On a May morning in 2007, fourth grader Joshua White hopped on a city bus with his grandmother and rode across Washington, D.C., for his first visit to the nature center at Rock Creek Park. He came to participate in the first annual national park BioBlitz organized by the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) and National Geographic.
In this article, Julie Packard, executive director of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, shares her experience launching the Center for the Future of the Oceans policy and advocacy center, in hopes that the story may serve as a useful roadmap for other institutions considering expanding their role in conservation efforts. Packard describes how the center came to fruition, the goals of the institution, public response, recommendations for future work, and implications for the broader museum community.
This article describes the goals and methodology of the Field Museum in Chicago's Calumet Environmental Education Program (CEEP) in the Calumet region of southeast Chicago. The program engages students grades 4-12 in science by letting them apply what they have learned to real-life community conservation issues. Evaluation highlights and lessons learned are also included.