In June 2020, New Jersey became the first state in the U.S. to incorporate K-12 climate change education across content areas when the State Board of Education adopted the 2020 New Jersey Student Learning Standards. New Jersey First Lady Tammy Murphy was a strong supporter of this initiative and praised the State Board for its action. “The adoption of these standards is much more than an added educational requirement; it is a symbol of a partnership between generations,” - First Lady Tammy Murphy. In response to the state’s ambitious and forward-thinking action to address climate change through teaching and learning, the Climate Change Education Thought Leader Committee was convened to determine an appropriate plan for implementing these standards statewide. The resulting recommendation report guides the New Jersey Climate Change Initiative’s strategy. In addition, this initiative also supports the resources and guidance provided by the New Jersey Department of Education.

All our resources are aligned to New Jersey Student Learning Standards. Our resources are vetted by a scientist and teacher review team. A rubric revision focus group, consisting of educators and leaders in New Jersey, was convened in Jan 2022 to finalize the resource selection rubric utilized to vet all resources in the database. In addition, a lesson plan rubric was also developed. Dr. Lauren Madden from The College of New Jersey also conducted an inter-reliability study to validate the rubric.

After one semester of integrating climate change education standards into state curricula, New Jersey educators still lacked sufficient professional development resources and faced uncertainty when teaching climate change in subjects other than science. However, educators who used the New Jersey Climate Education Hub reported higher levels of confidence in their preparedness to implement the new standards and were more familiar with the resources available to them. Read more in our "NJ Implementation Paper."

Dr. Cari Gallagher brings over 25 years of experience in education, serving as a dedicated teacher in Lawrenceville, NJ, and as an adjunct professor at The College of New Jersey. She holds a doctorate in Curriculum and Teaching, with a specialization in interdisciplinary climate change education for K-5 classrooms. Dr. Gallagher has collaborated with organizations such as SubjectToClimate, Edutopia, and the New Jersey Department of Education to advance climate change education. Her work includes publishing literature and lesson plans aligned with the New Jersey Student Learning Standards, empowering educators to integrate climate education into their classrooms effectively. In her free time, Cari enjoys connecting with nature—whether tending to her beautiful gardens, soaking up the sun at the beach with her family, or finding serenity among the trees.