About Us
The Monmouth University Climate Change Learning Collaborative (MU CCLC) was developed by Michelle Schpakow, Ed.D., Catherine Duckett, Ph.D., and Peter Jacques, Ph.D. in collaboration with Monmouth University’s Urban Coast Institute (UCI), the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium (NJSGC), and Monmouth Conservation Foundation. With the funding support of the NJ Department of Education’s Expanding Access to Climate Change and NJ Student Learning Grant, the MU CCLC aims to prepare NJ K-12 teachers to teach climate change in developmentally appropriate ways across all grade levels and subject areas. Monmouth Conservation Foundation, NJ Sea Grant Consortium, and the Urban Coast Institute will offer place-based curriculum and experiential learning opportunities while Monmouth University will offer professional development related to climate science, interdisciplinary instruction, and special interest topics related to climate change. Though the MU CCLC is funded by a grant from the New Jersey Department of Education, the materials 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.
Collaboration and Community Engagement!
The MU CCLC team is here to offer support and answer questions between sessions. Sign up for email announcements and reminders from our team, or email us at MUclimateeducation@monmouth.edu. You can also join our Google Classroom to interact and collaborate with other, local educators. We look forward to working with you!
Stipend Requests
Teachers and administrators from New Jersey public schools are eligible to attend Climate Change Learning Collaborative events/opportunities and use services provided by the Climate Change Learning Collaborative. Teachers from New Jersey public schools are eligible to receive a stipend for attending Climate Change Learning Collaborative events/opportunities outside contracted hours and substitute teacher coverage for attending Climate Change Learning Collaborative events/opportunities at an offsite location during contracted hours. Teachers will be required to complete a post-event/opportunity survey to receive a stipend or substitute teacher coverage. The MU CCLC’s partnering Local Education Agencies (LEAs) in Monmouth County, Mercer County, and Union County will be given priority in event/opportunity attendance and the disbursement of stipends or substitute teacher coverage.
To request stipends, you must meet all of the above criteria. You can then submit a signed 2024 W9 and Contracted and Professional Services form to muclimateeducation@monmouth.edu for each event you attend. Stipends will be paid at the rate of $50/hour up to $150 per event. If you need help completing these forms, let us know. Your school may email us an invoice for substitute teacher costs for any events you attend during the school day.
Beginning January 1, 2026, the Monmouth University (MU) Climate Change Learning Collaborative (CCLC) will implement the following new policies:
- Participants will no longer be allowed to submit stipend requests for events they have attended in the past. Participation at duplicate events is allowed, as space permits, but additional payments will not be issued.
- Registration for online events will be limited to 25 participants; registration for in-person events will be limited to 25 participants. Waitlists will be generated after capacity has been reached.
- Attendees at virtual events must
- Keep their cameras on and facing them for the entirety of the event.
- ensure they are logged in under the correct name.
- not operate a vehicle at any time during the event.
- remain fully engaged for the entirety of the event. Examples of “engagement” may include active participation in break-out groups, submitting responses through platforms such as Padlet or Google Classroom, or providing samples of work produced in the session.
- Registrants for in-person events must notify the CCLC of registration cancellation at least 24 hours in advance. Failure to do so will result in the registrant automatically being moved to the waitlist for all future events.
- Stipend payments will be issued 6-12 weeks after the request is submitted, provided all of the request forms have been completed and submitted correctly.
Please contact the CCLC project team at muclimateeducation@monmouth.edu with any questions.
Upcoming Professional Development Sessions
Introduction to Climate Change
June 11, 2026, 6 – 7 p.m., Zoom
This is a basic introduction to climate change for any educators wanting to improve their background knowledge. The session will present climate change as simple, serious, and solvable. The science behind the greenhouse effect, some of the more profound and serious climate impacts, and the most important climate solutions will be presented. Participants will have opportunities to ask questions, and some tools for teaching basic greenhouse effect will be discussed. This session may be of particular interest to teachers of subjects other than sciences. Register for Introduction to Climate Change.
Interdisciplinary Instruction for Climate Education (Grades 9-12)
June 16, 2026, 6 – 8 p.m., Zoom
Grade 9-12 educators are invited to learn about incorporating climate change standards into lessons. Participants will learn interdisciplinary planning strategies and pedagogical approaches for integrating climate change education at the secondary level. Participants are encouraged to bring their own lesson plans for the workshop portion of the session. These plans will be examined collaboratively and updated to better infuse climate change standards. Register for Interdisciplinary Instruction for Climate Education (Grades 9-12).
