AUBURN, ME – The Onion Foundation’s Environment Program wrapped its latest grant cycle by awarding 21 grants to nature-learning organizations across the state. Grant awards for this cycle total $664,000 and will be dispersed to organizations in 13 counties.

The foundation’s nature-learning strategy, led by program officer Rosalind Erwin, supports science-based programs that give Maine youth access to high-quality outdoor education. Public funding for these programs has dwindled in recent years, creating challenges for educators who strive to integrate nature learning into everyday instruction.

This latest round of grant awards shows that, despite the hurdles in their way, nature-learning nonprofits and their school-based partners are continuing to build a robust array of educational programs that are engaging students across the state. They’re responding to challenges with adaptability and collaboration, while working to expand access to an increasing number of youth.

“Some of these organizations are facing intense headwinds, but they’re more creative and scrappier than ever,” says Erwin. “This docket illustrates the wide variety of offerings and program models organizations are adopting to maintain — and even expand — their impact.”

The Boothbay Sea and Science Center, for example, has begun partnering with members of the Piscataquis Environmental Education Cooperative — a collaborative of nonprofits 130 miles away from Boothbay — to connect educational programs from the woods to the ocean.

With support from the Rural Aspirations Project, the Wild Seed Project is organizing a peer-support cohort to help past participants of the native plant teacher training program take their learning to the next level with implementation in their schools. To make their program more sustainable, ReTreeUS has established caretaker positions at participating schools to maintain school orchards and food forests and lead nature-learning instruction in these spaces.

These examples underscore the creative ways nature-learning organizations are helping schools and educators offer place-based programs that fully engage students and are rooted in Maine. The Onion Foundation is proud to support the critical environmental sector with this latest round of grant awards.