CMSCE has leveraged their expertise in pedagogical practices in STEM to work with leading experts from around Rutgers in climate change to create resources for k-12 educators. Rutgers University, New Jersey Audubon, Lower Raritan Watershed Partnership, and Raritan Headwaters have been awarded one of the NJDOE Climate Change Grants - Expanding Access to Climate Change and NJ Student Learning Through Climate Change Learning Collaborative. The overarching goals and expectations of this grant program are to:
Establish a statewide network to support LEAs in implementing climate change education through the creation of a Central NJ CCLC at Rutgers-NB, with the support of CBOs NJ Audubon, Raritan Headwaters, and Lower Raritan Watershed Partnership to engage in place-based environmental education in each region.
The CCLC at Rutgers University serves the following New Jersey counties: Hunterdon, Middlesex, and Somerset.
Upcoming Climate Change PD
Teachers and administrators from New Jersey public schools are eligible to attend Climate Change Learning Collaborative events and use services provided by the Climate Change Learning Collaborative. PDs are sponsored by the NJDOE Climate Change Grant allowing for the PDs to be free of charge. Please make sure to register for any of the PDs you would like to attend.
To register, click : PD for Teachers
Teachers from New Jersey public schools are eligible to receive a stipend for attending Climate Change Learning Collaborative events outside contracted hours and substitute teacher coverage for attending Climate Change Learning Collaborative events held during contracted hours. Teachers will be required to complete a post-event survey to receive a stipend or substitute teacher coverage. If you have any questions please email climatechangeeducation@docs.rutgers.edu.
Please note there are several PDs that are repeated to give access to as many teachers. Make sure when signing up you have not previously attended the PD. If you have any questions don't hesitate to reach out to us.
| Date | Time | Title | Description | Location |
September 23, 2025 Full | 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm | Placed based Learning: Climate Change & Impact on Birds | How climate change impacts birds and migration in New Jersey and how students can make a difference. | Virtual |
| September 24, 2025 | 10:00 am - 2:00 pm | Climate 101 & Wildfires | This workshop will prepare teachers of all subject areas to teach Climate Change Standards that are required in NJ. Through this PD, teachers will get an overview of climate change and the newest research/data that Rutgers has to share for NJ. We will also cover how climate change can affect wildfires in New Jersey though changes to rainfall and how we can address wildfire challenges. | Rutgers Campus |
| September 30, 2025 | 9:00 am - 12:00 pm | NJ’s Water Resources and Our Changing Climate | Greatly overlooked but essential for all aspects of our lives, our local and regional water supply requires consistent assessment of quantity and quality, especially as our changing climate impacts both. Climate change in our region has led to extreme variability in the precipitation, thus impacting our water supply. This data-driven and problem-based workshop will explore engaging instructional resources to challenge students to critically think about their water supply now and into the future. | Rutgers Campus |
| October 2, 2025 | 9:00 am - 2:00 pm | Place-Based Learning: Scherman Hoffman | An experiential learning experience for K-12 teachers to consider the effects of climate change on the land, water, and air quality. Using engaging activities, we will explore the intersection of human activity and climate change, including the impacts of severe weather events and storm water runoff, the human health effects of air pollution, and how birds and other animals are affected by increasing temperatures and changing habitats. | Scherman Hoffman |
| October 3, 2025 | 10:00 am - 1:00 pm | Currents of Change: Ecology by Kayak | Join us for a workshop that brings science and history to life—by kayak! Paddling along the South Branch of the Raritan River, educators will explore the interconnected stories of creatures large and small, from American eels to benthic macroinvertebrates and algae, as well as the lasting impact of dams on aquatic ecosystems. Through hands-on water sampling, species identification, and historical site exploration, teachers will gain practical tools to integrate environmental science, local history, and sustainability into their curriculum. This workshop emphasizes place-based learning and real-world connections to their local watershed. | South Branch Raritan River |
| October 7, 2025 | 9:00 am - 2:00 pm | Place-Based Learning: Scherman Hoffman | An experiential learning experience for K-12 teachers to consider the effects of climate change on the land, water, and air quality. Using engaging activities, we will explore the intersection of human activity and climate change, including the impacts of severe weather events and storm water runoff, the human health effects of air pollution, and how birds and other animals are affected by increasing temperatures and changing habitats. | Scherman Hoffman |
| October 13, 2025 | 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm | Impacts on Human & Public Health of Climate Change | We will cover basic concepts, definitions and known and potential impacts on human/public health of climate change including extreme weather events and natural disasters. We will include two major interactive activities, with handouts and Mentimeter polling, both of which teachers could use or modify for use with minors and adults (students and other teachers and staff or even parents) at their districts/schools. Topics include sustainability, climate change and energy/water efficiency and conservation plus the connections among these topics and with human health at individual and community level. | Math & Science Learning Center, Rutgers University |
| October 28, 2025 | Place-Based Learning: Scherman Hoffman | 9:00 am - 2:00 pm | An experiential learning experience for K-12 teachers to consider the effects of climate change on the land, water, and air quality. Using engaging activities, we will explore the intersection of human activity and climate change, including the impacts of severe weather events and storm water runoff, the human health effects of air pollution, and how birds and other animals are affected by increasing temperatures and changing habitats. | Scherman Hoffman |
| November 17, 2025 | Impacts on Human & Public Health of Climate Change | 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm | We will cover basic concepts, definitions and known and potential impacts on human/public health of climate change including extreme weather events and natural disasters. We will include two major interactive activities, with handouts and Mentimeter polling, both of which teachers could use or modify for use with minors and adults (students and other teachers and staff or even parents) at their districts/schools. Topics include sustainability, climate change and energy/water efficiency and conservation plus the connections among these topics and with human health at individual and community level. | Math & Science Learning Center, Rutgers University |
The Rutgers University Climate Change Learning Collaborative is funded by a grant from the New Jersey Department of Education. This material and any opinions, results, conclusions, or recommendations expressed within are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the New Jersey Department of Education nor constitute an endorsement thereof.
Climate Change Learning Collaboratives
Looking for more support, information, and resources to Climate Change Education check out the following sites.
LEAs District Partners
Dunellen Public Schools Somerville Public School District Sayreville School District
Climate Change PD Reviews & Feedback
Rutgers Today - Rutgers Partners with New Jersey Schools to Develop Historic Climate Change Curriculum
NJ Spotlight News - Climate Change: Rutgers helps teachers to include it in curriculum
NorthJersey.com -Climate Change is now part of NJ school curricula. Rutgers shares its resources.
The Daily Targum - NJ First Lady Tammy Murphy visits U., speaks to public school teachers about climate education
Feedback from our April 27, 2023 Climate Change Workshop:
A NJ High School teacher said "Thank you so much for hosting an amazing event. I have been teaching a bit, and sometimes I can be jaded about workshops and conferences, my standard for success is if I have a meaningful takeaway, and yesterday I had a ton of takeaways, I am very grateful for the live document (that is brilliant) and even with that, I have 4 pages of ideas I wrote down during the workshop. The content was very meaningful and will be changing the content I am working on for the rest of the year, and how I will be doing things next year. Seeing different disciplines each talk about the same graph left me gobsmacked. That was a wow, and I hope that it was filmed, and can be put as a vignette on youtube or somewhere other platform."