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Natural History Museum of Cal Poly Humboldt and the NOAA Ocean Acidification Education Mini-Grant Program are partnering with the Humboldt County Office of Education and the Telonicher Marine Lab to offer a Professional Development Workshop Series: Broadening Ocean Acidification Teaching and Learning (BOATL): Understanding Climate Change and Ocean Acidification.
This fall, over two Saturday workshops, the BOATL workshop series will provide professional development for middle & high school science educators to enrich their pedagogical practices and conceptual understanding with a deep dive into the urgent issue of ocean acidification.
The series will connect local scientists, indigenous knowledge holders, and fellow educators for an immersive exploration of the powerful connections between climate change and the ocean, with the aim of increasing ocean science education, specifically in concepts critical to understanding and mitigating ocean acidification.
The workshop series is a rare opportunity for teachers to meet and work with the scientists and indigenous community members and focus collectively on increasing ocean literacy, specifically around ocean acidification. By the end of the workshop, teachers will be ready to teach a robust unit on ocean acidification, local scientists will have had an opportunity to share their work and also gain some insights on reaching a broader audience, and participants will have deepened connections to colleagues and community members who share expertise on climate change and ocean acidification.
During the workshops teachers will work with other educators to plan for enhanced ways to teach climate science and about ocean acidification in their classroom. After the workshop educators will continue developing their plans for implementing climate change and ocean acidification education into their classrooms making use of BOATL materials (as they see fit for their classrooms). The BOATL team will be asking for feedback from teachers to aid in further refinement of BOATL teaching materials.
Location: Telonicher Marine Lab, Trinidad, CA
Dates: Two Saturdays- October 24th and November 14th, 2026, with additional independent study and/or classroom implementation
Time: 9:00 AM – 3:30 PM each day, with a working lunch, six hours of follow-up study and/or classroom implementation.
Audience: Middle & high school science teachers, preservice teachers, and graduate students (preservice teachers and graduate students please email Dr. Jeffrey White for a student application at jww12@humboldt.edu)
Questions: For additional information for specific questions, please email NHMeducation@humboldt.edu
