CBT Environmental Education Grant Program

The CBT Environmental Education Grant Program, funded by the Chesapeake Bay Trust, offers $290,000 for Fiscal Year 2026 to support environmental literacy initiatives in Maryland. Eligible applicants include higher education institutions, nonprofits, and public agencies. The program aims to enhance students' knowledge and motivation to engage in responsible environmental stewardship through projects like Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEE) and capacity-building efforts. Grants of up to $40,000 are available for projects lasting up to three years.

Introduction to the Chesapeake Bay Trust
The Chesapeake Bay Trust (Trust) is a nonprofit, grant-making organization dedicated to improving the bays, streams, rivers, forests, parks, and other natural resources of our local systems, from the Chesapeake to the Coastal Bays to the Youghiogheny River. The Trust, supported in large part by Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay License Plate and partnerships with other regional funders, engages and empowers diverse groups to take actions that enrich natural resources and local communities of the Chesapeake Bay region. Since 1985, the Trust has awarded over $190 million in grants to municipalities, nonprofit organizations, schools, and public agencies throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
What this funds
The Environmental Education Grant Program funds programs and initiatives in Maryland that advance environmental literacy and result in students having the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and motivation to take informed and responsible actions to protect and improve the environment.
Project Types and Funding Availability
he Trust has made available $290,000 for this grant program in Fiscal Year 2026. Individual applications may be submitted for amounts detailed below.
Track 1 Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience (MWEE) Implementation
Applicants may request up to $40,000 per year for up to three years for projects that focus on piloting (one-year requests) or embedding systemic (multiyear requests) MWEEs into school district’s curriculum. The MWEE model integrates best practices of environmental education pedagogy where students investigate local environmental issues through classroom and outdoor experiences, engage in problem-solving, and take action to address their issues through projects and civic engagement.
Track 2 Environmental Literacy Capacity Building
Applicants may request up to $40,000 for the 2025 school year (March 2026 – August 2027) for district or state-wide environmental literacy capacity building and collaboration efforts that advance environmental literacy, especially MWEEs, within school district(s).
For requests $10,000 and under, consider applying for a Trust Youth Environmental Education Grant.

Eligibility

• 501(c)3 Private Nonprofit Organizations

• Municipal, County, Regional, State, Federal Public Agencies

• Service, Youth, and Civic Groups

• Soil/Water Conservation Districts & Resource Conservation and