Resources
LOCAL RESOURCES
D.C. Naturally is a guide to environmental education resources, both information and opportunities, available in and around Washington, DC. A list of environmental education support organizations which are good sources of additional environmental education information, opportunities and materials have also been included. Each entry lists the title of the organization with a brief description of its mission, followed by the programs and services it provides. Notes on reservations, wheelchair accessibility, or fees are also listed.
Entries are listed in four categories:
- Parks and Natural Areas
- Museums and Historic Sites
- Government Agencies
- Private and Non-Profit Organizations
D.C. Naturally 2003-2004 edition was compiled by the D.C. Environmental Education Consortium (DCEEC) and the D.C. Department of Health, Environmental Health Administration, Watershed Protection Division and made possible by a generous grant from the United States Environmental Protection Agency Chesapeake Bay Program. Hard-copies are no longer available. Some of the information provided may be outdated.
Partial List of Environmental Education Organizations
The Alice Ferguson Foundation provides experiences that encourage connections between people, the natural environment, farming and the cultural heritage of the Potomac River Watershed, which lead to personal environmental responsibility.
Explore: Ferguson Foundation, Hard Bargain Farm, and Bridging the Watershed
Founded in 1899, ASLA is the national professional association for landscape architects, representing more than 15,000 members in 49 professional chapters and 68 student chapters. The Society’s mission is to lead, to educate, and to participate in the careful stewardship, wise planning, and artful design of our cultural and natural environments. Members of the Society use the ASLA suffix after their names to denote membership and their commitment to the highest ethical standards of the profession.
Explore: American Society of Landscape Architects
The mission of the Anacostia Watershed Society is to restore and protect the Anacostia River and its watershed by cleaning the water, recovering the shores, and honoring the heritage. Our ultimate goal is to make the Anacostia River swimmable and fishable in keeping with the Clean Water Act of 1972. Our work is conducted through a four-part program that involves environmental education, restoration, advocacy, and recreation. The Education Department at AWS delivers hands-on programming that allows elementary, middle and high school students to connect with their natural world and the Anacostia River. It will enhance their understanding of the interdependence of ecological and human communities. The program consists of three classroom sessions, a field study on the tidal Anacostia, a service-learning restoration project, and integrated reflection activities.
Explore: Anacostia Watershed Society
The mission of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation is to restore and sustain the Bay’s ecosystem by substantially improving the water quality and productivity of the watershed, and to maintain a high quality of life for the people of the Chesapeake Bay region. CBF Education accomplishes this mission through student field experiences, teacher professional development, and student leadership training.
Explore: Chesapeake Bay Foundation and online community for teachers
Clean Air Partners strives to improve public health and the environment by working with businesses, organizations and individuals throughout the region to raise awareness and reduce air pollution through voluntary actions. Our success is dependent on the active participation of an informed community. To that end Clean Air Partners has developed the On the Air curriculum and kit available to public and private schools located within the jurisdictions of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments and Baltimore Metropolitan Council.
Explore: Clean Air Partners
DC Greens uses the power of partnerships to support food education, food access, and food policy in the nation’s capital. The organization runs garden-based teacher training workshops, farmers’ market incentive programs, and hosts the annual Rooting DC forum.
Explore: DC Greens
The DC Department of Energy and the Environment’s Fisheries and Wildlife Division has four major components: research and management, aquatic and wildlife education, licensing and regulation, and fishing. Collectively these components serve to conserve the District’s aquatic and wildlife resources for the use of DC residents and wildlife.
Explore: DOEE
The mission of the District Department of the Environment is to conserve the soil and water resources of the District of Columbia and to protect our watersheds from non-point source pollution through education, restoration, regulation, conservation.
Explore: DOEE
The Earth Conservation Corps is a nonprofit organization that engages the strong minds and muscles of Anacostia’s youth in the restoration of the Anacostia River. As corps members improve their own lives, they rebuild the environmental, social, and economic health of their communities.
Explore: Earth Conservation Corps
Earth Force engages young people as active citizens who improve the environment and their communities now and in the future.
Explore: Earth Force
Living Classrooms of the National Capital Region is a nonprofit organization, providing hands-on education and job training for young people from diverse backgrounds, with a special emphasis on serving at-risk youth. The Foundation uses maritime settings, community revitalization projects and other challenging learning environments, and a low staff-to-students ratio. Our learning by doing educational programs emphasize the applied learning of math, science, language arts, history, economics, and ecology. Key objectives of all programs are career development, cooperative learning, elevating self-esteem, and fostering multicultural exchange.
