NOAA @ Nauticus is an exciting partnership between NOAA and Nauticus , The National Maritime Center, to promote scientific and environmental literacy and to inform the public about NOAA’s programs and activities. Nauticus is a maritime-themed science and education center that attracts more than 350,000 visitors a year with special programs and exhibits focused on exploring the power of the sea.

NCBO led the establishment of the first NOAA Education Resource Center at Nauticus that opened in June 2005. This one-of-a-kind Center provides educators with curricula, fact sheets, CD-ROMs, and other tools that facilitate their instruction of science disciplines (including weather, oceanography, and Chesapeake Bay ecology). NCBO staff at Nauticus regularly update the resources and respond to educators’ requests. The center also stocks current NOAA program and office information for the general public. The Center is open seven days a week whenever Nauticus is open. Please stop by any time!

NOAA unveiled its Science on a Sphere in June 2005 as a permanent exhibit at Nauticus. Science on a Sphere is an innovative system that uses high-speed computers, projectors, and advanced imaging techniques to create the illusion of a six-foot, rotating Earth suspended in mid-air. The potential educational uses of Science on a Sphere are limitless.

In 2006,“Treasures of NOAA’s Ark” was a featured exhibit in the changing gallery at Nauticus. "Treasures" celebrated NOAA's 200 year history with artifacts and interactive displays.

The NOAA @ Nauticus team developed a master plan for NOAA exhibits at Nauticus in 2005. Pursuant to this plan, in 2006 NOAA unveiled The Living Shoreline, an exhibit that includes a 1000 gallon aquarium tank filled with Chesapeake Bay creatures and a depiction of the 4 ecological zones of the Bay watershed--uplands, tidal marshes, underwater grasses and oyster reefs. This exhibit also interpets the Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve.

The NOAA @ Nauticus partnership began in 1998, when NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey established an office and exhibits at Nauticus that describe several of NOAA’s activities. In 2004, the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office and the NOAA Maritime Heritage Program (a division of the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries) joined Coast Survey staff on site at Nauticus.

In January 2005, in recognition of the agency’s growing involvement with Nauticus, NOAA hired Andrew Larkin, a full-time NOAA employee who works as a liaison and coordinator for the NOAA @ Nauticus partnership.