Due to a grants.gov outage on October 15, the deadline to submit B-WET applications has been extended to 5 p.m., Monday, October 18.

Every year, the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office’s B-WET (Bay Watershed Education and Training) program manages a competitive grant process that funds high-quality K-12 environmental education programs, fosters the growth of new, innovative programs, and encourages capacity building and partnership development for environmental education programs throughout the watershed.

The “Announcement of Federal Funding Opportunity” for FY11—the official notice that a new grant process has started, with more information about how to apply and specifics about what types of projects would be considered for funding—is now posted. The deadline for submitting a proposal is October 15, 2010—but don’t wait until the last minute to start your application, as there is a fair bit of paperwork to complete.

For FY11, B-WET Chesapeake funding priorities are:

• Integrated meaningful watershed educational experiences (MWEEs)—projects that combine teacher professional development with long-term K-12 classroom-integrated MWEEs for students of these trained teachers.
• Capacity building—projects that grow agencies’ and organizations’ ability to develop, deliver, and sustain science, technology, engineering, math, or environmental education programs that advance MWEEs at the state or regional level.

Successful applications can also support the incorporation of data and innovative technologies into watershed education—for example, using data from NOAA Chesapeake Bay Interpretive Buoy System observing platforms or NOAA National Estuarine Research Reserve System locations. Projects that are systemic—striving to reach the entire student and/or teacher populations in one or more grades in an entire school system or sub-unit of a school system—are also encouraged.

More details on grant availability and typical funding levels are available in the Announcement of Federal Funding Opportunity, as are details on eligible applicants, application process, and selection factors.

With questions, please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. NCBO’s Environmental Literacy staff.