Grants Announced for Youth Outdoor Science and Watershed Education

Maryland Department of Natural Resources photo

Two Maryland nonprofits will receive Youth Outdoor Science and Watershed Education grant funding to develop and enhance environmental education in the state.

Outdoor education funding is made possible from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Chesapeake Bay Implementation Grant. Specific amounts will be contingent upon federal funding availability and approval. The following organizations were awarded funding through the Maryland Department of Natural Resources:

• Accokeek Foundation – Indigenous Connections to the Land: Wild Rice: The foundation will improve and revise its existing program, “Wild Rice and the Changing Landscape of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed,” which is a systemic seventh grade Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience that incorporates student engagement in the growth, maintenance, data collection and restoration of wild rice with indigenous knowledge. The program provides hands-on field experiences for the students and increases knowledge of the Chesapeake Bay.
• Alice Ferguson Foundation – Bridging the Watershed Curriculum: Alice Ferguson Foundation will expand its Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience curriculum programming in partnership with Prince George’s County Public Schools. They will work with middle and high school teachers and administrators to pilot the environmental education program with about 240 students.

Beginning in July, the Department of Natural Resources will accept applications for the next fiscal year through the department’s online ​Grants Gateway.