PD for teachers

Directions for Registration: If you are planning to pay by PO please make sure to register through our system first, otherwise you will not be taken into the enrollment count. You are able to put in a 0 if you do not have a PO number yet and once you have the PO please email this to us to md1441@docs.rutgers.edu or if you have any questions. 

Location of PD: All participants will receive an email the week prior to the PD to inform you of the location of the PD. Please don't follow the location that was given in your registration because that may change due to ability to book a room. If you do not receive an email a week prior to the PD please reach out bkk34@docs.rutgers.edu for assistance. 

Sometimes we have to cancel an event. If you do not receive an email prior to the event about cancellation or confirmation, please check your spam box then reach out to md1441@docs.rutgers.edu

 

 

Workshops

Wed, May 28, 2025 - Thu, May 29, 2025
All day
Instructor: Chris Anderson, Eddie Cohen & Brielle Kociolek
Cost: $250
Location: Rutgers LLC

2-Day OpenSciEd Launch

Rutgers CMSCE is offering a 2-day OpenSciEd launch workshop for Middle & High School teachers, coaches, administrators, and other team members who are in the process of adopting OpenSciEd. Participants will take part in the 2-day launch to learn about the pedagogy of OpenSciEd, including phenomena, storyline, coherence, sensemaking discussions, and assessment. During the 2-days participants will get opportunities to experience different elements from several middle and high school units.


 

Wed, Jun 11, 2025
6:00pm - 8:00pm
Instructor: Roberta Hunter & Allison Mulch (NJ Audubon)
Cost: Free
Location: Virtual 

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.

FYI: K-5th grade Teachers
This PD is only open to New Jersey Public School Teachers and is sponsored by the NJDOE Climate Change Grant allowing for there to be no charge for the PD. Stipends are available for NJ Public School Teachers at $50 an hour for non-contractual hours, or sub-pay is available for contractual hours at $62.50 for a half day and $125 for a full day.
Mon, Jun 23, 2025
9:00am - 3:00pm
Instructor: Missy Holzer & Heather Fenyk (Lower Raritan Watershed Partnership)
Cost: Free
Location: AM - Rutgers Boat House, 5 Memorial Pkwy New Brunswick , NJ 08901    PM - Morgan Marina

From Land to Water: Water health in time of climate change

What we do on land does not stay on land. The choices we make on what we do on our property can impact the waters nearby as rain and runoff pick-up and move pollutants from their point of origin to our waterways. In a time of climate change when precipitation is highly variable these pollutants are more likely to affect our local and regional water quality. Join us for a tour of New Brunswick infrastructure and landscape and a boat trip on the Raritan River to learn more about how we monitor water quality in general and pathogen monitoring more specifically, and about solutions to divert the pollutants from our waterways. This full-day workshop will be followed up with a webinar (August 14th, 4PM EDT) to explore instructional resources related to the Lower Raritan watershed, and water quality monitoring. 

FYI: K-5th grade Teachers
This PD is only open to New Jersey Public School Teachers and is sponsored by the NJDOE Climate Change Grant allowing for there to be no charge for the PD. Stipends are available for NJ Public School Teachers at $50 an hour for non-contractual hours, or sub-pay is available for contractual hours at $62.50 for a half day and $125 for a full day.
Thu, Jun 26, 2025
3:30pm - 5:30pm
Instructor: James Shope & Eddie Cohen
Cost: Free
Location: Virtual

Climate 101

Prepare Teachers of All Subject Areas to teach Climate Change Standards that are required in NJ! With the adoption of the NJ Climate Change Standards you may be wondering how to implement them into your classroom or wanting a better understanding of climate change. Through this PD you will get an overview of climate change and the newest research/data that Rutgers has to with NJ specific data.

