Profile January 17, 2014 Brian Brown

Brian Brown
California Project WET Coordinator

Brian works with a dedicated team of workshop facilitators to provide engaging, hands–on Project WET (Water Education Today) professional development trainings for educators who teach K-12 across California.

Brian coordinates supplies and support to assist facilitators in organizing workshops, writes the California Project WET newsletter to provide guidance for educators in using Project WET activities that engage students in current water issues and topics. He personally leads a number of workshops each year.

Brian joined the Water Education Foundation in 2004 after a 14-year career as a naturalist, lead teacher, intern coordinator and trail engineer at Whiskeytown Environmental School near Redding and YMCA Camp Campbell Outdoor Science School in Boulder Creek.

Brian graduated from Humboldt State University with bachelor’s degrees in forestry and social sciences. Brian holds California Professional Clear Credentials in multiple subjects, life sciences and social sciences.

To reach Brian, you can email him here.

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Referring Pages

E-mail blast September 20, 2023 Brian Brown

California Project WET Gazette-Learn about new programs, guides and activities for the new school year

The Autumn California Project WET Gazette provides an overview of changes in the works for Project WET, including across-the-board updating of our activities, new guides and improved online resources.

Last chance! This fall will be the last opportunity to receive the current, large Project WET Guide 2.0. Please pass the word to your colleagues who might be interested in getting a copy.

Upcoming Project Wet workshops:

E-mail blast June 15, 2023 Brian Brown

California Project WET Gazette — High Water History
Explore Ways to Engage Students in the Social Impacts of Extreme Weather Events

Welcome to summer, Project WET educators! This article in the summer edition of the Gazette is a follow-up to the one in the spring Gazette, exploring ways you can teach students about the impacts of our epic winter weather events on people and their communities.

E-mail blast March 21, 2023 Brian Brown

California Project WET Gazette — Goldilocks & California Water Management
Explore These Activities to Engage Students in Current Water & Land Management Decisions

Welcome to spring, Project WET Educators! In light of recent storms, I focused this Spring Gazette on Project WET activities that explore important water and land management challenges in the news, like protecting communities against floods while holding on to storm runoff for the drier months ahead. These activities then place your students in the hot seat of decision-making to find a balance to these challenges.

Publication March 15, 2023 Brian Brown Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Map

Spring 2023 California Project WET Gazette
Volume XXVllI, Issue Il

Goldilocks & California Water Management

Many people know the childhood story of Goldilocks – the girl who became lost in the woods and decided to rummage through the home of a family of bears while they were away, testing their beds and sampling their food to find the one of each that was ‘just right.’

E-mail blast January 4, 2023 Brian Brown

California Project WET Gazette — New Resources for Water & Climate
Tools & Activities to Enrich the Study of Water with Your Students

Welcome to a New Year, Project WET Educators! A variety of new or updated resources were released in the past few months, so I decided to highlight a variety of these tools for the Winter Gazette. In addition to the resources, you’ll find suggestions for Project WET activities to pair with each resource.

Publication December 14, 2022 Brian Brown California Water Map

Winter 2023 California Project WET Gazette
Volume XXVlll, Issue I

New Tools for Exploring Water – Past, Present & Future

Welcome to a New Year, Project WET Educators! The traditional season of gift-giving and thanks may have ended for you with the removal of lights and storing of decorations. But I’m hoping this Gazette may extend the season for you well into the New Year by highlighting a small treasure-trove of online tools and resources that have been recently released or updated – and can be used with Project WET activities.

E-mail blast September 14, 2022 Brian Brown

California Project WET Gazette — Dust Bowls & Failed Levees
Fall Gazette Highlights Classroom Activities to Study the Impact of Extreme Events in a Changing Climate

It has been another summer of weather extremes super-charged by the warming of the planet, from ’heat domes’ and drought to record-breaking floods and fires hammering ecosystems and people around the world.

The Autumn Gazette highlights Project WET activities that explore the impact of extreme water-related events on people, natural resources and the systems that intersect with our built environments.

E-mail blast June 10, 2022 Brian Brown

California Project WET Gazette–Water & Traditional Ecological Knowledge in a Changing Climate
Summer Gazette Suggests How To Weave Indigenous Knowledge into Project WET Activities

People have lived in the American Southwest for thousands of years, learning to live with extreme weather events that have brought down past civilizations. The Summer Gazette highlights examples of traditional ecological knowledge that Native American tribes are using to help conserve water, restore ecological processes and resiliency in a world that has grown far warmer, arid and extreme in its cycles.

