OpportunityTitle: Environmental Literacy Grants for Building Capacity of Informal and Formal Educators
AdditionalInformationOnEligibility: Eligible applicants for Priority 1 are collaborative teams of two or more institutions in the United States. The following types of institutions may serve as applicants on a collaborative team for Priority 1: institutions of higher education; other nonprofits, including informal science-education institutions such as museums, zoos, and aquariums; K-12 public and independent schools and school systems; and state, local and Indian tribal governments in the United States. For-profit organizations, foreign institutions, and individuals are not eligible to apply. Each individual applicant must submit an application to NOAA as part of the collaborative team. Applications to Priority 1 that do not meet these eligibility criteria will not be merit reviewed.  Eligible applicants for Priority 2 are collaborative teams that are exclusively composed of two or more 501(c)(3) non-profit aquariums in the United States. At least one applicant in each collaborative team must be accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). Each individual applicant must submit an application to NOAA as part of the collaborative team. Applications to Priority 2 that do not meet these eligibility criteria will not be merit reviewed.  For both Priority 1 and Priority 2, there are no eligibility restrictions on institutions that are serving as project partners but are not submitting an application. These partners can receive a portion of the funding through sub-awards or, for NOAA partners, through direct support from the Office of Education (see Section II.A. and Section IV.B.1(f)). Note: Although NOAA programs and offices can receive a small amount of support from the Office of Education to facilitate their involvement with the project, the principal benefit of the project cannot be to support NOAA.  An individual may apply only once as a Principal Investigator (PI) through this funding opportunity, and the same application may not be submitted to more than one priority.  However, institutions may submit more than one distinct application and individuals may serve as co-PIs or key personnel on more than one application. Federal employees may not serve as PIs or co-PIs on any application, although they may be included as key personnel.
Description: The goal of this NOAA Environmental Literacy Grants (ELG) Federal Funding Opportunity (FFO) is to build the capacity of informal educators (including interpreters and docents) and/or formal educators (pre- or in-service) to use NOAA data and data access tools to help K-12 students and/or the public understand and respond to global change. Successful projects will enhance educators&apos; ability to use the wealth of scientific data, data visualizations, data access technologies, information products, and other assets available through NOAA (plus additional sources, if desired) to engage K-12 students and/or other members of the public in a minimum of two U.S. states or territories. Partnerships with NOAA entities and/or involvement of NOAA scientists to facilitate the use of such assets by educators are strongly encouraged. As an ultimate outcome, successful projects should aim to increase educators&apos; effectiveness in promoting stewardship and increasing informed decision making by a diverse pool of K-12 students and/or other members of the public. The impact of the proposed project on the target educators must be measurable during the award period. Projects are also encouraged to track outcomes among the public and/or K-12 audiences served by these educators. Project topics must relate to NOAA&apos;s mission in the areas of ocean, coastal, Great Lakes, weather, and climate sciences and stewardship and should focus on one or more of the goals of NOAA&apos;s Next Generation Strategic Plan (http://www.ppi.noaa.gov/goals/) healthy oceans; weather-ready nation; climate adaptation and mitigation; and resilient coastal communities and economies. Projects must specifically emphasize the theme of global environmental change, including (but not limited to) such topics as drought, severe weather, ocean acidification, sea level rise, and climate change. Where applicable, project design should be informed by projects previously funded by NOAA&apos;s Environmental Literacy Grants Program (See &quot;Awards&quot; tab under www.oesd.noaa.gov/grants/elg.html). Projects that specifically build capacity of educators to engage teens are of interest. Similarly, NOAA has an interest in projects that reach groups traditionally underserved and/or underrepresented in Earth System science. This funding opportunity identifies two priority categories of eligible applicants, both of equal importance. Both priorities have the same goal: to build the capacity of informal and/or formal educators to use NOAA data and data access tools to help K-12 students and/or the public understand and respond to global change. Eligible applicants for Priority 1 are collaborative teams of two or more U.S. institutions. Eligible applicants for Priority 2 are collaborative teams of two or more non-profit U.S. aquariums, of which at least one must be accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). Collaborative applicant teams in both Priority 1 and Priority 2 are strongly encouraged to include at least one applicant that has not previously received a grant from NOAA&apos;s Environmental Literacy Grants program. Proposed projects in each priority must be between two and five years in duration and have combined federal requests of $500,000 - $1,000,000 for all years of the project. It is anticipated that awards under this announcement will be made by September 30, 2013 and that the projects funded under this announcement will have a start date no earlier than October 1, 2013. Note: Links to this announcement and other helpful information for applying are available at www.oesd.noaa.gov/grants/elg.html under the &quot;Funding&quot; tab.
GrantorContactEmailDescription: Work email
GrantorContactText: Carrie McDougall, John McLaughlin, Stacey Rudolph, Sarah Schoedinger, or Sarah Yue at 202-482-0793 or oed.grants@noaa.gov