UPDATE: Summit Documents and Presentations

• Agenda
• Summit Summary
• Attendees List
• K-12 Science Education Framework Presentation
• America's Great Outdoors Presentation
• School Grounds and Operations Presentation
• Executive Order Strategy Presentation
• National Environmental Literacy Assessment Presentation

Environmental education in the Chesapeake Bay watershed took another big step forward with the release of a federal pre-K–12 Environmental Literacy Strategy. The strategy is now available for informal public comment. If you have comments, suggestions, or questions, please email them to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by December 19. The document was released as part of the kickoff session to the 2011 Mid-Atlantic Environmental Literacy Summit.

"NOAA wants the next generation of Chesapeake stewards to have the knowledge and skills they need to help the Bay," noted Dr. Kathy Sullivan, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Environmental Observation and Prediction, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, "which is why we’re happy to lead efforts to develop the strategy for environmental education in the mid-Atlantic."

The Environmental Literacy Summit, which was held in Chevy Chase, Maryland, is a conference for discussion of topics related to environmental literacy in the mid-Atlantic. Roughly 80 environmental educators and education managers from around the Chesapeake Bay watershed attended the conference.

A range of educators are participating in the Summit and are involved—one way or another—in environmental education.

“The four goals—and the supporting outcomes and strategies—that the draft describes outline the interdependent actions that the mid-Atlantic education community will take in support of environmental literacy,” said Nicholas DiPasquale, director of the Chesapeake Bay Program. “It bodes well for this effort that there is so much collaboration among federal and state agencies and other partners, and I’m delighted with the direction the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Education Workgroup is headed.”

The NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office, in partnership with the Chesapeake Bay Trust, hosted the Summit to support the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Education Workgroup and federal Chesapeake Bay Executive Order efforts.

"The Chesapeake Bay Trust is supporting this Summit because it will advance one of our core objectives: creating high-quality educational opportunities that motivate and provide the foundation for students to become better stewards of the environment and the Bay,” said Dr. Allen Hance, executive director of the Chesapeake Bay Trust."