We asked members of the NOAA Education community to share their most memorable photos from 2023. These images highlight program successes and challenges while honoring the dedication of teachers, educators, and NOAA staff across the country. Take a look at our favorite photos of the year.
Amidst the gusty winds at the annual 2023 NOAA Boulder Take Your Child To Work Day event, Patrick Cullis and Bryan Johnson led an exhilarating weather balloon launch, fostering hands-on learning and igniting the imaginations of nearly 100 future innovators.
Natalie Dornan, an Office of National Marine Sanctuaries Nancy Foster Scholar, studies kelp forest health and conducted much of her research in NOAA's Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. Here, Natalie stands on the back of the NOAA research vessel Shearwater holding a large piece of kelp.
NOAA Administrator Dr. Rick Spinrad met with high school students during the first-ever eeBLUE Young Changemakers Summit offsite link. This summit brought nine high school students from across the country to Washington, D.C., from July 19-21, 2023. While in D.C., they participated in hands-on workshops to build their skills in taking ocean and environmental action as well as in advocating for their own voices to be heard by NOAA leadership. After this kickoff summit event, students returned to their communities to carry out action projects and virtually engage with NOAA leadership throughout the remainder of the school year.
Middle school students participated in the NOAA Planet Stewards project, "Propagating Understory Restoration Plants for Longleaf Ecosystems." Here, they celebrated a successful day harvesting wiregrass seed spikes from a seed donor site at the Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve. They will use the seeds to grow and replant native wiregrass in an effort to restore a nearby longleaf pine ecosystem.
Science On a Sphere in Silver Spring manager, Juan Pablo Hurtado, presented data on the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History offsite link's sphere on World Ocean Day 2023. The NOAA Marine Debris Program released two new videos for NOAA Science On a Sphere, Introduction to Marine Debris and Global Marine Debris Model, which debuted at this event.
Courtney White, a 2022 EPP/MSI USP scholar, conducted research at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center's Auke Bay Laboratories in Juneau, Alaska. When she wasn’t in the lab, she explored Juneau by doing a lot of mountain running on Juneau Ridge.
Read Courtney's blog post about her summer experience in Alaska.
Patrick Cullis, a scientist at NOAA Boulder, prepares a weather balloon for launch at the 2023 Take Your Child To Work Day event, captivating young minds with the magic of science. “Their eager anticipation is a testament to the excitement of witnessing science in action!” said Sarah Venema, Outreach Specialist at NOAA Boulder.
NOAA Teacher at Sea Gail Tang sailed on a Cetacean and Ecosystem Assessment Survey in the Hawaiian Islands. This is her rendition of the ship she sailed on, NOAA Ship Oscar Elton Sette. Gail teaches mathematics at the University of La Verne in La Verne, California.
Xavier, a first grade student in Panama Beach, Florida, kneels with a beaming smile next to his winning entry in the school's Marine Debris Art Contest. Xavier's artwork has been turned into a giant sticker and placed onto the side of a large garbage can, which will be placed with many others around the town of Panama Beach, Florida. The art contest was part of the NOAA Planet Stewards funded project, "Clean Up and Restore: Empowering Our Future Changemakers."
The Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve offsite link (TRNERR) is one of 30 reserves in the United States. Ron Peterson, a docent for TRNERR who is blind, and his guide dog Gidget stand near a Baja snapdragon bush in the Reserve's native plant garden where he gives his "Eye-opening Experience Without Sight" Nature Walk every first Saturday.