National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary office) is seeking proposals under the Great Lakes Bay Watershed Education and Training (Great Lakes B-WET) program.
Donor Name: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
State: Selected States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 02/29/2024
Size of the Grant: $100,000 to $500,000
Grant Duration: 2 Years
Details:
Every year, the NOAA B-WET program supports environmental education programs for thousands of students and teachers. These programs engage youth in meaningful watershed educational experiences (MWEEs) that provide memorable hands-on, experiential learning that are not typically available within traditional classrooms. It also plays a significant role in providing professional development to classroom teachers nationwide that increases their content knowledge, skills, and pedagogical expertise. Lastly, it supports the expansion of environmental literacy in a systemic manner throughout the region, including providing support for state-level capacity building.
The K-12 education system is a well-positioned venue for instilling comprehensive knowledge, skills, competencies, and resilience around the most pressing economic, social and environmental issue of today: climate change. The MWEE educational framework can directly foster climate knowledge, skills, and competencies to address climate change, climate impacts, and the opportunities to contribute to climate solutions in their own communities. Therefore, the B-WET program strongly encourages the purposeful incorporation of education about climate change into programming.
Program Priorities
Great Lakes Basin Priorities
- All projects must demonstrate a connection to the Great Lakes basin through the watershed system so that program participants understand how their actions can affect the Great Lakes ecosystem through their local watershed. Great Lakes B-WET awards are funded through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI), and applicants must demonstrate how the project will “educate the next generation about the Great Lakes ecosystem.”
B-WET Priority Areas
Proposals must also address one of the following B-WET priority areas:
- new projects that use the MWEE framework,
- systemic MWEE implementation,
- capacity building for expanded statewide K-12 environmental literacy initiatives.
Funding Information
- It is anticipated that approximately $900,000 will be available in FY 2024 in award amounts to be determined by the proposals and available funds. NOAA anticipates making approximately five to 12 new awards.
- For applications to B-WET Priority 1, the total Federal amount that may be requested from NOAA should not exceed $80,000.
- For priority area 2, the total Federal amount that may be requested from NOAA should not exceed $150,000.
- For priority area 3, the total Federal amount that may be requested from NOAA should not exceed $200,000. In all cases, the minimum Federal amount to request from NOAA is $30,000.
Project/Award Period
Awards will be made in a single allotment with an award period of up to 2 years.
Eligibility Criteria
- Eligible applicants are: K-12 public and independent schools and school systems; institutions of higher education; nonprofit organizations; regional, state, or local government agencies; interstate agencies; and Indian tribal governments. For-profit organizations, foreign organizations, and foreign public entities are not eligible to apply; however, for-profit and foreign organizations and foreign public entities may participate as a project partner with an eligible applicant.
- Applicants may be physically located in any U.S. state; however, education projects must target teachers and/or students located in the Great Lakes region. For the purposes of this solicitation, the Great Lakes region is defined as counties in the Great Lakes watershed in the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
