News you can use from NOAA Planet Stewards
January 28, 2025
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Stewardship Inspiration:
Branches to Roots is an exciting hands-on stewardship initiative being sponsored by NOAA Planet Stewards in El Paso Texas. Through this effort, students are using an ancient air layering technique to propagate native tree specimens. The trees will help restore urban green spaces and reduce local urban heat island effects, creating a more sustainable and resilient urban landscape. This initiative offers students a deep dive into environmental science, human health, and sustainability, while fostering connections with community partners in gardening, forestry, health, and non-profit management.
Get inspired to take action! Read about other Planet Stewards habitat conservation and restoration projects
Learn how you can apply for up to $5000 to carry out a stewardship project in your own school or community.
Do you have an item you'd like to share
in future issues of The Watch?
Read more about the Postcard from the Field on how a drift card used to track an oil spill in 1976 was found - 48 years later!
Did you “NOAA” that the Office of Response & Restoration was founded as a result of the Argo Merchant oil spill? Dive deeper into the history of the Office of Response and Restoration.
January 28, 2025 I 3-4 p.m. ET
Examining Oyster Reef Fauna Using Emerging, Non-invasive and Traditional Sampling Techniques
Friday, January 31, 2025 | 12:30 p.m. ET and Thursday, February 13, 2025 | 11 a.m. ET
Delaware B-WET competition opens!
NOAA has announced a Funding Opportunity that will support high quality projects in the Delaware Bay watershed through a new Delaware Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) program. Approximately $550,000, depending on Congressional allocations, may be available to fund three to five projects. Projects can be based in Delaware Bay watershed counties in Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, or New York. This is a one-year exploratory B-WET grant opportunity to introduce the program to the watershed and inform future work.
Funded projects will support outdoor and environmental literacy programs that help students learn about issues affecting the Delaware Bay watershed.
Applications are due by April 18, 2025.
For more information:
B-WET's homepage
The Delaware Bay B-WET funding opportunity in Grants.gov
Data Lens - Exploring Earth's Visual Stories From NOAA's Science On a Sphere
Wednesday, January 29, 2025 | 6 p.m. ET
 Do you teach grades 5–12+ and need quick, engaging, and consistent ways to help your students understand data? Register to attend the Data Lens virtual workshop which will equip you with ready-to-use 10- to 20-minute activities regularly delivered to your inbox that spotlight current and relevant data. Developed by NOAA, these lessons help students interpret and reason with scientific data in an engaging way.
Why you should attend:
Learn how to teach scientific data visualizations without having to know the right answers.
Participate in a full (10- to 20-minute) Data Lens activity as a student.
Discover strategies for implementing these activities in your classroom.
Receive resources and lesson plans directly in your inbox.
Gain insights about the research and data literacy approach behind Data Lens.
Seaside Chats
Wednesdays, February 5, 12, and 19, 2025 | 7:30 p.m. ET
What are benthic landers? What kinds of items can you find on Texas beaches? What can corals tell us about climate history? What are we doing to help coral reefs in crisis?
Find the answers to these questions and more during the NOAA Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuaries (FGNMS) Seaside Chats, their annual speaker series about science and conservation happenings in and around the FGNMS and the Gulf of Mexico.
Anyone is welcome to attend, but presentation content is most suited to those in middle school and above. These programs make excellent extra credit assignments for students.
Attendance certificates can be provided for all participants as well as continuing professional education (CPE) hours for teachers.
All webinars are recorded, then captioned and posted to the FGBNMS Seaside Chat webpage.
Webinar registration is on the FNBNMS Seaside Chats Webpage.
Questions? Contact Kelly.Drinnen@noaa.gov
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2025 Lake Michigan R/V Lake Guardian Shipboard Science
Application Deadline: February 10, 2025
Workshop Dates: July 7-13, 2025
Formal and nonformal 5-12th grade educators from all Great Lakes states are invited to apply for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to spend a week aboard a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency research vessel alongside scientists and to bring the Great Lakes back to their classrooms! Organized by the Center for Great Lakes Literacy (CGLL), the Lake Michigan workshop is hosted by CGLL partners Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant and Wisconsin Sea Grant.
The annual Shipboard Science Workshops promote Great Lakes sciences while forging lasting relationships between Great Lakes researchers and educators. CGLL is a collaborative effort led by Sea Grant educators throughout the Great Lakes watershed in the U.S.
CGLL fosters informed and responsible decisions that advance basin-wide stewardship by providing hands-on experiences, educational resources, and networking opportunities promoting Great Lakes literacy among an engaged community of educators, scientists, and youth.
For more information on the 2025 Shipboard Science Workshop and application materials visit the Center for Great Lakes Literacy website.
