FY 2024 – 2026 - Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) Announcement Type: Initial

This Broad Agency Announcement is a mechanism to encourage research, education and outreach, innovative projects, or sponsorships that are not addressed through NOAA's competitive discretionary programs. This announcement is not soliciting goods or services for the direct benefit of NOAA. Funding for activities described in this notice is contingent upon the availability of appropriations in the fiscal years applicable to the application. Applicants are hereby given notice that funds have not yet been appropriated for any activities described in this notice. Publication of this announcement does not oblige NOAA to review an application beyond an initial administrative review, or to award any specific project, or to obligate any available funds.

NOAA Ocean Exploration is dedicated to exploring the unknown ocean, unlocking its potential through scientific discovery, technological advancements, and data delivery. By working closely with partners across public, private, and academic sectors, we are filling gaps in our basic understanding of the marine environment. This allows us, collectively, to protect ocean health, sustainably manage our marine resources, accelerate our national economy, better understand our changing environment, and enhance appreciation of the importance of the ocean in our everyday lives.

NOAA Ocean Exploration operates an education program to raise awareness of the importance of the ocean, ocean exploration, and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education and is committed to improving America's environmental literacy by bringing the excitement of ocean exploration and discovery to a wide variety of diverse audiences. Educators and public and private partnerships are essential to this mission. NOAA Ocean Exploration offers many opportunities for educators to learn about NOAA science and technology associated with exploring the ocean in their classrooms. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, school systems have largely reopened but the landscape of the classroom has changed. While many educators and classrooms have evolved to hybrid learning environments, so too have NOAA Ocean Exploration's education product and delivery methods. Virtual and online offerings have expanded the education program's audience, reaching previously untapped educators increasing accessibility and inclusion for increasingly-diverse classrooms.

Successful proposals directly support NOAA Ocean Exploration priorities including increasing diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in the education program; and developing education resources to complement virtual and hybrid education delivery. In addition, successful proposals typically involve multiple partners; are characterized by an interdisciplinary and innovative exploration approach; frequently leverage other programs and organizations with compatible objectives; produce information that will be valuable to state and federal marine resource managers; give consideration to environmental impacts in the project planning and represent the applicant's ability to acquire all necessary permits; explain the plan for making data and results publicly available to advance scientific knowledge and inform environmental management decisions; and provide a plan for diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) activities.