E-mail blast March 18, 2022 Brian Brown

California Project WET Gazette — Lessons on Drought, Climate & Water Conservation
Activities to Explore Water Conservation and Take Action with Your Students

Drought condition continue through California and the West. The Spring Gazette highlights Project WET activities that explore water conservation while teaching skills learners of all ages can immediately use to conserve water and make our communities more climate resilient in the process.

Image of California Sierra snow survey results for the 2022 Water Year.

Publication March 16, 2022 Brian Brown Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Map

Spring 2022 California Project WET Gazette
Volume XXVll, Issue Il

Saving Water in a Changing Climate

The leaf buds on the blue oak outside my home office window are just beginning to swell with new life, even as spring wildflowers and daffodils are already on full display in the yard below. The flowers are all at least 3 weeks early this year, and the sea of green grass around them is already patched with large yellowish swathes of desiccation.

E-mail blast January 6, 2022 Brian Brown

California Project WET Gazette — Water, Infrastructure & Climate
Activities to Explore Water Infrastructure & Climate Resilience with Your Students

Extremes in all manner of our lives have marked the past several years and those caused by weather driven by a changing climate are among the most concerning.

The Winter Gazette highlights Project WET activities that explore water infrastructure – human engineered and natural systems – and the role that infrastructure can play in making our communities and state more climate resilient.

Publication December 17, 2021 Brian Brown California Water Map

Winter 2022 California Project WET Gazette
Volume XXVll, Issue I

Exploring Water Infrastructure & Climate Resilience

Winter is coming. Every ‘Game of Thrones’ fan knows this dreaded warning and plea to all in the Seven Kingdoms to unite before its too late to counter a climate disaster complete with frozen zombies.

Announcement October 14, 2021 Jenn Bowles Brian Brown Layperson's Guide to Climate Change and Water Resources

Water Education Foundation Honored Nationally for Program that Trains Teachers in Climate Change Science
The Foundation’s teacher training program was recognized for its innovative partnership with the California Department of Water Resources

The Water Education Foundation has won a national award for its innovative partnership with the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) to train schoolteachers across the state on climate science and how they can bring hands-on activities into their classrooms connected to local examples of climate change impacts.

The award was presented today by the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions and The Climate Registry during their virtual Climate Leadership Series and Awards Showcase, Oct. 13-15. The Climate Leadership Awards is a national program that recognizes exemplary corporate, organizational and individual leadership in response to climate change. In all, 24 organizations nationwide were honored this year.

E-mail blast September 17, 2021 Brian Brown

The Humpty Dumpty Effect — California Project WET Gazette
Activities to Study Ecosystem Challenges in a Changing Climate

It has been a summer of weather extremes super-charged by the warming of the planet from ’heat domes’ and drought to hurricanes, flash floods and fires hammering ecosystems around the world.

The Autumn Gazette highlights Project WET activities that delve into the factors involved in restoring ecosystems and the impact human actions can have on ecosystem function and building climate resiliency in the natural systems we rely on.

E-mail blast June 21, 2021 Brian Brown

The One Ring to Rule Them All — California Project WET Gazette
Activities & Actions for Drought and a Changing Climate

The past year has given plenty food for thought on how we as people react to a world of change – the world of human interactions and the ecosystems around us. The Summer Gazette uses the lens of a tale that ponders these same relationships as the characters react to threats that are immediate and more indistinct much like our current drought in a world that has grown far warmer and extreme in its cycles.

E-mail blast March 19, 2021 Brian Brown

Project WET and the Hierarchy of Needs — California Project WET Gazette
Activities for Social and Emotional Learning

As the year-long challenge of COVID-19 begins to ebb and the transition back into the classroom occurs over the next month, students will likely have social and emotional needs that must be met before learning can take full flight once more. Activities to help focus on these needs and rebuild the classroom community is the focus of the Spring 2021 Gazette.

Publication March 16, 2021 Brian Brown Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Map

Spring 2021 California Project WET Gazette
Volume XXVl, Issue Il

Project WET and the Hierarchy of Needs

“Students have to Maslow before they can Bloom.”

― Dwayne Reed – Educator 

E-mail blast January 13, 2021 Brian Brown

Offline Teaching Activities for an Online World — California Project WET Gazette
Interactive Activities for Off-Screen & Stormy Day Learning

HAPPY NEW YEAR, GAZETTE READERS!

Hope this note finds you well, a bit more relaxed and looking forward to what we all hope will be a rapid reigning-in of COVID-19 in the near future. In the meantime, screen fatigue and opportunities for greater physical activity during the stormy months of winter remain a concern for all.

Publication December 14, 2020 Brian Brown California Water Map

Winter 2021 California Project WET Gazette
Volume XXVl, Issue I

Offline Activities for an Online World

“The work of education is divided between the teacher and the environment.” 