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Drought, Destroyer of Civilizations in Science in the Virtual Pub
Thursday, February 27, 2025 | 7 p.m. ET
 We often focus on floods, nor’easters, hurricanes, or tornadoes, but drought rarely tops our list of hazards. It’s time to rethink that. While these events cause infrastructure damage, economic loss, and even death, drought has a unique, civilization-destroying history. Ask the Mayans of Mesoamerica or ancient Egyptians. History shows drought as a silent but devastating force.
Fast forward to the Dust Bowl of the 1940s, the decades-long drought in the western U.S. in the 2000s, or the recent drought along the East Coast I-95 corridor. Water shortages still threaten cities like New York or Boston and food production in the plains and California valleys. Let’s discuss assessing drought in a changing climate.
Visit the Science in the Virtual Pub webpage for registration & more information
The Center for Excellence in Education’s Teacher Enrichment Program provides opportunities for middle and high school teachers to connect with experts from industry and academia to explore cutting-edge research and make meaningful professional links with direct benefits for their students. The program offers virtual (and occasional in-person) events for teachers to learn about ongoing research in STEM fields and discover resources and opportunities to encourage students to pursue STEM careers.
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Climate careers virtual expo for high schoolers
Thursday, January 30, 2025 | 6-7 p.m. ET
Join the Climate Careers Virtual Expo hosted by the Youth Climate Institute. Join fellow students and alumni for this virtual, interactive event featuring speakers from a wide variety of careers within the climate workforce. We will facilitate engaging Q & A sessions between participants and speakers in interactive breakout rooms. Need even more incentive? We will be raffling off exciting prizes for those who attend! Learn how our speakers got where they are and how they tackle the climate crisis in places such as: The MD Department of Natural Resources, Rutgers Cooperative Extension, The Crow’s Nest Art Incubator, Minorities in Aquaculture, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and more!
Not sure what careers best suit you? Take the Climate Warriors Quiz to find out which careers might be a good fit.
Annual Atlantic Sharks, Tunas, Billfish, and Swordfish Art Contest
Submission Deadline: January 31, 2025
 NOAA Fisheries holds an annual art contest open to kindergarten through eighth grade students. Through art, NOAA hopes to raise awareness about highly migratory species (sharks, tunas, billfish, and swordfish) or “HMS” in the Atlantic. Winning artwork is included in a calendar highlighting the importance of these species to healthy ecosystems. The 2025 HMS art contest will highlight North Atlantic swordfish, Atlantic blue marlin, Atlantic white marlin, longbill spearfish, roundscale spearfish, and sailfish. Details on entry requirements, submissions, winning artwork, and more can be found on the HMS Art Contest website.
Registration Deadline: January 31, 2025
Submission deadline: April 30, 2025
Looking for a new way to blend biology, ecology, and engineering? The Biomimicry Institute’s Youth Design Challenge is a project-based learning experience that asks middle and high school teams to design bio-inspired ideas that can provide solutions to critical real-world problems.
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EarthEcho Youth Leadership Summit - Registration Open!
Registration Deadline:
February 5, 2025
Workshop Dates: February 8-9, 2025
EarthEcho’s annual Youth Leadership Summit is back! Join young ocean advocates in key cities around the world on February 8 and 9 to learn about the High Seas Treaty, understand the critical protections it would provide our ocean, and gain practical strategies for advancing the Treaty’s ratification in the coming year. Whether you attend in person or tune in virtually, this Summit is a chance to connect with youth in your local community, as well as plug-into the global network of ocean and climate advocates.
Find a Summit location near you and register for this special youth summit event!
Limited spaces are available at each SUmmit location, and will be filled on a first come, first served basis. Register TODAY to reserve your space!
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2024 Maurice R. Hilleman Essay Contest: What scientific issue would you take on if given the chance and why?
Submission Deadline: February 15, 2025
Who?
Students in grades 6 to 12* living in the United States (including District of Columbia and U.S. Territories) or Canada, and enrolled in a public, private, cyber, religious or charter school or who attend a home school program can participate. *Grades 6 to 11 in Quebec
What?
Learn about Dr. Hilleman, and write a 500- to 1,000-word essay that responds to this prompt: “Dr. Hilleman made his impact on the world through the development of vaccines. What scientific issue would you take on if given the chance and why?”
Winners will receive:
Cash prize: 1st place US $500; 2nd place US $250
Winner certificate and receive recognition at a virtual award event in May 2025
You can find more information about the contest, how to enter, and examples of winning essays from past years on the Hilleman film contest webpage.
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From NASA: Student Suborbital Flight Opportunity – Cubes in Space!
Registration Deadline: February 17, 2025
NASA and iEDU Inc. invite educators to register for the free Cubes in Space program. Participants receive a course of activities that guide students to design experiments or technologies that connect to a real-world Earth or space-based problem or need. Selected experiments will be launched via a rocket from Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia as part of RockSat-C in late June 2025, or from a high-altitude scientific balloon in New Mexico in late August 2025.
