Chesapeake Bay Climate Institute

 Apply now ! Deadline is January 15, 2025

Supported by the  Virginia Geographic Alliance  since 2019, the Chesapeake Bay Climate Institute aims to increase both geographic and climate literacy within the K-16 educational system. Since 2023, the Maryland Alliance has also supported the effort which uses the Chesapeake Bay watershed as a place of learning, inquiry, and climate action. Educators design climate-related lessons to be implemented in their classrooms.

Recent headlines illustrate the wide reach of a warming climate:  Heavy rain events  devastating communities.  Prolonged heat  impact health and economies.  Increased wildfire  frequency and extent.  Harmful algae blooms  that can hurt ecosystems. Climate change impacts all people, places, and  sectors .

Yet, according to the National Council for Science Education (2020), the bad news is that twenty states earned a C+ or worse in climate education. Some states explicitly ignore the issue while others fail to acknowledge the anthropogenic forces that explain the present-day warming of our planet. An informed populous is necessary to both mitigate the causes to climate change but also build resilience to future climate impacts.

Since 2019, this educational institute has improved the climate literacy of nearly 100 educators. Educators represent a wide-range of disciplines, career experience, and geographies.

Using the Chesapeake Bay as a a place of inquiry, scalar learning across grade-level and disciplinary background fosters a fruitful learning environment. Participants are introduced to ArcGIS resources and storytelling, linking disciplinary knowledge to the topic of climate change through the  Geo-Inquiry Process .

The institute incorporates guest lectures, hands-on activities including a barrier island tour of Cedar Island, and a day trip to  Tangier Island , a historic watermen community on the front lines of anthropogenic climate change, coastal erosion, and cultural loss due to migration. Since 1850, Tangier Island has lost two-thirds of its landmass and surrounding neighbors, and research indicates the residents may become the  first U.S. climate refugees 

Home to nearly 20 million residents, the Chesapeake Bay watershed encompasses 64,000 square miles, extending across 6 states, from the Finger Lakes region of New York State to Coastal Virginia. The Bay has experienced  various climate impacts  including elevated waters, increased runoff, algae blooms, and changing ecological systems.

As the planet warms, Chesapeake Bay communities cope with intersectional climate impacts including rising seas, saltwater intrusion, species migration, and infrastructure challenges. National security concerns, increasing flood insurance rates, changing ecosystems are just some of the human dimensions of a warming climate.

 Dr. Scott Denning  notes climate change is simple, serious, but solvable. By improving climate literacy, this professional experience builds capacity in addressing the climate crisis because  solutions  to addressing the climate crisis already exist.

Through this professional experience, educators learn of the causes, consequences but most importantly, the solutions to addressing the climate crisis. Educators explore the topic of climate change through their own local lens and develop  educational resources  for their classrooms. A series of peer-review articles was recently published in  The Geography Teacher :

• Allen, M., Young, J., Grote, L., Simon, A., Carter, S., Sullivan, M., … Whytlaw, J. (2024).  Using the Chesapeake Bay to Learn Climate Change . The Geography Teacher, 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1080/19338341.2024.2413514
• Belser, L., Allen, M. J., Young, J., Simon, A., Carter, S., Sullivan, M., … Whytlaw, J. L. (2024).  Analyzing the Effect of Impervious Surfaces on Flooding . The Geography Teacher, 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1080/19338341.2024.2413951
• Simon, A., Allen, M. J., Young, J., Belser, L., Carter, S., Sullivan, M., … Whytlaw, J. L. (2024).  Dissolved Oxygen and Climate Change . The Geography Teacher, 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1080/19338341.2024.2413948
• Sullivan, M., Maxwell, G., Hurst, G., Carter, S., Allen, M. J., Young, J., … Whytlaw, J. L. (2024).  Climate Change and Animal Habitat: Investigating the Chesapeake Bay . The Geography Teacher, 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1080/19338341.2024.2413526

 5th National Climate Assessment 

 NASA Climate Change 

 NOAA Climate Literacy Guide 

 Yale Climate Communication Maps 

 Global Weirding With Dr. Katharine Hayhoe 

 100 solutions to reverse global warming 

 The most important thing you can do to fight climate change: talk about it