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The Partnership

The Deep Ocean Education Project is a resource hub that provides access to ocean exploration-based learning for educators, students, and anyone else interested in learning more about our deep ocean. NOAA Ocean Exploration, Ocean Exploration Trust (OET), and Schmidt Ocean Institute (SOI) are collaborating to share highlights of each organization’s education materials, videos, and other information about the deep ocean in one location.

The Ocean Exploration Advisory Board’s Subcommittee on Education described the value of such a partnership in its report issued in June 2018. The Subcommittee made several recommendations that centered on developing new ocean exploration education materials that address current education research and standards and organizing materials so they are easily accessible for educators and students. The Subcommittee recommended that the three ocean exploration organizations combine forces to give the public easy access to ocean exploration-related content that would support and supplement existing standards-based science curricula for educators and students.

In response, NOAA Ocean Exploration, Ocean Exploration Trust, and Schmidt Ocean Institute came together to combine resources, develop new content, and organize it on the Deep Ocean Education Project website.

The Deep Ocean Education Project is grateful to the NOAA Office of Education, whose funding initiated the development of the new educational materials and this website. This project was created in cooperation with the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, under a cooperative agreement with NOAA Ocean Exploration–a continuation of a nearly two-decade partnership of supporting ocean exploration education initiatives.

Our Collaborative Work

The partnership between NOAA Ocean Exploration, Ocean Exploration Trust, and Schmidt Ocean Institute helps us leverage complementary expertise to expand our exploration capabilities and share our findings with a broader audience. Collectively we work to advance ocean literacy, supporting efforts to advance understanding, action, and inspiration for the ocean with high quality information and products for educators and others interested in the global ocean. Explore examples of our collaborative work below:

In Kupe’s Wake: A Voyage of Exploration From Hawai‘i to Aotearoa

Ocean Exploration Trust, Schmidt Ocean Institute, and NOAA Ocean Exploration have operated in the Eastern and Central Pacific for many years. In January 2022, the three ocean exploration organizations brought together Pacific Island community leaders, indigenous practitioners, and educators from Pacific Island communities throughout Polynesia to discuss best practices to engage with these communities and build toward collaborative partnerships that serve island needs for sharing ocean science information and educational materials. Learn more about the workshop and lessons learned in the Virtual Workshop Report.


Why We Explore

In addition to partnering to support deep ocean education, NOAA Ocean Exploration, Ocean Exploration Trust, and Schmidt Ocean Institute work towards a shared mission to map and characterize the unknown ocean. Learn more about “Why We Explore” in the collaborative video produced by Schmidt Ocean Institute. 

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