Professional Development in EE

A&WMA's Teacher Training Resources
The Air & Waste Management Association (A&WMA) believes that environmental education needs to be a continuous process that is both lifelong and forward-looking. At the heart of our teacher-training program is our Environmental Education Resource Guides which provide Air Quality and Nonpoint Source Pollution prevention for grades K-12. View our website for a sample of the presenters manual, free lesson plans, and fact sheets.

America Walks Webinars
For teachers and community organizers looking to encourage students to walk and bike to school, the Safe Routes Coaching Action Network is a way for you to learn from people who know how to make things happen. Attend FREE monthly presentations from experts across the country. Get FREE coaching from experienced America Walks organizer with experience in your safe routes to school issue or in your region.

ARMADA Project
The University of Rhode Island's Office of Marine Programs conducts ARMADA Project-Research and Mentoring Experiences for Teachers.  The ARMADA Project, funded by the National Science Foundation, provides K-12 teachers an opportunity to actively participate in ocean, polar, and environmental science research and peer mentoring. 

Astronomy from the Ground Up
Astronomy from the Ground Up hosts free online workshops for informal science, nature center, and museum educators!  Thanks to support from the National Science Foundation, the workshops are completely free for participating educators.  Training is through e-mail, videochat, and telephone.

Chesapeake Classrooms
This high-quality professional development program from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation equips educators with the knowledge, tools, skills, and confidence to use the local environment in their curriculum.  You'll examine the connections between land use and water quality through hands-on investigations, standards-based activities and assessments, and action projects.  Our on-site instruction takes place at schoolyards, local tributaries, and oftentimes at one of CBF's island educational centers.  Educators can receive recertification or graduate credit for participating.  Sponsored by National Geographic and the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration. 

Earth Expeditions
Experience an Earth Expedition!  Travel to conservation hotspots around the world to engage in research, connect with fellow educators in other countries, and discover the power of inquiry to generate knowledge and transform society.  Earth Expeditions are tuition-free graduate courses open to formal and nonformal educators.  Accepted participants must pay for transportation to the study site as well as on-site costs such as meals and loding.

Earthwatch Education Fellowships
Leave the four walls of your classroom behind; embark on a unique journey sure to transform your life and energize the classroom. As a fellow you will work side by side with a scientist conducting field research. You will contribute to our understanding of the environment, have a direct impact on urgent issues, and will ultimately inspire your students and community.

Environmental Concern
Environmental Concern's team of highly qualified wetland educators travel extensively teaching teachers how to bring wetlands alive and into their classrooms. All of their workshops are full of hands-on, inquiry-based cross-curricular activities that can be brought back to the classroom.

Environmental Education and Training Partnership (EETAP)
EETAP is a national leader in the delivery of environmental education training for education professionals.  Their website offers educators information, resources, and links for promoting academic achievement and environmental literacy.  EETAP is funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Environmental Education through a cooperative agreement with the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

GLOBE Program
GLOBE is a worldwide hands-on, primary and secondary school-based education and science program. GLOBE promotes and supports students, teachers and scientists to collaborate on inquiry-based investigations of the environment.

IslandWood Graduate Residency in Education, Environment, and Community
The graduate program at IslandWood, located in Bainbridge Island, WA, is based on the principle that a more sustainable future demands knowledgeable, committed and reflective educators. Each year, IslandWood graduate students live, learn, teach in a spectacular natural setting. Together they explore the meaning and power of education, environment and community. Students share their knowledge with culturally diverse communities through hands-on teaching experiences.

Maggie's Earth Adventures
Maggie's Earth Adventures (MEA) LLC is a free educational website offered to teachers worldwide in both English and Spanish. MEA's animated stories address important environmental issues such as over-fishing, invasive species, animal habitats and the Chesapeake Bay. Online interactive games and FREE downloadable standards-based activities in four subject areas are available. A key factor contributing to the success of this program is the Weekly Activity Packet whereby teachers receive free, self-directed lesson plans at the emergent reader, primary, and upper elementary level.

NASA Explorer Schools
NASA Explorer Schools (NES) teams composed of full-time teachers and a school administrator develop and implement a three-year action plan to address local challenges in science, technology, and mathematics education for grades 4- 9. During the three-year partnership, the chosen schools are eligible to receive funding to purchase technology tools. The project also provides educators and students with content-specific activities that can be used within the curricula to excite students about science, technology, engineering, and math.