FYI: 6th-12th grade Teachers
This PD is only open to New Jersey Public School Teachers and is sponsored by the NJDOE Climate Change Grant allowing for there to be no charge for the PD. Stipends are available for NJ Public School Teachers at $50 an hour for non-contractual hours, or sub-pay is available for contractual hours at $62.50 for a half day and $125 for a full day.
Thu, Jul 10, 2025
9:00am - 11:30am
Instructor: Christine Morales
Cost: Free
Location: Rutgers Lifelong Learning Center

Dealing with Climate Emotions

We described/defined various climate emotions and offered strategies for students and teachers on how to manage those feelings. We help teachers and students identify feelings, normalize the feelings, and give examples of youth advocating for climate justice.

FYI: K-8th grade teachers and admin
This PD is only open to New Jersey Public School Teachers and is sponsored by the NJDOE Climate Change Grant allowing for there to be no charge for the PD. Stipends are available for NJ Public School Teachers at $50 an hour for non-contractual hours, or sub-pay is available for contractual hours at $62.50 for a half day and $125 for a full day.
Thu, Jul 10, 2025
12:30pm - 2:30pm
Instructor: Eddie Cohen & Brielle Kociolek
Cost: Free
Location: Rutgers Lifelong Learning Center 

Project Based Learning: Year 2

This will build off of Year 1 Introduction to Project Based Learning PD and provide you with the chance to continue working on Climate PBLs for your curriculum. Come with lessons, activities, and ideas on how to integrate climate change into the classroom. We are going to be working as teams in the STEM or Humanities areas to share what we have been doing in the classroom, as well as the chance to work on a new climate curriculum. Rutgers faculty will be supporting this work as well. We will also be showcasing our lending library and all the materials you have assess to be able to use with your curriculum.

FYI: K-8th grade Teachers and Admin
This PD is only open to New Jersey Public School Teachers and is sponsored by the NJDOE Climate Change Grant allowing for there to be no charge for the PD. Stipends are available for NJ Public School Teachers at $50 an hour for non-contractual hours, or sub-pay is available for contractual hours at $62.50 for a half day and $125 for a full day.
Mon, Jul 14, 2025
9:30am - 2:00pm
Instructor: James Shope, Brielle Kociolek, & Eddie Cohen
Cost: Free
Location: Rutgers Snyder Research Farm, 140 Locust Grove RdPittstown, NJ 08867

Place Based Learning at the Rutgers Snyder Research Farm

Climate Change, Farming, & Solar! Teachers will explore the effects of shifting climate patterns on agriculture and renewable energy, getting an overview of climate change data and research. Then teachers will have the opportunity to tour the Rutgers Snyder Research Farm. During the tour, we will also be stopping at the Solar panels that have been placed on the farm and are part of the Rutgers Agrivoltaics Program. Part of the research team from the Rutgers Agrivoltaics Program will be there to present on the research taking place at several of Rutgers’s farms with solar panels, including A.J Both (Extension Specialist, Department of Environmental Science), Peter J. Nitzsche (Director, Snyder Research and Extension Farm), and James Schope (Assistant Extension Specialist, Department of Environmental Science). There will be a focus on blue/green jobs in the solar industry and farming, if 1% of the United States farms had solar systems, that would be enough to power the US!

FYI: 3rd - 12th grade Teachers
This PD is only open to New Jersey Public School Teachers and is sponsored by the NJDOE Climate Change Grant allowing for there to be no charge for the PD. Stipends are available for NJ Public School Teachers at $50 an hour for non-contractual hours, or sub-pay is available for contractual hours at $62.50 for a half day and $125 for a full day.
Tue, Aug 12, 2025
9:00am - 3:00pm
Instructor: Missy Holzer & Heather Fenyk (Lower Raritan Watershed Partnership)
Cost: Free
Location: AM - Rutgers Boat House, 5 Memorial Pkwy New Brunswick , NJ 08901    PM - Morgan Marina

From Land to Water: Water health in time of climate change

What we do on land does not stay on land. The choices we make on what we do on our property can impact the waters nearby as rain and runoff pick-up and move pollutants from their point of origin to our waterways. In a time of climate change when precipitation is highly variable these pollutants are more likely to affect our local and regional water quality. Join us for a tour of New Brunswick infrastructure and landscape and a boat trip on the Raritan River to learn more about how we monitor water quality in general and pathogen monitoring more specifically, and about solutions to divert the pollutants from our waterways. This full-day workshop will be followed up with a webinar (August 14th, 4PM EDT) to explore instructional resources related to the Lower Raritan watershed, and water quality monitoring. 

