Educational Programs

Students learning through hands-on classroom activities Courtesy: Save The Bay

Education is the powerful tool our society uses to communicate knowledge and skills. In addition to participating in classroom lessons, people must explore their local environments and habitats in order to acquire environmental knowledge and skills. Rhode Island's coastal habitats are dynamic, 'living' classrooms. They offer students invaluable exposure to the complexities and wonders of nature, as well as to the natural and man-made forces that threaten them.

With the right skills, people can become involved with the protection and restoration of their local habitats. Through environmental education, people both young and old, become empowered to act on behalf of the environment.

Listed below are various environmental education programs in Rhode Island.

Save The Bay Education Programs 434 Smith Street Providence, RI 02908-3770 401-272-3504 savebay@savebay.org -- Information on the education program at Save The Bay with links to various educational programs.	Office of Marine Programs University of Rhode Island Narragansett, RI 02882-1197 401-874-6211 OMP@gso.uri.edu -- Education page of the Office of Marine Programs with links to the Education Resource Center and other educational programs.
Discovery of RI Coastal Environments Office of Marine Programs University of Rhode Island Narragansett, RI 02882-1197 401-874-6211 -- Virtual field trip to four coastal ecosystems and links to other educational resources.	Audubon Society of Rhode Island - Education Department 12 Sanderson Road Smithfield, RI 02917-2600 401-949-5454 Audubon_ri@ids.net -- Audubon Society of Rhode Island (ASRI) Education Department homepage with information on available environmental education resources.
Audubon Society of Rhode Island - Education Center 1401 Hope Street Bristol, RI 02809 401-245-7500 -- Information about and directions to Rhode Island's largest aquarium, located on a national wildlife refuge.	The Nature Conservancy Rhode Island Chapter 159 Waterman Street Providence, RI 02906 401-331-7110 jash@tnc.org -- Program information and information about protecting natural habitats.
Norman Bird Sanctuary 583 Third Beach Road Middletown, RI 02842 Fred Orwiler, Education Coordinator -- Information about the Norman Bird Sanctuary with links to individual, family, and group programs.	Rhode Island Chapter Surfrider Foundation P.O. Box 43 Narragansett, RI 02882 rhodeisland@surfrider.org -- Information about water quality program and link to the National Surfrider education page.
Friends of the National Wildlife Refuges of Rhode Island P.O. Box 553 Charlestown, RI 02813 -- Information about the National Wildlife Refuges of Rhode Island with link to education page about the Rhode Island Piping Plover Restoration and Education Project.	Salt Ponds Coalition Box 875 Charlestown, RI 02813 Vic Dvorak, Executive Director 401-322-3068 -- A focal point for programs designed to preserve the nine coastal salt ponds along Rhode Island's Atlantic coastline.
Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed Associationn 203b Arcadia Road Hope Valley, RI 02832 info@wpwa.org 401-322-3068 -- Educational programs for schools and other groups on watersheds, water quality, and biological sampling.

This site was created through a partnership of the: Coastal Resources Management Council Narragansett Bay Estuary Program Save The Bay®