Around the country, students are becoming stewards of their local watersheds. In a video series, you can see how the B-WET program is empowering students to take action through Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEEs). Through these experiences, students and teachers investigate local environmental issues and explore solutions they can implement in their communities.

Watch an overview video of the B-WET program. Also see our teaser overview video. 

B-WET currently serves seven geographic areas. Regional implementation allows B-WET programs to be responsive to local education and environmental priorities. Each B-WET project is tailored to local environmental challenges, culture, and needs, making it relevant to participants and their daily lives. These four videos highlight the B-WET regions of California, Great Lakes, Gulf of Mexico, and Hawaiʻi.

California B-WET

Grantee spotlight: Watsonville Wetlands Watch.
Students in Watsonville are exploring green careers while learning about the Pajaro Valley wetlands. California B-WET serves communities throughout the watersheds of San Francisco Bay, Monterey Bay, and Santa Barbara Channel. Funded projects make connections to local marine sanctuaries and ocean environments, and the impacts of a changing climate in California.

Learn more about California B-WET.

Chesapeake B-WET

Grantee spotlight: Arlington Public Schools
School district leaders, teachers, and facilities managers describe how they have embedded systemic MWEEs into the curriculum, developed an Environmental Literacy Plan, and created a culture of sustainability and environmental literacy throughout the district. Chesapeake B-WET serves communities throughout the Chesapeake Bay Watershed and seeks to support the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Environmental Literacy Goal by providing support for systemic, equitable, and sustainable environmental literacy programs. Watch the 60 second trailer and social media short.

Learn more about Chesapeake B-WET.
 

Great Lakes B-WET

Grantee spotlight: Huron Pines.
Through their partnership with the Northeast Michigan Great Lakes Stewardship Initiative, Huron Pines brings many organizations together in support of students and teachers who are using the outdoors as a classroom and taking on environmental stewardship projects for their community in the Lake Huron watershed. This project was filmed in 2021 following local COVID-19 safety guidelines at the time.

Grantee spotlight: Inland Seas Education Association.
Through their Great Lakes Watershed Field Course, the Inland Seas Education Association is educating students and teachers on the importance of the Great Lakes watershed. Students featured here, inspired by their field experience, returned to Ohio motivated to take action to help their local watershed. Watch the 30-second video trailer.

The Great Lakes B-WET region serves projects in the Great Lakes watershed in the states of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Funded projects support the environmental priorities of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, committed to creating a new standard of care that will leave the Great Lakes better for the next generation. Learn more about Great Lakes B-WET.

Gulf of Mexico B-WET

Grantee spotlight: Mobile BayKeeper.
In Alabama, students are learning about Mobile Bay and Weeks Bay estuaries, becoming certified water quality monitors, and building a sense of ownership over their local resources. Gulf of Mexico B-WET serves projects in the coastal counties of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. Funded projects support the environmental priorities of the Gulf of Mexico Alliance, a regional partnership working to enhance the ecological and economic health of the Gulf of Mexico.

Learn more about Gulf of Mexico B-WET.

Hawaiʻi B-WET

Grantee spotlight: University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s College of Education, Curriculum Research, & Development Group.
Teachers statewide are trained on the rocky intertidal ecosystem in Hawaiʻi and receive the tools and resources they need to lead their students in scientific data collection in those areas. Hawaiʻi B-WET serves the entire state of Hawaiʻi. Hawaiʻi B-WET projects incorporate traditional and modern management practices into culturally relevant science-based learning experiences.

Watch more videos on Hawaiʻi B-WET projects implemented in Heʻeia on the island of Oʻahu. Learn more about Hawaiʻi B-WET.

Special thanks to Great Lakes Outreach Media offsite link, National Marine Sanctuary Foundation offsite link, and North American Association for Environmental Education offsite link for assistance creating these videos. All the videos were recorded in 2019. You can download these videos: B-WET Overview, B-WET Teaser, California B-WET, Hawaiʻi B-WET, Gulf of Mexico B-WET, Great Lakes B-WET.

B-WET is an environmental education program that provides competitive funding for projects that support place-based experiential learning for students and related professional development for teachers. The core component of B-WET funded projects is the Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience (MWEEs), multistage activities that include learning both outdoors and in the classroom. 

Want to learn about how educators implement MWEEs? Take a look at these videos offsite link created by our partner, the Chesapeake Bay Program.