B-WET is a competitive grants program that provides funding for K-12 STEM education focused on local watershed issues.

B-WET promotes student learning in their local communities and encourages capacity building for environmental education. The B-WET program supports partners to deliver high quality STEM education, strengthens teaching, fosters student success and interest in learning, and empowers students to implement environmental solutions. This in turn supports NOAA’s mission of science, service, and stewardship.

120

institutions were funded by B-WET to bring experiential outdoor learning to K-12 audiences in 23 states and the District of Columbia in fiscal year 2025.

4,300

educators received professional development through B-WET to help them teach real-world hands-on learning experiences set in the local environment in fiscal year 2025.

53,200

students participated in inquiry-based activities both in the classroom and outdoors through B-WET in fiscal year 2025.

495

schools had students participate in B-WET programming in fiscal year 2025.

B-WET serves seven regions in the country. Regional implementation allows B-WET to be responsive to local education and environmental priorities. Each region connects grantees to their watershed, supported by relevant NOAA assets and local resources and expertise.

Six teens stand or sit on rocks that cross a stream. Two are holding sampling probes and another holds a clipboard. There is thick, shrubby vegetation on either side of the stream, and there are large mats of algae in the water.
California B-WET

The California B-WET program partners with schools and school districts to support opportunities for students to have a direct, meaningful, mutually nurturing relationship with the outdoors and the natural world. Selected projects support environment-based education for teachers and students that advances the California Environmental Principles and Concepts.

Teachers gather on dock next on river testing water quality.
Chesapeake B-WET

The Chesapeake B-WET program works with school districts and their partners to develop hands-on, outdoor programming that advances the education and workforce outcomes of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement. This program is also administering an exploratory program in Delaware Bay.

Three women stand in 6-foot high grasses surrounding a small body of water. One of these women holds a plankton tow above her head as the women head towards the water (a net with a small bucket underneath).
Great Lakes B-WET

The Great Lakes B-WET program funds projects that support experience-based learning opportunities to promote Great Lakes stewardship, a priority of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative accelerates efforts to protect and restore the largest system of fresh surface water in the world - the Great Lakes.

three students are pictured from behind looking out over a marsh with binoculars
Gulf of America B-WET

The Gulf of America B-WET (Gulf B-WET) program supports experience-based learning opportunities to promote stewardship of watersheds of the Gulf of America. Gulf B-WET projects support the priority issues of the Gulf of America Alliance, a regional partnership with the goal of enhancing the ecological and economic health of the Gulf of America.

Five students sit along the ocean coast and stare out into the water.
Hawaiʻi B-WET

The Hawaiʻi B-WET program serves the state of Hawaiʻi (including Papahānaumokuākea) with competitions that focus on priorities like Indigenous knowledge and stewardship science. Hawaiʻi B-WET projects support problem solvers, community leaders, and engaged decision-makers tasked with managing finite island resources across Hawaiʻi.

Two students wear waders by a large pond. One student is knee deep in the water and the other is holding a rake and wearing rain boots along the pond’s edge. There are red trees and houses in the background past the pond.
New England B-WET

The New England B-WET program focuses on outdoor STEM education that prioritizes exploration of issues unique to New England by helping students draw connections between their watershed, the blue economy, local partners, and community stewardship.

An elementary student sits on the grass along a creek wearing a raincoat and rain boats. She is writing on a clipboard.
Pacific Northwest B-WET

The Pacific Northwest B-WET program funds projects that engage K-12 students and teachers in outdoor learning focused around local watershed issues in Oregon and Washington.

Learn more about the B-WET program through our video series.

Watch an overview of the B-WET program (2019).

The core component of B-WET-funded projects is the Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience (MWEE). The MWEE is a learner-centered framework that focuses on investigations into local environmental issues and leads to informed action.