Chesapeake B-WET is a competitive grant program that supports existing, high-quality environmental education programs, fosters the growth of innovative programs, and encourages capacity building and partnership development for environmental literacy efforts throughout the entire Chesapeake Bay watershed states. Successful projects advance the environmental literacy goal of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement and the NOAA Education Strategic Plan by building capacity within organizations and networks that work at the state- or multi-state level to support hands-on environmental education for students and related professional development for teachers, administrators, and other educators who serve formal K–12 audiences. Through this funding announcement, NOAA is soliciting proposals that support Statewide K–12 Environmental Literacy Capacity Building.

The goal of this funding opportunity is to support projects that increase opportunities for advancing the Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience (MWEE) and environmental literacy at the state-level. These capacity building projects complement a suite of existing BWET projects that work in and across school districts to provide systemic MWEEs and build up local district capacity to advance environmental literacy strategies. Projects under this announcement are not required to directly reach students and teachers, but should lay the foundation for systemic, equitable, and sustainable environmental literacy, including MWEEs, at the state or multi-state level.

Successful B-WET projects provide formal education that supports the environmental literacy goal of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement and NOAA’s Education Strategic Plan.

Information on the Chesapeake B-WET program, including examples of education partnerships that have been funded to date, can be found on our Past and Current Chesapeake B-WET Projects.

The full fiscal year 2024 funding opportunity can be found at Grants.gov under grant opportunity number NOAA-NMFS-HCPO-2024-2008241. Please see the funding opportunity for all application details. This webpage includes resources needed to apply for a Chesapeake B-WET grant.