Greenpeace - is an independent, campaigning organisation which uses non-violent, creative confrontation to expose global environmental problems, and to force the solutions which are essential to a green and peaceful future.

Izaak Walton League- An organization dedicated to promoting conservation of the natural environment. This is the parent organization for the Save Our Streams program.

The Leopold Education Project  is an innovative, interdisciplinary, critical thinking, conservation and environmental education curriculum based on the classic writings of the renowned conservationist, Aldo Leopold. 

Magic Eyes Chao Phraya Barge Program, based in Bangkok this group provides training and river trips for all of South East Asia using its barge on the Chao Phraya river.

National Audubon Society - a birding organization with a strong emphasis on habitats. Also has a site specifically for kids

 

National Resource Defense Council (NRDC) uses law, science, and the support of more than 500,000 members nationwide to protect the planet's wildlife and wild places and to ensure a safe and healthy environment  for all living things.  NRDC Study of Bottled Water  is an important one to read.
 

National Wildlife Federation has a large collection of proactive things people can do to help the environment.
 

National Park Service - runs our National Parks. Their site contains park, history, and wildlife information, as well as news on their current activities.
 

Nature Conservancy -is "Nature's real estate agent." That's The Nature Conservancy. Among environmental organizations, we fill a unique niche: preserving habitats and species by buying the lands and waters they need to survive.

 

National River Cleanup Week  occurs each May and is sponsored by many environmental groups across the USA. Your school or organization can join and report the cleaning of your local river.

The North American Benthological Society is an organization whose members promote better understanding of the biotic communities of lake and stream bottoms and their role in aquatic ecosystems. The Education section has numerous links to other sites with many slides, pictures and videos on bottom dwelling invertebrates. 

The Orion Society - An organization dedicated to promoting environmental grassroots communications and support.
 

Physicians for Social Responsibility   represents more than 20,000 physicians, nurses, health care professionals, and concerned citizens devoted to nuclear disarmament, violence prevention and environmental health.
 

Rails to Trails Conservancy  and the Conservation Fund provide technical assistance, information resources and referrals to trail and greenway advocates and developers.

River and Watershed Conservation Directory Lists all known organizations that deal with rivers and watersheds.  
 

Scenic America is the only national non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and enhancing the scenic character of Americas. 
 

Stormwater Manager’s Resource Center has links to everything you need to know about stormwater and the NPDSA regulations.
 

Sierra Club - An organization dedicated to promoting conservation of the natural environment.
 

Soil and Water Conservation Society - Information on soil, water and other natural resources. Lots of other links.

Terrene Institute - An organization dedicated to promoting the protection of our environment and natural resources through education and public outreach materials.
 

Union of Concerned Scientists - Research and information on environmental issues with a great deal of information on global warming and biodiversity.

 

US Public Interest Research Group - Research and information on environmental issues.

Visible Earth is NASA’s searchable directory of images, visualizations, and animations of the Earth.

The Water Keeper Alliance is an organization of river stewards across the country.  Founded on the Hudson River in New York, the local chapters advocate for their water body or river.
 

World Resources Institute - (WRI) is an organization whose mission is to move human society to live in ways that protect the Earth's environment and its capacity to provide for the needs and aspirations of current and future generations.

 

World Resources  regularly reports on the status of the environment. Go to Earth Trends to find the latest yearly report on the status of water, climate, biodiversity and others. 

The Water Environment Federation (WEF)  is one of the preeminent organizations dedicated to the preservation and enhancement of the global water environment. Members are those professionals from business, industry and government who deal primarily with wastewater treatment. They have a good educational program.
 

The Xerces Society - The only environmental organization focused on invertebrates. It is named after the first butterfly known to become extinct in North America.

 

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State Environmental Organizations

Big Rivers is a magazine about the Upper Mississippi River. Connections can be made to other sites and to their calendar of Upper Mississippi River Events

Chicago Wilderness - Is an organization of 54 Chicago area groups working together as stewards for 200,000 acres of natural areas in the metropolitan area.

Chicago Paddling is one of the foremost canoeing sites with lots of information for area canoeists.

Cyberways and Waterways brings together the best of the best in education, technology, marine and aquatic science, and the private sector to deliver a high profile program for all participating schools. This pilot program is an innovative online and field study learning program that offers students
and teachers an unprecedented opportunity to study and electronically visualize Texas watersheds from school grounds, streams and rivers to the Flower Gardens coral reef, 110 miles offshore in the Gulf of Mexico.

ECOWATCH The Illinois Department of Natural Resources has developed a program for volunteers to monitor forests, prairies, soils, streams, wetlands, and  urban ecosystems.  This program is related to Plan It Illinois.