National Wildlife Federation Schoolyard Habitats Program
The National Wildlife Federation’s Schoolyard Habitats®Program has assisted over 2800 schools and outdoor education providers nationwide in the development of outdoor habitat areas designed to protect wildlife and enhance the educational experiences of students, teachers and community members.

NOAA Teacher Training Opportunities
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) trains teachers to use the mathematics, science, and technology associated with exploring the oceans in their classrooms to help increase awareness and understanding of the ocean world. These ongoing workshops are designed to introduce educators to premiere ocean scientists/explorers and their research and explorations.

North American Association for Environmental Education
The North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) is a network of professionals, students, and volunteers working in the field of environmental education throughout North America and in over 55 countries around the world. Since 1971, the Association has promoted environmental education and supported the work of environmental educators.  Click on the link to view a list of NAAEE programs.

Project Learning Tree
Project Learning Tree® is an award winning, multi-disciplinary environmental education program for educators and students in Pre K-12. PLT, a program of the American Forest Foundation, is one of the most widely used environmental education programs in the United States and abroad. 

Project Wet
The mission of Project WET is to reach children, parents, educators, and communities of the world with water education.  Trained facilitators deliver Project WET materials through professional development workshops where participants engage in cooperative, hands-on learning, experiencing the activities as they are presented by skilled facilitators and their peers.  Upon completing the training, participants receive the Project WET Curriculum and Activity Guide as well as other water resource education materials, and leave prepared and inspired to teach about water in their classroom or informal educational setting.

River of Words
River of Words has been conducting training workshops for teachers, park naturalists, grassroots groups, state resource agencies, librarians and others since 1995, helping them to incorporate observation-based nature exploration and the arts into their work with young people. In addition to helping improve children's literacy--and cognitive skills like investigation and critical thinking--River of Words' multidisciplinary, hands-on approach to education nurtures students' creative voices as well, through instruction and practice in art and poetry.

Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History
The mission of the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History is to continue the legacy of Roger Tory Peterson by promoting the teaching and study of nature, and to thereby create appreciation and responsibility for the natural world.  Their online Nature Journal course offers educators the opportunity to learn more about nature journaling and how to bring it into the classroom.  Click here to learn more about how to register for one of their classes, or read a few of their Nature Journal Tips right now.

Schoolyard Habitats Program
The National Wildlife Federation's Schoolyard Habitats® Program has assisted over 2800 schools and outdoor education providers nationwide in the development of outdoor habitat areas designed to protect wildlife and enhance the educational experiences of students, teachers and community members.

Seminars on Science
The American Museum of Natural History offers award-winning online courses in the life, earth and physical sciences. These easy-to-use courses are designed around your busy schedule. Participants have access to cutting-edge research and world-class scientists. Courses offer affordable graduate credit and P-credit.

Teacher to Ranger to Teacher (TRT) Program
The Teacher to Ranger to Teacher (TRT) Program links National Park units with teachers from low income school districts. Under this program, selected teachers spend the summer working as park rangers, often living in the park. They perform various duties depending on their interests and the needs of the park, including developing and presenting interpretive programs for the general public, staffing the visitor center desk, developing curriculum-based materials for the park, or taking on special projects.

Teton Science Schools
The Teacher Learning Center of the Teton Science Schools engages teachers, administrators, and life-long learners in professional development opportunities that integrate educational excellence, innovation, leadership and place. Programming opportunities include summer workshops, school consulting in science and place-based education from our expert faculty and individualized programs developed for groups of educators at our Jackson Campus in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Toyota International Teacher Program
The Toyota International Teacher Program is a fully-funded professional development program for full-time classroom teachings of all subjects in grades 7-12.  The program offers country-specific themes to help educators expand their progressional skills, increase cultural awareness, and enhance their understanding of environmental issues.

University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Online Environmental Education Courses
EETAP and the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point offer three online courses for students and professionals in the field of environmental education. 

Wisconsin KEEP (K-12 Energy Education Program)
KEEP's mission is to initiate and facilitate the development, dissemination, implementation and evaluation of energy education programs within Wisconsin schools.  They offer educational resources pertaining to home, school, and renewables energy education, as well as online resources for professional development.