Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET)

The B-WET program is an environmental education program that promotes place-based experiential learning for K–12 students and related professional development for teachers. B-WET fosters the growth of new, innovative programs and encourages capacity-building and environmental education partnerships.

The primary delivery of B-WET is through competitive grants that promote Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEEs). The MWEE is a learner-centered framework that focuses on investigations into local environmental issues and leads to informed action.

NOAA adopted the MWEE framework to assist with the development of effective projects founded in best practices determined through environmental education evaluation and research. B-WET-funded MWEEs bring unique NOAA assets into programming, such as resources, field sites, expertise, curriculum, and data. They also contribute to NOAA’s mission by helping to foster an environmentally literate public who make informed environmental decisions.

The NOAA MWEE definition builds on the work of the Chesapeake Bay Program Education Workgroup and is further informed by over a decade of B-WET project implementation and evaluation work across the country. B-WET serves seven areas of the country: California, Chesapeake, Great Lakes, Gulf of Mexico, Hawaii, New England, and Pacific Northwest. Each B-WET regional funding opportunity includes priorities that build on the MWEE definition and are tailored to the local population, geography, culture, and natural, financial, and human resources. See our regional funding opportunity announcements for details.

For a brief overview of the B-WET program, take a look at our factsheet!