Environmental Justice
June 22, 2026, 11 a.m. – 12 p.m., Zoom
This one-hour professional development seminar on environmental justice will explore the empirical reality of and theoretical explanation for the maldistribution of environmental “goods and bads” like pollution, predominantly in minority communities in the United States with specific attention to New Jersey. This session is currently full. Join the waitlist for Environmental Justice.
Coaching & Collaboration
June 26, 2026, 11 a.m. -12 p.m., Zoom
Please join us online for some professional networking. We will provide a brief review of climate change education, a question and answer period, and time to work together in a supportive environment. Teachers may bring lesson plans they need help with. Administrators may bring questions they have about implementation in their schools. We are happy to address any needs brought to this session and provide space for collaboration among schools and districts. Register for Coaching & Collaboration.
Native Plants: Fighting Climate Change in Your Backyard
July 1, 2026, 5:30 – 6:30 p.m., Zoom
Climate Change and other aspects of extreme weather motivated by global heating will cause ecological instability. Human agriculture, planting, and landscaping practices can be further destabilizing, or by working with nature’s strengths, humans can plant for greater stability. Native plants, having evolved in a location and in ecological relationships with other native creatures, can stabilize ecosystems, slow the decline of animal populations, and potentially improve water quality and buffer flooding. In this session, we will review basic climate change and the major environmental assaults on plants and animals caused by climate change. We will study selected New Jersey plants and insects as examples of ecosystem components that average NJ residents can observe and impact in their home or town. We will review some common invasive plants, and participants will have a chance to use what they learned in an exercise to “fix Dr. Duckett’s yard.” Some concepts will be appropriate for teachers of all grades. This session will be presented by Catherine Duckett, Ph.D. Register for Native Plants: Fighting Climate Change in Your Backyard.
Interdisciplinary Instruction for Climate Education (Grades 6-8)
July 7, 2026, 6 – 7:30 p.m., Zoom
Grade 6-8 educators are invited to learn about incorporating climate change standards into lessons. Participants will learn interdisciplinary planning strategies and pedagogical approaches for integrating climate change education at the middle school level. Participants are encouraged to bring their own lesson plans for the workshop portion of the session. These plans will be examined collaboratively and updated to better infuse climate change standards. Register for Interdisciplinary Instruction for Climate Education (Grades 6-8).
Office Hours
July 23, 2026, 10 – 11 a.m., Zoom
Teachers and administrators are invited to bring questions related to the CCLC, climate change education, or implementing best practices in their classrooms and school districts. Stipends are not available for this session as it is supplementary for teachers and administrators who may need advice, feedback, or information. Participants are welcome to drop in at any point of the hour-long session. Register for Office Hours.
Nurturing Nature Connection and Climate Emotional Literacy in the Classroom
August 6, 2026, 4 – 5:30 p.m., Zoom
This professional development session offers teachers ways to engage students in finding meaningful ways to emotional connect with the natural world while also gently exploring their feelings about climate change. Drawing from ecotherapy and child development, this session offers engaging, age-appropriate activities that invite curiosity, creativity, and reflection about a child’s relationship with nature. Educators will learn practical ways to help children think about how they have fun with nature, learn ways to express climate-related feelings and develop a sense of care, agency, and hope. The goal is to foster a foundational relationship with the natural world and an understanding of the concept of reciprocity, so children are motivated to care for the earth, and themselves. The session is led by Dr. Megan Delaney, author of “Nature is nurture: Counseling and the natural world” who has a private ecotherapy practice and teaches ecopsychology and ecotherapy at the undergraduate and graduate level at Monmouth University. Register for Nurturing Nature Connection and Climate Emotional Literacy in the Classroom.
Interdisciplinary Instruction for Climate Education (Grades 3-5)
August 10, 2026, 12 – 1:30 p.m., Zoom
Grade 3-5 educators are invited to learn about incorporating climate change standards into lessons. Participants will learn interdisciplinary planning strategies and pedagogical approaches for integrating climate change education at the upper elementary level. Participants are encouraged to bring their own lesson plans for the workshop portion of the session. These plans will be examined collaboratively and updated to better infuse climate change standards. Register for Interdisciplinary Instruction for Climate Education (Grades 3-5).