Explore: Living Classrooms
NatureBridge’s mission is to foster environmental literacy to sustain our planet. NatureBridge’s multi-day residential programs are designed to create an appreciation and understanding of the natural world. As a partner of the National Park Service, NatureBridge provides hands-on environmental science programs in several national parks including Yosemite, Olympic, Golden Gate, Santa Monica Mountains, and Prince William Forest Park in Northern Virginia. Nearly 40 schools from DC and Northern Virginia currently participate in 3-day, 2-night programs at the Prince William Forest Park campus.
Explore: NatureBridge
NOAA Chesapeake Office Education Program provides funding and resources for hands-on watershed education to students, teachers and the public to foster stewardship of the Chesapeake Bay. NOAA is the lead federal agency for K-12 education activities for the Chesapeake Bay Program supporting the commitment to provide a meaningful watershed educational experience to every student in the watershed prior to graduation. NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office Emerging Scientists Project (ESP) provides urban high school teachers with the means to bring oceanic and atmospheric sciences into their classrooms and the opportunity to get their students into the field. The project encourages youth to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and math as well as increases understanding of and appreciation for the resources of the Chesapeake Bay.
Explore: NOAA
The Saturday Environmental Academy offers a unique outdoor educational opportunity for 7th and 8th graders living in the Anacostia River watershed. Through this free, fun, educational experience students learn about the history, health and ecology of the river, while developing skills in team building, critical thinking, and scientific investigation.
Explore: Saturday Environmental Academy
The United States Botanic Garden is an institution dedicated to demonstrating the aesthetic, cultural, economic, therapeutic, and ecological importance of plants to the well-being of humankind. The U.S. Botanic Garden carries out this mission by presenting artistic displays of plants, exhibits, and a program of educational activities; promoting botanical knowledge through the cultivation of an ordered collection of plants; fostering plant conservation by acting as a repository for endangered species. Uniquely situated at the heart of the U.S. government, the Botanic Garden seeks to promote the exchange of ideas and information relevant to this mission among national and international visitors and policymakers.
Explore: US Botanic Gardens
Using the garden cycle as a tool, the mission of the Washington Youth Garden at the U.S. National Arboretum (WYG) is to inspire children and families to engage in self-discovery, explore relationships with food and the natural world, and contribute to the health and well-being of their communities. Founded in 1971, the Washington Youth Garden at the U.S. National Arboretum provides a unique, year-round environmental science and food education program for D.C. youth and their families. Using the garden and Arboretum as a living classroom, the program teaches participants to explore their relationships with food and the natural world. Adventures in healthy cooking and eating, organic gardening and environmental literacy cultivate lifelong skills which transform our participants and community.
Explore: FONA and Washington Youth Garden
ORGANIZATIONAL RESOURCES
The North American Association For Environmental Education (NAAEE) is a network of professionals, students, and volunteers working in the field of environmental education throughout North America. The NAAEE Affiliate Network is a network of state environmental education organizations which supports and gains new perspectives through shared learning. Affiliate Network Resources is a password protected site containing a compilation of resources and examples for Affiliate Organizations (e.g., membership structures, strategic plans, awards forms, conference brochures, etc.) If you are currently a DCEEC dues-paying member, contact dceecnaturally@gmail.com for the password information.
EnvironmentalScience.org aims to be the most reliable and expansive advocate for environmental science education and careers. Information, statistics, and data featured on their site was taken from federal and state agencies,
No Child Left Inside coalition’s focus is the passage of federal legislation which would authorize major new funding for states to provide high-quality, environmental instruction. Learn what you can do!
FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
Chesapeake Bay Trust: Washington, DC Mini-Grants
Grants for up to $5,000 are available for Chesapeake Bay field experiences such as boat trips, student action projects that restore and protect the environment, schoolyard habitat projects, and Chesapeake Bay-related teacher training opportunities.
Donors Choose
Connects classroom teachers to donors who provide funds or specific items (including transportation costs). Donations usually range from $100 to $1,000. Teachers must submit brief project proposals for classroom materials or items and costs for field experiences, and usually receive a two to five month turn-around for donations. Note: only DC Public School teachers are eligible. Charter schools are ineligible.
Captain Planet Foundation small grants
The Captain Planet Foundation provides grant funds of $250 – $2500 for projects that promote environmental understanding and awareness for young people through hands-on activities.
NOAA’s Teacher at Sea Program: A Free Teacher Research Experience
The mission of NOAA’s Teacher at Sea program is to give teachers a clearer insight into our ocean planet, a greater understanding of maritime work and studies, and to increase their level of environmental literacy by fostering an interdisciplinary research experience. Since 1990, NOAA’s Teacher at Sea Program has enabled more than 550 teachers to gain first-hand experience of science and life at sea by working on research ships. Teachers have enriched their classroom curricula with a depth of understanding made possible by living and working side-by-side, day and night, with those who contribute to the world’s body of scientific knowledge. No matter which type of cruise you embark on, you are bound to learn an array of new things!