Children at the National Aquarium in Baltimore, Md. (Credit: With permission from the National Aquarium in Baltimore)

The Monterey Bay Aquarium has received two grants totaling more than $1.4 million from the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration for initiatives in Monterey and nationwide to communicate about the impacts of climate change on the oceans, and to encourage individual action to affect positive and meaningful change. The Climate Program Office Communications and Education team and the Office of Education worked together on the NOAA climate partnership for these grants.

A $913,953 grant supports "Climate Change and the Ocean: Awareness to Action" - a suite of programs to compliment the aquarium's upcoming climate-focused special exhibition, "Hot Pink Flamingos: Stories of Hope in a Changing Sea." The exhibit opens on March 27, 2010. The "Awareness to Action" grant will fund creation of a virtual reality theater show, incorporating Google Earth technology, as well as other theatrical presentations for visitors, and development of opportunities to engage people at community events, such as an annual open house for Monterey County residents and the Hispanic-themed Dia del Niño and Fiesta del Mar. The grant also supports development of online activities related to climate change, and interactive exhibits that will be part of "Hot Pink Flamingos."

A second grant for $502,050 supports the aquarium's participation in a national coalition of aquariums educating about climate change. The collaboration, which includes the National Aquarium in Baltimore and the New England Aquarium in Boston, has already been awarded nearly $1.5 million by NOAA.

With these grants from NOAA, aquarium staff and volunteers will receive additional training to understand how best to motivate people to take action on a challenge as large as global climate change. NOAA climate staff will provide guidance on NOAA data, science and educational products; connect aquarium staff to other NOAA climate-related personnel and scientists; and explore ways to extend information from aquarium programs through NOAA's Climate Portal website.

The grants given to Monterey Bay Aquarium were just 2 of 11 NOAA grants totaling more than $9 million that will create new education projects in aquariums across the nation. The projects will educate visitors about the ocean and encourage better stewardship of the marine environment.

Read more about other aquariums that received NOAA grants.