A $5,000 Ohio EPA environmental education mini-grant will help four more high schools in Ottawa and Wood
counties join schools already conducting water quality monitoring in the Portage River basin. Eleven
projects throughout the state were funded for $45,000.
The grant will fund sampling equipment and teacher training for the program. Participating teachers will
be certified with the Ohio EPA Division of Surface Water Volunteer Monitoring Program as level 1
qualified data collectors.
Students in biology and agricultural education classes will sample streams and present results to peers
at a student congress in May 2010. Students from Lakota and Genoa high schools, Fostoria St. Wendelin
and Lakota Middle School are joining the project this year. Other participating schools are Oak Harbor,
Van Buren and Elmwood high schools, Danbury and Eastwood middle schools and Woodmore’s sixth grade.
The grant was awarded to the Ottawa Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD). The Ottawa SWCD is
collaborating with the Wood SWCD, Toledo Metropolitan Council of Governments, Ohio Lake Erie Commission
and Bowling Green State University’s Center for Environment Programs.
The Ohio Environmental Education Fund gives out approximately $1 million each year for environmental
education projects targeting kindergarten through university students, the general public and the
regulated community. General grants are given for projects lasting up to 30 months and costing up to
$50,000.
Mini grants are available for projects lasting up to 12 months and costing between $500 and $5,000.
Proposals for classroom projects, conference speakers and other activities that are eligible under the
general grant program are eligible under the mini-grant program, but the application process is
streamlined.
Ohio EPA’s Office of Environmental Education reserves up to $45,000 each grant round to fund projects
submitted under the mini grant program. Just like the general grant program, there are two mini-grant
rounds each year, with the next application deadline on January 15, 2010. An electronic letter of intent
to apply is due on Jan. 8.
For more information, contact Ohio EPA’s Office of Environmental Education at (614) 644-2873. Staff is
available to assist potential grant applicants who contact the office before the submission deadline.
Information also is available on Ohio EPA’s Web page at http://www.epa.ohio.gov/oee.
