New grant funds Elizabeth River Project education in Portsmouth for 3 years
Fourth graders in Portsmouth are guaranteed to receive hands-on education about the Elizabeth River for the next three years, thanks to a new grant awarded to the Elizabeth River Project.
The group was awarded $750,000 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to fund education about sea level rise, water quality and green infrastructure in their communities. The Chesapeake Bay-Watershed Education and Training program, which hosts the grant, aims to help local groups fund opportunities for students to investigate environmental issues. This year, nine groups along the Chesapeake Bay were awarded grants, and since 2002, the program has distributed more than $100 million.
The Elizabeth River Project’s “Our Elizabeth River, Our Responsibility” initiative, which partners with Norfolk State University and Old Dominion University, will “provide inquiry-based, hands-on, diversity, equity, and inclusion-focused environmental education,” according to a release from the group.
Students will visit the Dominion Energy Learning Barge, which is powered by wind and the sun, the Paradise Creek Nature Park, with features restored wetlands or the mobile Barge on Wheels that brings river education to their schoolyards.
Eliza Noe, eliza.noe@virginiamedia.com