― Maria Montessori

E-mail blast September 15, 2020 Brian Brown

Exploring the World in a Digital Landscape — California Project WET Gazette
Interactive Activities for School, Home & Outdoor Learning

I hope everyone had a chance to take a breath and find some calm over the summer, and that this note finds you well and retaining your sanity. This Autumn Gazette includes a broad range of ideas on WET activities to consider using to support distance learning in the hope that everyone will find something they can use at any grade level in this challenging time.

E-mail blast June 9, 2020 Brian Brown

Hands-on Learning in a Digital World — California Project WET Gazette
Interactive Activities for School, Home & Outdoor Learning Exploration

Summer is coming, but I think most of us are in some form of shock in a world that may feel like a mix of ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,’ the 1960’s – or Jefferson Airplane’s mix of both in ‘White Rabbit.’ None of us is sure what the fall will bring, but a need for activities that can be done online, at home or outside are a given and this Gazette highlights Project WET resources tied to all three.

E-mail blast March 16, 2020 Brian Brown

Earth Day Education & Action — California Project WET Gazette
Explore these climate education resources, including online resources for those who will be home or moving to online courses

Spring is upon us and the Spring 2020 California Project WET Gazette is ‘live’ on the Water Education Foundation website. This edition delves into the history of Earth Day, which will be celebrating its 50th year this April. Climate education and action are the theme of Earth Day and many other environmental events in 2020, so this Gazette highlights a variety of climate education resources available from the ‘Projects’ – WET, WILD and Learning Tree.

E-mail blast January 3, 2020 Brian Brown

The Art of Water Science Education — California Project WET Gazette

Welcome to a New Year! The Winter 2020 California Project WET Gazette is ‘live’ on the Water Education Foundation website. Consider the interdisciplinary connections between art and science as you read through an exploration of an activity titled ‘Water Inspirations’ — and I hope you may be inspired to try adding some interdisciplinary flair to your science or arts class if you haven’t already.

E-mail blast September 12, 2019 Brian Brown

A Sea of Debris, a Host of Unique Workshops and a Remembrance

The Autumn 2019 California Project WET Gazette is ‘live’ on the Water Education Foundation website. Marine debris or inland trash waiting to be washed out to sea from inland areas are the focus of the newsletter, as well as coastal, river and Delta clean-up events this fall. Hope this newsletter motivates you to try a few of the activities and get some trash off the ground with your students!

E-mail blast March 14, 2019 Brian Brown

An Early Welcome to Spring, California Project WET Alumni!

The Spring 2019 California Project WET Gazette is ‘live’ on the Water Education Foundation website. The deluge of rain and snow has finally knocked out drought conditions for most of the state, but as we are all aware in California the long, dry period of our Mediterranean climate is just a page or two ahead on the calendar.

E-mail blast January 2, 2019 Brian Brown

Happy New Year, California Project WET Alumni!

The Winter 2019 California Project WET Gazette is ‘live’ on the Water Education Foundation website.

The use of weather and climate data was a topic of much interest during several Fall 2018 workshops, so the Winter Gazette takes a look at the Guide 1.0 activity ‘Wet Vacation’ and what one can do with it and students with all the online tools available now that did not exist when the activity was written in the 1990’s.

E-mail blast September 12, 2018 Brian Brown

An early welcome to Autumn, California Project WET Alumni!

The Autumn 2018 California Project WET Gazette is ‘live’ on the Water Education Foundation website. The fires have sparked a lot of discussion regarding emergency preparedness and why or where people live in the state. The same discussions apply to concerns about flooding, so the Gazette article is focused on Project WET activities that engage students in each of these topics.

E-mail blast June 1, 2018 Brian Brown

An early welcome to Summer, California Project WET Alumni!

The Summer 2018 California Project WET Gazette is ‘live’ on the Water Education Foundation website. An outbreak of highly invasive nutria has been spreading in the northern San Joaquin Valley toward the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. As the beginning of June is California Invasive Species Action Week, it seemed worth it to return to the topic of invasive species by highlighting one in particular - Nutria.

E-mail blast March 20, 2018 Brian Brown

Welcome to Spring, California Project WET Alumni!

The Spring 2018 California Project WET Gazette is ‘live’ on the Water Education Foundation website. As we are all aware in California, our current wet weather won’t last and more of us will be firing up the landscape irrigation systems as the green of spring yields to the hot, dry summer – so I thought it might be a good time to revisit the guide 1.0 activity “Thirsty Plants,” which engages students in the study of plant transpiration and how this might be applied to our yard and garden landscapes.

E-mail blast January 2, 2018 Brian Brown

Happy New Year, California Project WET Alumni!

