The NOAA Ocean Acidification Program (OAP) is pleased to announce the FY24 Education Mini-grant Program awards. The seven projects selected for this competitive grant opportunity will deliver ocean and coastal acidification education tools and programs in new communities. The awarded projects are led by Tribal members, nonprofit organizations, academic institutions, and public organizations. The work will occur across the nation in American Samoa, the U.S. West Coast, Alabama, and North Carolina, filling some gaps in ocean acidification education and outreach.
Ocean and coastal acidification are emerging issues that have far reaching impacts on ocean health and long-term sustainability of ecosystems and people. It is critical that educators have access to the latest science and tools on these topics and are able to effectively share the science of ocean and coastal acidification, potential impacts and positive actions to diverse audiences in accessible ways.
Each project will address at least one of three goals laid out in the NOAA Ocean Acidification Education Implementation Plan. The proposed work will engage students, particularly from underserved and/or Indigenous communities or Tribes. This funding aims to increase ocean acidification awareness and action, and foster interest in career pathways in NOAA mission disciplines.
Read more about the funded projects by clicking on the links below.
Alabama Oysters Taste Best with Tabasco, Not Ocean Acidification
Project Leads: Rebecca Domangue and Natalie Ortell, Alabama School of Mathematics and Science
This project creates a new research course for a region that lacks ocean acidification education and links potential food web and industry impacts in the region for youth. This project creates a research course for high school students focused on career development, ocean acidification science and stewardship. The Alabama School of Mathematics and Science (ASMS) in Mobile, Alabama currently serves high school students from 50 counties including from the Poarch Creek Indians tribe. With its unique ability to connect students from across the state to the economic and ecological diversity of the Gulf of Mexico, the team will develop a research course for high school students focused on career development, ocean acidification science and stewardship.
4-H pH: Ocean Acidification Education in Alaska
Project Lead: Natalie Monacci, University of Alaska, Fairbanks
Since Lingít Aaní and the Indigenous communities that reside here are particularly vulnerable to ocean acidification, the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) partnered with 4-H to develop an ocean acidification outreach and education curriculum tailored for youth in this region. The curriculum will focus on ages 5-12 and encompass youth-led monitoring activities.
SMILE: Ocean Acidification Education Program
Project Lead: Renee O’Neill, Oregon State University
This project seeks to address gaps in ocean and environmental education and improve outcomes for Oregon’s underserved and rural youth through the Oregon State University’s Science Math Investigative Learning Experiences (SMILE) Program. This program provides after-school STEM programs for elementary, middle and high school clubs and the team will develop hands-on and grade-level-appropriate educational content and teacher professional development.
Fatoata: Sami a Taeao (Tomorrow’s Ocean)
Project Lead: Vera Peck, Fatoata
American Samoa culture and economies have a close relationship with the local ocean and marine ecosystems, including coral reefs. This project aims to instill a sense of environmental stewardship among students and propose sustainable practices to mitigate the impacts of ocean acidification in American Samoa. Fatoata’s Sami a Taeao Ocean Acidification Education Program will provide students with hands-on activities that bring awareness of ocean acidification and its impact on marine life and empower them to become advocates for change.
Ocean Acidification Science in Schools (OASIS)
Project lead: Karen Peluso-Galaviz, Marine Science Institute
This project provides a hands-on ocean and coastal acidification curriculum to students from a Title I school in Redwood City, California. The program will reach 250 underrepresented 6th grade students from a primarily Hispanic/Latinx community. The team will curate a combination of six classroom activities, three outdoor experiences, and three evaluation activities led by the Marine Science Institute.
Broadening Ocean Acidification Teaching and Learning (BOATL)
Project Leads: Julie Van Sickle, Natural History Museum of Cal Poly Humboldt and Jeffrey White, Cal Poly Humboldt
Providing place-based and culturally-relevant education can contextualize complex challenges like ocean acidification, support marginalized cultures and increase ocean literacy. Broadening Ocean Acidification Teaching and Learning (BOATL) offers teacher professional development and ocean acidification science education to Title 1 schools and local Tribes in the Humboldt, California region. Importantly, it incorporates local indigenous voices and ways of knowing to increase relevance and provide a holistic perspective on ocean acidification and its impacts in the region.
Discovering Ocean Acidification and Ocean Literacy Principles for Underserved Areas in Rural North Carolina
Project Leads: Erika Young, North Carolina State University and Courtney Lamb, Littlefield Middle School
Several counties in North Carolina face economic challenges and potentially impacts of coastal and ocean acidification on local economies and ways of life. As members of the Lumbee Tribe, project leaders aim to improve environmental and ocean acidification literacy for the tribe and surrounding communities. This project includes three main education modules in Title I schools in four economically challenged counties in southeast North Carolina (Robeson, Hoke, Cumberland, and Scotland counties).
Image: Students hike along a coastal trail as part of an ocean acidification literacy program funded in a past NOAA OAP Education Mini-grant program. Provided by Flour Bluff Oceans Program (2023)