Education and the UN Sustainable Development Goals
August 18, 2026, 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., Zoom
All grades educators are invited to learn about United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and incorporating them into lessons and school initiatives. Participants will discover how climate change is not strictly a science issue but related to other social and global matters (regions and people from all around the world, economic issues, water and food shortages, resources, health, energy, community, etc.) and connects across all disciplines and subjects. Therefore, this workshop is a great session to take before or after Interdisciplinary Instruction for Climate Education PD sessions. Participants will collaboratively examine different sustainable development goals, with given resources and ideas for teaching and students’ civic engagement. Register for Education and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Coaching & Collaboration
August 20, 2026, 2 – 3 p.m., Zoom
Please join us online for some professional networking. We will provide a brief review of climate change education, a question and answer period, and time to work together in a supportive environment. Teachers may bring lesson plans they need help with. Administrators may bring questions they have about implementation in their schools. We are happy to address any needs brought to this session and provide space for collaboration among schools and districts. Register for Coaching & Collaboration.
Climate Change and Sea Level Rise
September 8, 2026, 7 – 8 p.m., Zoom
The climate change driven sea level rise lecture will start with an overview of the Earth’s Greenhouse Effect and how it has contributed to sea level changes over the past 100 million years, followed by a discussion of present day sea level changes and the natural processes that will contribute to future relative sea level rise. The lecture will conclude with a discussion on how sea level rise contributes to more frequent and impactful nuisance flooding and coastal storm surge in New Jersey’s coastal communities. Time will be provided for questions and answers with the speaker, Tom Herrington, Ph.D. Register for Climate Change and Sea Level Rise.
Interdisciplinary Instruction for Climate Education (Grades K-2)
September 10, 2026, 4 – 5:30 p.m., Zoom
Grade K-2 educators are invited to learn about incorporating climate change standards into lessons. Participants will learn interdisciplinary planning strategies and pedagogical approaches for integrating climate change education at the primary level. Participants are encouraged to bring their own lesson plans for the workshop portion of the session. These plans will be examined collaboratively and updated to better infuse climate change standards. Register for Interdisciplinary Instruction for Climate Education (Grades K-2).
Office Hours
September 25, 2026, 5 – 6 p.m., Zoom
Teachers and administrators are invited to bring questions related to the CCLC, climate change education, or implementing best practices in their classrooms and school districts. Stipends are not available for this session as it is supplementary for teachers and administrators who may need advice, feedback, or information. Participants are welcome to drop in at any point of the hour-long session. Register for Office Hours.
Interdisciplinary Instruction for Climate Education (Grades 9-12)
October 5, 2026, 4 – 5:30 p.m., Zoom
Grade 9-12 educators are invited to learn about incorporating climate change standards into lessons. Participants will learn interdisciplinary planning strategies and pedagogical approaches for integrating climate change education at the secondary level. Participants are encouraged to bring their own lesson plans for the workshop portion of the session. These plans will be examined collaboratively and updated to better infuse climate change standards. Register for Interdisciplinary Instruction for Climate Education (Grades 9-12).
Map Your Coast with the Mid-Atlantic Ocean Data Portal
October 14, 2026, 5 – 6:30 p.m., Zoom
In this session you’ll learn how to explore the coast and ocean through interactive maps on the Mid-Atlantic Ocean Data Portal. The Portal (portal.midatlanticocean.org) is a free and publicly accessible GIS and information site that houses over 6,000 maps depicting marine life distributions, commercial fishing grounds, vessel traffic patterns, shipwrecks and artificial reefs, offshore infrastructure proposals, recreation hot spots and much more. The Portal also contains maps depicting how climate change is impacting the ocean, including marine heatwaves and shifts in fish and marine mammal ranges. It is maintained by a technical team that includes researchers from Monmouth, Rutgers and Duke universities, Ecotrust, and the New York State Department of State, working under the guidance of the Mid-Atlantic Regional council on the Ocean (MARCO). The session will be led by Monmouth University Urban Coast Institute Communications Director and Ocean Data Manager Karl Vilacoba, who serves as the Portal project manager. Register for Map Your Coast with the Mid-Atlantic Ocean Data Portal.
Coaching & Collaboration
October 22, 2026, 4 – 5 p.m., Zoom
Please join us online for some professional networking. We will provide a brief review of climate change education, a question and answer period, and time to work together in a supportive environment. Teachers may bring lesson plans they need help with. Administrators may bring questions they have about implementation in their schools. We are happy to address any needs brought to this session and provide space for collaboration among schools and districts. Register for Coaching & Collaboration.
Environmental Justice
October 24, 2026, 10 – 11 a.m., Zoom
This one-hour professional development seminar on environmental justice will explore the empirical reality of and theoretical explanation for the maldistribution of environmental “goods and bads” like pollution, predominantly in minority communities in the United States with specific attention to New Jersey. Register for Environmental Justice.