News Releases from Region 10
EPA Awards Environmental Education Grants to Oxbow Farm, Green River College, and Corvallis Environmental Center
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded environmental education grants to Oxbow Farm & Conservation Center in Carnation, Washington, Green River College in Auburn, Washington, and the Corvallis Environmental Center in Corvallis, Oregon. The grant funds will be used to provide kindergarteners with hands-on learning about growing and eating healthy food, help train college students in watershed outreach and restoration, and support energy and water science curriculum for middle school students.
Oxbow Farm & Conservation Center was awarded an environmental education grant of $90,474 to partner with a nearby school to provide 200 low-income minority kindergarteners with environmental science and outdoor learning experiences at Oxbow’s Kids’ Farm, in the classroom, and at school greenspaces installed with assistance from the project. Learning will focus on the connections between farming, conservation, and nature by teaching critical thinking through hands-on investigation outdoors. To amplify the project’s impact, Oxbow will share best practices and a compendium of education materials with environmental educators and stakeholders with help from University of Idaho McCall Outdoor School master’s students. More information about Oxbow Farm & Conservation Center: http://www.oxbow.org/.
Green River College was awarded an environmental education grant of $85,773 to train students to create and share environmental outreach materials about the Soos Creek watershed. Training will be conducted through partnerships with the Green River Coalition, Institute for Community Leadership, City of Kent, and Earth Corps. Students will also help to prepare and implement restoration plans with 28 property owners in the Soos Creek watershed. Students will present project data and best practices at environmental education conferences. More information about Green River College: http://www.greenriver.edu/academics/areas-of-study/details/natural-resources.htm.
Corvallis Environmental Center was awarded an environmental education grant of $91,000 to expand its Communities Take Charge online tool (http://www.communitiestakecharge.org/) for middle school students with the Carbon Transformations in Matter and Energy or CarbonTIME curriculum. Middle school educators in three Oregon counties will be provided with strategies to teach "tracing matter and energy through human energy systems” to over 1,500 middle school students through in-class and online sessions, and service learning with student-led projects. This work builds on the center’s previous successful EPA grant-funded project with an expanded curriculum and environmental priorities for energy and water. More information about the Corvallis Environmental Center: http://www.corvallisenvironmentalcenter.org/.
Since 1992, EPA has distributed between $2 million and $3.5 million in grant funding per year, for a total of over $68 million supporting more than 3,600 grant projects. This highly competitive grants program supports environmental education projects that increase public awareness about environmental issues and provide participants with the skills to take responsible actions to protect the environment. The program provides financial support for projects that design, demonstrate or disseminate environmental education practices, methods or techniques.
More about EPA environmental grants: http://www2.epa.gov/education/environmental-education-ee-grants.
Oxbow Farm & Conservation Center provides low-income minority kindergarteners with environmental science and outdoor learning experiences at Oxbow's Kid's Farm with support from an EPA environmental education grant.
Corvallis Environmental Center is expanding its Communities Take Charge online tool for middle school students and CarbonTIME curriculum. McNary High School students are shown here celebrating their success with Communities Take Charge.
Green River College environmental education students are restoring native plant species at Jenkins Creek and Spring Pond in Covington, Washington.