Questions? Contact: info@cubesinspace.com
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Algalita Student Mini-Grant Opportunity
Application Deadline: April 15, 2025
 The Wayfinder Society Student Mini-Grants are available to students (ages 11-25) looking for financial support for their personal education, school and community projects, internships, networking events, etc., connected to addressing the plastic crisis. Mini-grants range from $300 – $2000, and must be applied to education, projects, or other efforts related to addressing the plastic problem and related environmental issues.
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One Tree Planted, a nonprofit organization dedicated to worldwide reforestation efforts, has developed an environmental education resource library for K–college educators. The library houses standalone lessons, learning modules, videos, and other resources to inspire students, teachers, and parents to learn about the environment and take action to protect it.
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Wild Hope
Wild Hope is an eight-episode video series for high school and undergraduate learners that highlights examples of how communities across the United States and worldwide are coming together in unexpected ways to protect nature and the environment. Produced by Howard Hughes Medical Institute BioInteractive, the approximately 30-minute videos showcase innovative environmental solutions and partnerships that are benefitting humans and other species. Every episode is accompanied by an Educator Guide with background information, key concepts, and discussion questions, as well as a program transcript. |
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Environmental Health Investigators
The Environmental Health Investigators curriculum was designed with input from middle school teachers and students by the STEM Center at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, and funded by the National Institutes of Health. This NGSS-aligned freely downloadable curriculum emphasizes students taking an active role in community-based research to address environmental health, and includes interdisciplinary elements and creativity through the use of the Photovoice method, a visual research method in which participants take photos as part of the research. The 27 activities, organized into three modules, are designed to help generate interest in health sciences and build written and verbal communication skills through authentic investigations in a real-world context.
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National Science Teachers Association Lesson Plan: How can we work with our families or other community members to address socio-environmental issues within our community?
In this Family & Community Environmental Action Project "Daily Do", students working in teams with family and/or community members, use cultural and community knowledge to identify and explain environmental issues directly affecting their communities. Students establish a team using design principles and communication best practices based on community engagement principles, and use community asset mapping approaches to identify a project focus.
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Type of Opportunity
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Title
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Description
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Due Date
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Audience
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| Fellowship |
New England Aquarium Marine Conservation Action Fund Fellowship |
MCAF is a small grants and fellowship program that provides multi-faceted support to local leaders who are spearheading community- based ocean conservation in low- and middle-income countries around the globe. Through this partnership, conservation leaders create solutions that benefit ocean health and support their local communities. |
February 1, 2025 |
Eligible applicants are nationals of low and middle-income countries. For a full list of eligibility criteria, please read Fellowship Program Overview and Application Guidelines. |
| Internship |
IMET Summer Undergraduate Internship Program |
The program will run from June 10 to August 9, 2024. This full time internship includes a stipend of $5,400 for the nine-week period, with an option for housing for students who need it. |
February 3, 2025 |
Undergraduate students studying biology, marine science, environmental science and other related degrees. (Preference will be given to rising juniors and seniors.) |
| Internship |
NCBO Internship Program |
In summer 2025, the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office will offer five internships covering a range of Chesapeake Bay science, policy, and education efforts. Each paid internship will run 12 weeks (mid-May through mid-August). |
February 7, 2025 |
Students who will be entering their sophomore, junior, or senior year of college study. |
| Internship |
C-StREAM Program |
In summer 2025, the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office will offer five internships covering a range of Chesapeake Bay science, policy, and education efforts. Each paid internship will run 12 weeks (mid-May through mid-August). |
February 21, 2025 |
Students who will be entering their sophomore, junior, or senior year of college study. |
| Grant |
Toshiba America Foundation Grant |
Teachers can apply online for less than $5,000 to help bring an innovative project into their own classroom. If you have an innovative idea for improving STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) learning in your classroom, and if your idea involves project-based learning with measurable outcomes. |
March 1, 2025 |
Teachers of Grades 6-12 |
| Grant |
Delaware B-WET Competition |
A NOAA Funding Opportunity supports high quality projects in the Delaware Bay watershed through a new Delaware Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) program. Approximately $550,000, depending on Congressional allocations, may be available to fund three to five projects. Projects can be based in Delaware Bay watershed counties in Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, or New York. This is a one-year exploratory B-WET grant opportunity introduces the program to the watershed and will inform future work. |
April 18, 2025 |
Funded projects will support outdoor and environmental literacy programs that help students learn about issues affecting the Delaware Bay watershed. |
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Education/Equity Bytes
Climate
Ocean, Coastal Weather, Sea Ice, Ocean Life, Water
Weather Extremes and Other Science News of Note
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