Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence

The ten Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (COSEE) promote partnerships between research scientists and educators, disseminate best practices in ocean sciences education and promote ocean education as a charismatic, interdisciplinary vehicle for creating a more scientifically literate workforce and citizenry. Each COSEE represents one or more ocean science research institutions, an informal science education organization, and at least one affiliate organization representing the formal education community. Two of these Centers are located on the Gulf of Mexico, the COSEE Central Gulf of Mexico and the COSEE Florida.

Center activities include:

• Establishing links between people and organizations conducting ocean science research and those providing educational leadership or outreach among diverse communities.
• Providing expertise and guidance for research scientists involved in education, such as conducting workshops to encourage scientists to develop collaborative grant proposals with educators or to experiment with various education and teaching strategies providing incentives and assistance for school districts and teachers to integrate ocean sciences into their curricula.
• Facilitating the integration of research results into high-quality educational materials, as well as fostering the development and dissemination of those materials both regionally and nationally.