Students learn about benthic mapping in Chesapeake Bay, Maryland. Photo credit: NOAA Student displays sample of Zostera marina, also known as eelgrass, in St. Inigoes Creek, Maryland. Photo credit: NOAA

Welcome to the Education section of the NOAA Restoration Portal!

Here you will find links to educational programs and teacher resources related to coastal resources and habitat restoration.

Why is education included as a section in this Portal? Education is a critical component to protecting, conserving, and restoring our natural resources. Baba Dioum, a conservationist in Senegal, once said, "In the end, we will conserve only what we love. We will love only what we understand. We will understand only what we are taught."

Education encompasses many things and occurs in numerous styles across a variety of settings. It is linked to concepts such as outreach, environmental awareness, and environmental literacy. Education can be active (e.g., researching a paper), or passive (e.g., hearing a news story on the radio). Education can take place in a formal setting, such as a lab or a classroom with established curricula, or in an informal setting, such as a trip to a national estuarine research reserve. Education can be an individual activity, such as reading a publication, or a group activity, such as restoring a marsh with organized volunteers.

Whatever the method or definition, education is a powerful tool for change. Education affects the way we perceive the world around us. With respect to habitat restoration, education has the potential to spark long-term behavioral changes and overall improvement of environmental stewardship.

As restoration practitioners, we know education is critical to shaping public perceptions and informing policy makers. Thankfully, education is a lifelong process, giving us a wealth of opportunities to increase awareness of the need for and benefits of habitat restoration. We constantly seek to cultivate an appreciation for habitat restoration along with a desire to preserve and improve habitat, which is why we provide this education information on our website. By educating individuals about what we do and why it is important, we hope to change perceptions and inspire action to conserve the natural world.

Thank you for paying us a visit. We hope you find the information on this site to be useful. Please check in with us occasionally for updates and additions. If you have any recommendations for additional links or information, please contact us at HC.Webmaster@noaa.gov.

Education Resources