Michael S. Regan 16th Administrator, United States Environmental Protection Agency | Official Website
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on July 8 the selection of 38 organizations to receive over $3.6 million in funding for projects under the Environmental Education Grants Program.
“Advancing environmental education advances EPA’s mission because it better equips our communities with the information they need to protect public health today and in the future,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “This year’s environmental education grant recipients will work in underserved communities across the country to foster a deeper understanding of environmental challenges and inspire action towards sustainable solutions.”
The funding, ranging from $50,000 to $100,000 per organization, will support environmental education activities and programs across 28 states, as well as in the Republic of Palau, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Guam.
This year's projects include initiatives such as helping young people in New England become environmental justice problem-solvers, using urban greening initiatives to address climate change impacts in Camden, New Jersey, transforming an electric bus into a mobile classroom for Henrico County's Title I elementary schools in Virginia, and recruiting educators from underserved communities in Tennessee for a year-long cohort focused on climate change education.
Other notable projects involve educating underserved youth in Milwaukee and Southeast Wisconsin about climate change impacts through indigenous knowledge, empowering Houston community members with watershed stewardship skills to reduce stormwater runoff pollution, engaging students from diverse backgrounds in Kansas and Missouri to overcome barriers to green careers, enhancing green career opportunities for students in rural Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah through various programs, combining indigenous and western science for community action against World War II contamination in Palau, and establishing an outdoor learning space on a peatland conservation parcel in Homer, Alaska.
Selected organizations include CASA de Maryland; Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education; Desert Research Institute; Ecology Project International; Explora Science Center & Children's Museum of Albuquerque; Galveston Bay Foundation; Henrico County Public Schools; Hitchcock Center for the Environment; Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group; Hubbard County Solid Waste Conservation District; Industry Initiatives for Science and Math Education (Ignited); Ipswich River Watershed Association; Ivy Academy; Kansas Association for Conservation and Environmental Education; Learning Endeavors; Louisiana Environmental Action Network; Massachusetts Audubon Society; Minnesota State University - Mankato; Mississippi State University; Missouri River Bird Observatory; National Wildlife Federation (Atlanta); National Wildlife Federation (Houston); Neighborhood House of Milwaukee; New Haven Ecological Project; New York Sun Works; Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association; Openlands Foundation; Protect Our Water Jackson Hole Foundation; Rowan University Sierra Streams Institute Takshanuk Watershed Council The Living Classrooms Foundation Trail Blazers University of Alaska - Anchorage University of Maine Upper Iowa University Women for a Healthy Environment Youth Environmental Alliance.
EPA anticipates providing funding once all legal and administrative requirements are met. Since 1992, EPA has distributed between $2 million and $3.7 million annually through its EE grant program, totaling over $95.1 million supporting more than 3,960 projects.
For further details on current and past award winners or future EE grant competitions, visit EPA’s Environmental Education webpage.
