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Representatives of three U.S. federal agencies that support informal science education will address the ISE Summit on Friday, March 5, in Washington, D.C.. Richard Spinrad, Ph.D., is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's assistant administrator for Research, which has the role of providing unbiased science to better manage the environment, nationally and globally.

According to a NOAA spokesperson, "Engaging the minds and spirit of the public and inspiring our next generation of scientists is not only good for NOAA, it's essential for the Nation's economic competitiveness and growth and for fostering environmental literacy and stewardship. Through partnerships with museums, aquariums, planetariums, zoos, and other informal science education institutions, NOAA's exciting advances in climate science, ocean exploration and research, atmospheric science, and weather reach the public and provide informal science education sites with access to real-time data."

Here are some NOAA-ISE partnership highlights:

• Last year, NOAA and the Exploratorium initiated a model collaboration, whereby NOAA scientists will work hand-in-hand with Exploratorium museum professionals to create hands-on exhibits for all of NOAA science.
• NOAA is a chief partner with the Smithsonian National Museum of National History on their 23,000 square-foot Ocean Hall.
• NOAA's Science On a Sphere, a six-foot glowing replica of the dynamic Earth system, now reaches over 15 million visitors annually at its 47 museum installations worldwide.
• NOAA's collaboration with Google will provide one-click access to views of NOAA’s data of Earth’s ocean, coasts, Great Lakes, ocean exploration missions, and more.

These are just four examples of NOAA's commitment to improving environmental literacy. Partnerships with informal science education institutions are supported through NOAA’s environmental literacy program. Find out more about NOAA's informal science efforts at NOAA's Office of Education.