DEP Newsroom

Greencastle, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced today a total of $632,897 in environmental grant funds have been awarded to 63 projects, 50 of which engage youth and adults living or working within environmental justice areas. Grants were awarded to schools, institutions, conservation districts, and environmental and community organizations. 

“These grants help provide the foundation for environmental education for people of all ages,” said DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell. “This year’s Earth Day theme is ‘Invest in Our Planet’ and each of these projects represents an investment into furthering the environmental education of Pennsylvanians.” 

DEP awarded the Greencastle-Antrim School District a $12,368 grant to assist in renovating an existing facility at its environmental education center into a new science lab. The change will enhance the district’s K-12 curriculum and provide students with hands-on learning opportunities to learn more and seek solutions to environmental issues such as water quality and climate change.

Speaking at the district’s Tayamentasachta Environmental Center, DEP Southcentral Regional Director Rod Nesmith said, “Each year, DEP makes available to formal and informal educators funding to support a wide range of environmental education projects. This grant will help educate students, make them better informed, and better prepared to deal with environmental issues facing us today, and tomorrow.”

 

The Environmental Education Grants Program was established by the Environmental Education Act of 1993, which mandates setting aside 5 percent of the pollution fines and penalties DEP collects annually for environmental education in Pennsylvania. Since its inception, the DEP has awarded $12.3 million in environmental education grant funding to support 2,135 projects.

The 2022 program selected applications for the development of innovative formal and non-formal education projects that: 

• Address grant program priorities of water, climate change, and/or environmental justice; 

• Provide opportunities to expand the public’s understanding of Pennsylvania’s environmental issues; and 

• Develop skills required to make informed decisions.

Grants were awarded to schools, institutions, conservation districts, and environmental and community organizations. Thirty-four local projects received mini grants of up to $3,000; 28 projects with a broad or statewide reach received general grants of up to $20,000; and one project, designed to engage students and teachers at the local, state, and national levels, received a grant of $65,710. More than 90 percent of grant funds will support projects that engage youth and adults living or working within environmental justice areas.

 

• Cumberland County Conservation District: Hold a three-night environmental camp program for grades 4-6, which will include hands-on activities that address watershed management, nonpoint source water pollution, climate change, wildlife habitats and environmentally themed careers. ($3,000)

• Shippensburg University: Provide a summer learning program for youth in grades 1-12, which will engage them in three water and climate change experiential opportunities. ($2,989) 

 

Dauphin 

• Dauphin County Conservation District: Conduct three Stormwater for Homeowners workshops for residents in multiple municipalities. Rain barrels will be distributed, and attendee follow-up will be conducted. ($3,000)  

• Girl Scouts in the Heart of Pennsylvania: Install learning stations addressing water, climate change, and food insecurity. Provide hands-on activities, creek investigations and opportunities to implement the Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience framework. ($18,323) 

• Greencastle-Antrim School District: Create an on-site science lab to enhance existing K-12 curriculum, that provides hands-on learning opportunities and guides student-driven actions addressing water quality and climate change. ($12,368)

Juniata 

 

• Juniata County Conservation District (2 projects): Provide 9th-12th grade students with formal classroom education in raising American eels for release into local waters. ($2,745); and establish an outdoor classroom for studying climate resilience, including hands-on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) activities, where students will explore and test their climate change ideas and solutions. ($3,000)

 

• York County Libraries: Provide hands-on activities and resources, including books and Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM) kits, for youth ages 10-15, addressing climate change and alternative forms of energy. ($2,997)

 

• LEAF Project Inc.: Engage diverse youth ages 14-18 from Cumberland, Dauphin and Perry counties, in hands-on learning addressing agricultural, food systems and consumer practices. Youth leaders will facilitate public education campaigns addressing food choices and climate change. ($20,000)

• Pennsylvania Envirothon: Implement a statewide project that encourages high school students' exploration of environmental issues and provides them with tools for creating healthy communities through stewardship actions. Students and teachers interact at the county, state, and national levels. Analyze the existing program to determine ways of expanding engagement of teachers and youth in environmental justice areas. ($65,710)

• Stroud Water Research Center (two projects): Create innovative macroinvertebrate touch tanks to deliver programs for K-12 students, families, and the public in Chester County ($3,000); and implement a collaborate model for establishing six outdoor spaces in Chester and Lancaster counties, that support watershed education involving K-12 teachers and students and promotes community interactions with schools. ($20,000)

• The Pennsylvania State University: Hold a five-day residential camp program for students in grades 9-12 from Centre, Huntingdon, and Chester counties, focusing on local water quality issues, climate change and social and leadership experiences. ($5,500)

• The Pennsylvania State University: Host a 20-hour Environmental Stewardship Program creating a total of 16 trainees in Blair, Chester, Lackawanna, and Susquehanna counties.  Participants will train an additional 80 people, lead workshops, and implement group projects. ($19,525)

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