Hope you have been having a wonderful holiday. The Winter 2018 California Project WET Gazette is ‘live’ on the Water Education Foundation website.

The article takes a look at ‘The Life Box’ activity and links to life needs and garden programs. You’ll also find loads of links to winter and early spring events, grants, student contests and a variety of workshops and Special Workshops and Events.

Announcement March 21, 2017 Brian Brown

California Project WET Gazette – Spring 2017 is available

The Spring 2017 California Project WET Gazette is “live” on the Water Education Foundation website.

Recently, flood waters have torn through residential neighborhoods, roads and both spillways of our largest dam, which has led to many Californians asking the obvious questions – Isn’t the drought over and why hasn’t the state lifted the drought restrictions?

E-mail blast January 4, 2017 Brian Brown

California Project WET Gazette – Winter 2017

Dear California Project WET Educators,

The Winter 2017 California Project WET Gazette is “live” on the Water Education Foundation website. I’ve had a lot of requests for an ocean topic, so hope you enjoy diving into the ‘Oceans Habitat’ activity in this edition of the Gazette.

Publication March 12, 2015 Brian Brown

Spring 2015 California Project WET Gazette
Volume XX, Issue Il

Water Celebration

I’m sure a few of you reading the title of this article and the current headlines related to California water will be wondering if my brain may be suffering from lack of water as much as the state. The few storms we have had since December will allow the California Department of Water Resources to send a little more water to most State Water Project customers than last year, but the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced a second year of a zero initial water allocation from the Central Valley Project for many agricultural users north and south of the Delta.

Publication December 19, 2014 Brian Brown

Winter 2015 California Project WET Gazette
Volume XX, Issue I

Groundhog Day

I can already sense the hackles rising with the tone of disgust escaping the lips of the most hardcore science advocates among us at the mere sight of the article title.

Publication September 11, 2014 Brian Brown

Autumn 2014 California Project WET Gazette
Volume XIX, Issue IV

Earth’s Connected Systems

Earth Science Week occurs annually in the second week of October and is designed to promote awareness of the dynamic interactions between natural and human systems, while engaging students in exploring how this knowledge is applied in the geosciences.

Announcement August 18, 2014 Brian Brown

CSTA Honors Project WET
The Water Education Foundation and Brian Brown to Receive Award

The California Science Teachers Association recently announced that Water Education Foundation/California Project WET and Brian Brown, the program’s coordinator, will receive its Distinguished Contributors Award.

Publication June 25, 2014 Brian Brown

Summer 2014 California Project WET Gazette
Volume XIX, Issue III

A Tribute to Kathy Machado

Every one of the Project WET Facilitators I had the privilege of working with in California are a unique and special caliber of educator, volunteering their time and resources to provide some of the most engaging, experiential and content –rich water education professional development workshops and school education programs on the planet – and I do mean this literally, as several California Facilitators led Project WET trainings in a number of other countries!

Publication May 16, 2014 Brian Brown

Spring 2014 California Project WET Gazette
Volume XIX, Issue II

Choices and Preferences in a Time of Drought

The world outside my home office window in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada is a sea of green quilted with brilliant patches of wildflowers like the shards of a shattered rainbow come to Earth on this St. Patrick’s Day. It is hard to believe California is in the grip of a withering drought once more, as the scent of new mown grass heavy with dew fills the air. If one simply turned off the news and laid their head in the grass, all would seem right in the world – no drought, no more fire danger and no need to heed warnings to conserve water. But it’ll take more than wishful ignorance and a four-leaved shamrock to get us through the upcoming summer. California remains in the grip of drought, and the recent rains did little more than change the landscape from brown to green in much of the state. Our major reservoirs remain well below historical average capacity for this time of year at 40% to 50% of capacity, snowpack is at 28% of normal and disturbing reports have been coming out regarding groundwater levels throughout the Central Valley.

Overview March 21, 2014 Brian Brown

Foundation School Programs

The Water Education Foundation offers several programs to teach students, our future voters and leaders, about one of the most critical issues – water. The programs teach students about the history and geography of water. In addition, the Foundation serves as the California coordinator for national Project WET (Water Education for Teachers) K-12 program.

All Foundation classroom materials are consistent with the standards of the California State Frameworks for Science and History/Social Science.

General information February 7, 2014 Brian Brown U.S. Geological Survey Bureau of Reclamation - California-Great Basin

What is Project WET?

Project WET (Water Education Today) is a water education program spanning the globe that believes informed people are more likely to participate in the decision making process and to make a difference through their actions. Project WET invites educators, resource managers, community leaders and concerned citizens to join Project WET in educating young people about one of the most precious resources on the planet – water.