Dear friends, partners, sponsors and volunteers, The work we do is now more important than ever. The newly released Federal fiscal budget included massive cuts for education, environmental protection, science, STEM, the arts, after school programs and many other areas that will affect the education of our youth and the environmental quality of our blue planet. During the first quarter of 2017, we immersed over 1,600 students and 30 teachers of the Santa Barbara Channel Region in environmental sustainability through education, conservation, citizen science and activism. These students now are thinking globally and acting locally. However, under the new national policies, it will be even m

Proceeds will support our mission to protect the ocean by facilitating education, conservation, and scientific research opportunities to multicultural youth and their communities. We increase students' ocean and environmental literacy, their awareness of ocean-related issues, and their adoption of environmentally friendly practices, so that we all contribute to ocean protection. We also strive to motivate diverse youth to pursue Science, Technology, Engineering and Arts careers that relate to the ocean. More information about our organization. Come and paint with a twist with us for a great cause and help us cultivate youth’s knowledge, understanding and love for the environment and our ocea

On January 23, Rocío Lozano-Knowlton spoke as an invited panelist during the Equity, Inclusivity, and Diversity workshop on improving our Environmental Education practice at Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation in Santa Rosa, California. The Sonoma Environmental Education Collaborative (SEEC), a regional consortium of environmental education professionals from organizations, agencies, networks, and school districts led the workshop. Rocío spoke from experience and research about how to understand methods and best practices for effectively reaching and engaging traditionally disfranchised communities and their youth in resource protection in a manner that is consistent with the cultural context an

We initiated our MERITO Academy’s field studies season on February 23. In the last month we led, coordinated, co-sponsored, and co-instructed 8 meaningful field experiences for 440 4th-6th grade students who actively participated in on going scientific research and conservation and had fun along the way! From February 23 through March 10, students from the participating schools including Berrywoold Elementary (Simi Valley), Washington Elementary and Adelante Charter (Santa Barbara), and De Anza Academy of Technology and the Arts (DATA) from Ventura collected data on marine debris, water quality, sea bird populations, sandy beach and rocky intertidal habitats supporting on-going research and

Between Nov. 3, 2016 and Jan. 23, 2017 MERITO Foundation staff visited and presented at each of the 52 participating classrooms to over 1600 students. Because the way to teach is rapidly evolving, i.e. chalkboards have evolved into interactive whiteboards and the traditional globe is now staying behind, we demonstrate Earth processes to students participating in the EECCOA program using the Magic Planet as a teaching aide. It is a portable display that combines the power of 3D multimedia visualization, real-time satellite data and modeled data of processes such as ocean circulation, carbon dioxide concentrations, and carbon emissions per capita among many others. We used 3D watershed models

On Feb. 3, 2017 we held a teacher and volunteer naturalists professional development workshop focused on the content and instruction of our MERITO Academy and EECCOA curricula. MERITO Foundation staff, partners and expert guest speakers trained thirty teachers and five volunteer naturalists. Topics included teaching students how to calculate their personal Carbon Footprint, sandy beach and rocky intertidal monitoring, plant phenology and ocean currents. In collaboration with Ventura Water, all workshop participants learned and practiced how to conduct a water audit of their school campus (Ventura Water will be sponsoring the cash prizes for students of Ventura Unified School District partici

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We are pleased to introduce Jill Sarick Santos and Jennifer Eggersten, our two new board members. We look forward to working with these two inspiring women. Jill Sarick Santos has been in environmental education and outreach for the last two decades. Originally from north central Pennsylvania, Jill has a degree in Parks and Recreation and about to complete her master’s degree in Resilient and Sustainable Communities. Among other accomplishments, she created the first water conservation rebate program; implemented a successful food waste-composting program, and developed k-12 STEM curriculum and service-learning activities while working for the City of Ventura as an Environmental Specialist.