FYI: 6th - 12th grade Teachers
This PD is only open to New Jersey Public School Teachers and is sponsored by the NJDOE Climate Change Grant allowing for there to be no charge for the PD. Stipends are available for NJ Public School Teachers at $50 an hour for non-contractual hours, or sub-pay is available for contractual hours at $62.50 for a half day and $125 for a full day.
Tue, Aug 19, 2025
9:00am - 11:00am
Instructor: Carrie Ferraro
Cost: Free
Location: Rutgers Lifelong Learning Center

Bridging the Past and Present

This workshop empowers middle school educators to integrate climate change education into social studies by connecting historical lessons from ancient civilizations to contemporary environmental challenges. Through examples and workshop discussions, participants will collaborate with facilitators and each other to identify strategies, resources, and interdisciplinary approaches that foster critical thinking about sustainability, resilience, and the human-environment connection. Attendees will be equipped to inspire students to draw meaningful parallels between historical events and our shared responsibility for a sustainable future.

FYI: 6th - 8th grade Teachers
This PD is only open to New Jersey Public School Teachers and is sponsored by the NJDOE Climate Change Grant allowing for there to be no charge for the PD. Stipends are available for NJ Public School Teachers at $50 an hour for non-contractual hours, or sub-pay is available for contractual hours at $62.50 for a half day and $125 for a full day.
Tue, Aug 19, 2025
12:00pm - 2:00pm
Instructor: Carrie Ferraro, Ravit Duncan, & Cristina Marte
Cost: Free
Location: Rutgers Lifelong Learning Center 

Healing justice: Centering Care in the Struggle to Fight Climate Change

Young people are among the more vulnerable groups to the impacts of climate change. Even those students who have not been directly affected by climate change may struggle emotionally when learning about climate change and its impacts. In this workshop we draw on the healing justice framework with its emphasis on self-expression through art and storytelling. We will focus on strategies, in particular movement-based approaches, for creating learning environments that center care and support students in finding the power and joy to fight climate change

FYI: 3rd - 12th grade Teachers and Admin
This PD is only open to New Jersey Public School Teachers and is sponsored by the NJDOE Climate Change Grant allowing for there to be no charge for the PD. Stipends are available for NJ Public School Teachers at $50 an hour for non-contractual hours, or sub-pay is available for contractual hours at $62.50 for a half day and $125 for a full day.
Tue, Aug 26, 2025
9:00am - 12:00pm
Instructor: Lauren Theis ( Raritan Headwaters)
Cost: Free
Location: Raritan Headwaters, Fairview Farm, Wildlife Preserve 2121 Larger Cross RoadGladstone , NJ 07934

Beavers & Eels: Engineering in the Natural World

Dive into the fascinating lives of two often-overlooked yet ecologically vital species—the American beaver and the American eel—in this hands-on workshop. Participants will explore how beavers shape landscapes and create habitats that can benefit entire ecosystems, while also learning about the extraordinary migratory journey of eels and their role in freshwater biodiversity. Participants will visit Fairview Farm Wildlife Preserve and observe an active beaver habitat, and observe live aquatic creatures as we gather data from an eel ladder and eel mop. This workshop blends science, history, and environmental stewardship to inspire student curiosity and ecological literacy.

FYI: K - 12th grade Teachers
This PD is only open to New Jersey Public School Teachers and is sponsored by the NJDOE Climate Change Grant allowing for there to be no charge for the PD. Stipends are available for NJ Public School Teachers at $50 an hour for non-contractual hours, or sub-pay is available for contractual hours at $62.50 for a half day and $125 for a full day.