March 2026 Newsletter

In This Issue

• • Framing the Conversation Course Registration is Now Open
  • Governing Council Applications are Now Open
  • Watch the Recording of Our Climate Burnout Webinar!
  • T-Shirts are Back! Get Yours Today!
  • Your Reminder to Go Touch Grass
  • This Month's Featured Story: Mobilizing High School Volunteers as Conservation Ambassadors

Registration for Our Framing the Conversation Course is Now Open

Course Dates & Registration

• April 9 – May 21, 2026

• Thursdays, 6–7 p.m. ET / 3–4 p.m. PT

Why Join?

• Gain strategic framing skills to inspire hope and action.

• Learn to use researched values, metaphors, and solutions in your communication.

• Network with climate scientists, educators, and communicators.

• Develop your own climate story to share post-course.

• Join a supportive international community of practice.

Course Format

• 7 weeks / 25 hours total

• Weekly live facilitated webinars

• Asynchronous modules

• Dedicated, individualized, weekly feedback

• Practice assignments culminating in immediately usable climate communication

NEW THIS SEMESTER: Mid-week practice sessions! As an optional additional course tool, we will offer half-hour practice sessions for participants to hone their skills in real-time. Times and dates will be subject to majority availability, and run the 3rd – 6th weeks of the course. 

Want more information? Check out our Course Information & FAQs!

💲Cost: $300 USD

Sliding scale available if cost is a barrier; contact Kait Birghenthal at BirghenthalK_temp@tmmc.org to confidentially see if you qualify for our limited scholarships

Register Today! Spots are limited to 25 participants per cohort—first come, first served!

✨ This course is a great way to unify our voices around climate hope and action. Consider joining us this spring, or share with someone who might be interested! ✨

Info on all NNOCCI Trainings: nnocci.org/training

Join Our Governing Council – Applications Now Open!

We are pleased to announce that applications are now open to join the National Network for Ocean and Climate Change Interpretation (NNOCCI)’s Governing Council, a group of committees actively engaged in sustaining, deepening and expanding the work of this powerful network.  

We are currently recruiting for a variety of volunteer positions to join our committees, including less-commitment Regional Leader roles:

• Communications

• JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion)

• Training

• Science and Evaluation

• Membership Engagement

• Regional Leaders

Positions are open to all, with no previous NNOCCI training required (see full descriptions in Council Position Description document below for preferred qualifications).  Some specific skills and interests we’re looking for: social media analysis, WordPress, environmental and/or climate justice, and learning module design. Please also share with colleagues who you think might be a good fit. 

For full position descriptions, visit: NNOCCI Governing Council Position Description

APPLY NOW: NNOCCI Governing Council Application

Applications are due by April 20th, 2026 at 3 p.m. ET / 12 p.m. PT

Please contact ContactNNOCCI@gmail.com with any questions.

Recording from "Tending to Our Inner Climate" Webinar Available

Are you feeling the weight of climate work? You are not alone. Earlier this month the NNOCCI community came together to connect, recharge, and build resilience through the second session in our NNOCCI Presents webinar series, titled “Tending to Our Inner Climate: How to Avoid Burnout and Build Resilience for Climate Communicators.” If you weren’t able to attend the webinar, or you would just like to revisit the session, the recording is now available on YouTube! 

During this interactive event, ecotherapist and author Clara Schroeder shared practical evidence-based tools to prevent burnout, cultivate resilience, and stay grounded as we advocate for a more livable future. Clara guided us through the science of resilience and stress as it applies specifically to climate work, drawing on research explored in her new book Re-Nature: How Nature Helps Us Feel Better and Do Better.

Keep a look out for our next NNOCCI Presents Webinar this June, focused on engaging youth in climate action!

T-Shirts Are Back!

Spring into your new wardrobe...

After a ranked choice vote last year, Members chose the colors and design of our first ever merchandise offerings. All shirts are eco-friendly and available in both short and long sleeve options, in a couple of colors, for each image.

• Buy Earth Logo Shirt

• Buy ‘Ask Me About Climate Change’ Shirt

All proceeds will go directly to NNOCCI, via our fiscal sponsor, The Marine Mammal Center. 

Batches will print every 15 days, and shipped directly to the buyer, so expect 2–3 weeks between purchase and delivery. By ordering in batches, we are preventing potential waste, and making the printing process more efficient.

Thank you to incredible artist, Maris Wicks, for lovingly creating these iconic NNOCCI images for us! Check out her new book, PUFFINS!, on sale April 14. Get your copy for some amazing art, awesome science education, and to see if you can spy some climate messaging!

Your Reminder to Go Touch Grass

We all know that spending time outside is important for our health. From boosting your immune system, enhancing cognitive function, reducing stress and improving heart health—the great outdoors and green spaces are not just good for the physical environment, but also good for each of us personally. Take some time to go touch grass! And as you do, think about where you are, what greenspace you have access to and if it’s in your power to create more or advocate for more greenspace for underserved and marginalized communities. 

Check out this article for even more information: https://www.americanbar.org/groups/crsj/resources/human-rights/2024-october/right-to-nature/

This Month's Featured Story: Mobilizing High School Volunteers as Conservation Ambassadors

By Adam Ratner, Director of Conservation Engagement, The Marine Mammal Center

Informal science centers, like The Marine Mammal Center, serve as a valuable platform for connecting visitors with nature and inspiring positive environmental action towards climate change. Currently, only 17% of people in the US hear about climate change from someone they know once a month or more, establishing an unproductive spiral of silence on the topic of climate change.

However, 70% of visitors to informal science centers, like zoos, aquariums and museums, identify they want more information on climate change and recommendations on how to address climate change.  The Center, the world’s largest marine mammal hospital and education facility, has found that sharing the unique stories of specific marine mammal patients, including those directly or indirectly harmed by human activities, makes a deep impact on children and adults alike, making marine mammals effective message ambassadors.  By sharing these stories in an active teaching and research hospital, accompanied by interaction with highly regarded scientists, veterinarians, and trained volunteers, we are able to provide both inspiration and empowerment for how our audiences can become the environmental heroes of their local communities.

Through collaborative efforts such as serving as the fiscal sponsor and key training partner of the National Network for Ocean and Climate Change Interpretation (NNOCCI) and leading the Climate Literacy Collaborative, the Center has grounded climate communications in the best practices of both climate science and social psychology.  Our patients provide a captivating storytelling vessel to engage audiences in both the current impacts of climate change, as well as the future impacts if we don’t act on reducing fossil fuels today.

In 2024, high school volunteers at The Marine Mammal Center engaged in a service-learning program putting them on the frontlines of communicating about marine mammal threats and conservation actions in their local communities. Youth Crew members learned the science of climate change and NNOCCI tools for communicating climate science effectively, and logged their conservation actions through an interactive, custom mobile application (GetGreen) allowing them to track their carbon emission offsets. Through interactive exhibits at the public-facing hospital, Youth Crew members engaged over 7,400 visitors and encouraged nearly 600 pledges for conservation actions. In total, over 1,700 

recorded actions equated to the reduction of 18 metric tons of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere. Evaluative surveys showed youth significantly increased their comfort and frequency of environmental conversations in their personal lives and increased their belief that they could have a positive impact through their own actions and increasing communication about these critical environmental topics to others. This work was recently published in the International Zoo Educators Journal and can be viewed at: Mobilizing High School Volunteers as Conservation Ambassadors.

The Center is so fortunate to play a leading role within the NNOCCI network and collaborate with so many wonderful organizations as we all work to shift the conversation on climate change to be more positive, solutions-focused and community-minded.