarship Program

12. Lesson Plans & Interactives education.noaa.gov

13. Place-based & Experiential Education 27 National Estuarine Research Reserves 32 Sea Grant Colleges 13 National Marine Sanctuaries

14. Ocean Exploration & Research Research-focused Experiences Teacher at Sea

15. Real-time Data & Multimedia Resources Dataintheclassroom.org Climate.gov

16. Interagency Coordination • NSTC Subcommittee on Education & Workforce Development • Ocean Education Working Group (National Ocean Council) • US Global Change Research Program-Interagency Working Group on Education (& focused collaboration on grants) • Interagency coordination of teacher research experiences • GLOBE Program

17. Thank you. http://www.oesd.noaa.gov/ Carrie McDougall, Ph.D. Senior Program Manager NOAA Office of Education 202-482-0875 carrie.mcdougall@noaa.gov