Ed.Web visitors can access maps, general information about the Delaware River Watershed, educational resources and lesson plans, environmental field trip ideas, and educational opportunities.

Choose Environmental Excellence - Gateway Region  lists St. Louis area recycling information along with information on water, air and other areas of pollution concern.

Friends of the Chicago River is probably the best river support organization in America. Chris Parsons runs the education program and can be reached through the web site.

Friends of the Mississippi River- A St. Paul based organization that serves to nurture and improve the Mississippi River. For the time being it is focused in the MN area.

Grants from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources

The Illinois EPA has (LEAP) grants that support teachers in lake monitoring. Proposals can be submitted twice a year.   Proposals can be submitted for amounts up to $500

Illinois Watershed Maps are available free.  Other Illinois maps are also available.

The Illinois Natural History Survey  has documentation on the mussels of Illinois going back 175 years.  Mussels across the state are becoming endangered and dramatic declines in the 79 known species are being noted.  Curator Kevin Cummings has placed pictures of mussels found in the collections.  Links to other sites are also available.

Illinois Natural History, a web site showcasing the native and established exotic plants of Illinois has just been added to the Illinois Natural History Survey website. The site currently has approximately 500 species of plants.   

The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District has a variety of educational programs including ones in  storm stenciling, household waste management, a web site of kids activities and other educational efforts.

Missouri Stream Teams: The Missouri Stream teams program is one of the best volunteer monitoring programms in the country.

The Mississippi River Museum is located in Dubuque, Iowa.  The Museum keeps getting bigger and better as does the web site.  Any historical study of rivers should involve a stop here.

The New York Department of Environmental Conservation has a great set of pictures of benthic invertebrates and an identification key.

New York State Federation of Lake Associations, Inc. has a great set of additional links to water related sites.  Click on Aquatic Ecology Links for that list.

For those who live along the Ohio River, the ORSANCO  web site is important.  Schools that belong to the organization find support for monitoring the Ohio and tributaries. 

Prairie Rivers Network  strives to protect the rivers and streams of Illinois and to promote the lasting health and beauty of watershed communities.  If you want to know about Illinois Rivers this is the group.

Prairie State Canoeists

Save the Illinois River, Inc. (STIR) from Tahlequah. The Illinois River in Oklahoma is a designated Oklahoma Scenic River.

Univ. of Arizona - An impressive array of web links to water related organizations.

The State of Wisconsin has a great web site called Give Water a Hand. 

The University of Rhode Island has an interesting web site that will introduce you to the science and uses of Sound in the Sea.

URI Watershed Watch - focuses on the protection of Rhode Island's water resources.

The Urban Ecology Institute  works to promote the health of urban ecosystems through research, education, and advocacy.  UEI's Urban Ecology Field Studies Program works with public middle and high school teachers and students in long-term, hands-on environmental field studies at urban sites throughout the Boston area and will soon be expanded for national use.  Current studies include water quality, avian diversity,  social ecology, and coyote, crow, and turtle behavior studies using radio telemetry.  UEI's Natural Cities Program is developing a national model for linking community-based research with advocacy to understand, protect, and restore urban ecosystems by investigating the intersection of ecological and social concerns to identify critical resources and develop plans for their protection.
 

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Environmental Education

Adopt-A-Watershed provides schools with an integrated, sequential, K-12 science curriculum focused on the local environment and emphasizing service in partnership with the community.

American Meteorological Society  has a great site called WES or Water in the Earth System.  The site has information and links to everything you will need to know about water.

Busy Teachers Web Site - Has many environmental resources and crosslinks to organizations in every state.

COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS AT CIESE (Center for Improved Engineering & Science Education at Stevens Institute of Technology) offers collaborative projects on a variety of subjects including human genetics, water use, water quality, boiling points, sunlight and temperature, pond organisms and schoolyard habitats.

Caretakers of the Environment is an international educational organization for students.  Annual meetings are scheduled around the world. 

Conservation Technology Information Center has a game to teach about water quality and the environment. This game is in full color with audio and animation and can be used on Mac, Windows 3.1, and Windows95. Very creative, colorful, & wonderful site!
 

The Environmental Education Network - has lots of links to environmental activities and curricula.
 

Earthsystems - is a non-profit organization expressly dedicated to the advancement of environmental information and education to the world community.

 

The Electronic Green Journal  provides peer-reviewed articles, book reviews, news, and information on current printed and electronic sources concerning international environmental topics
 

E magazine - This magazine, and website, is dedicated to environmental issues and causes. The web site contains many useful resources for teachers and students alike.
 

Environmental Education on the Internet - Environmental resources on the internet with crosslinks to every state.
 

The Environmental Education Association of Illinois Promotes environmental eduction in Illinois
 

Environmental Resources Training Center Trains high school graduates in water /wastewater operators and plumbers. Most graduates go on to work with municipalities.
 

Earth Force: Global Rivers Environmental Education Network -- Watershed education and action program incorporating hands-on, scientific learning with civic action for young people. Program participants assess the health of their local watershed and develop a sustainable plan to improve water quality in their community.

Healthy Water, Healthy People is a national water quality education program offered to secondary and upper elementary teachers with innovative, interactive activities developed under the same format as Project Wet.

The Hillsdale-Lenawee-Monroe Mathematics, Science & Technology Center  has developed a great web site. Check out Tom Green’s work with water quality, prairies, virtual tours of a marsh and lots of information about frogs and other amphibians. 

KanCRN (Kansas Collaborative Research Network) includes an impressive number of sophisticated programs such as monitoring of ozone, streams, wintering birds, and lichen coverage. The program was established with a 1998 US Department of Education Technology Innovation Challenge Grant. The Kansas City Kansas Public Schools is the local education agency for the grant.

Kentucky Water Watch and Student Testing Programs - Student sites for river monitoring.

The Leaf Pack Network (LPN) - is a pilot project of the Stroud Water Research Center. Currently, the network involves groups of teachers and students throughout the Schuylkill River Watershed in Pennsylvania and the Catskills and Croton Watersheds in New York, each using the Leaf Pack Experiment Kit from LaMotte Company to investigate local stream ecology. They will share their data on the Stroud Water Research Center’s website. These data shed light on the important connection between streamside forests and the ecology of rivers and streams.

National Science Resource Center - Sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and the National Academy of Sciences, this site has multiple information for both teachers and students.

National Wildlife Federation Water Ed The National Wildlife week 2000, Water for Life: Keep the Wild Alive, consists of ten lesson plans.  The lessons are on the web site for you to download. 

National Environmental Education and Training Foundation (NEETF) - This organization conducts a survey each year. The National Report Card on Environmental Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors is reported.

The National Hydropower Association  has developed a water related curriculum called “Water Works: A Question of Balance”. The activities offer students an opportunity to explore how "Water Works". In the United States, about 12% of our electricity is generated by hydropower. 

The National Marine Educators Association  provides educational materials and contacts for the known world of water, both fresh and salt.

The Pacific Institute  has created the Water and Climate Bibliography, a searchable database containing over 3,000 references to climate change and its impact on fresh water.

Project Learning Tree - is an interdisciplinary supplementary environmental and conservation program for educators of kindergarten through high school aged young people.  The focus of the activities remains on the living wild flora, especially, trees.

Project Wet - An inter-disciplinary environmental education curriculum organization dedicated to the study of water.

Project Wild - is an interdisciplinary supplementary environmental and conservation program for educators of kindergarten through high school aged young people.  The focus of the activities remains on the living wild fauna.

River Resources - A place where students of rivers can explore river resources. Connections to facts, books, and people. An interdisciplinary resource that encourages students to study all aspects of rivers including literature, folklore, history, ecology, and music.

Rivers of Life is a flood of projects, adventures, and resources to help K-12 teachers and students learn about and from their watershed.  River of Life is housed at Hamlin University in St. Paul, MN.  It has focused much effort on the Mississippi but has other web based programs for teachers and students.  Lots of good links too.

SPLASHD (Students in a Project-Based Learning Approach to Schoolyard Habitat Development) ONLINE  includes a large number of projects at different grade levels such as investigating the schoolyard habitat, identifying animal signs and soil types, measuring air quality, surface temperatures and lung capacity, and determining the physical and chemical weathering of different substances. SPLASHD is an activity of the St. Clair County Regional Office of Education in Illinois.

The US EPA invites teachers to participate in the Environmental Youth Award Program.  Recognize your efforts and accomplishments.  Each region gives the award.  Award applications for Region V are available at

The US Fish and Wildlife Service has a totally cool, LIVE interactive distance learning satellite adventure that takes a look at invasive species that are impacting our ecosystems.

University of Wisconsin Extension has a web site that lists most of the Environmental Education curricula available. Much information can be garnered from this site.

The University of Wisconsin  Extension program has an extensive web site that provides information about water quality and natural resources education programs in Wisconsin.

Urbana Middle School WaterWorks One great program with inner city middle schools kids. Check out the work that Gary carries on through the year.

The Volunteer Monitor newsletter is an EPA sponsored publication that helps share information with groups who monitor.  The newsletter is available electronically.