Shedd Aquarium Targets Inequality in Environmental Education Through New Investments and Programs
Activating Aquatic Science, Restoring Connections to Nature Will Fuel Blue Futures for Chicago Youth
June 14, 2024
CHICAGO – Shedd Aquarium is sharing new details on transformative investments to its historic home, new programs and community partnerships designed to shape a more equitable future for environmental education in Chicago. Fueled by the aquarium’s Centennial Commitment, Shedd will reach 1.8 million youth across all 77 community areas by 2030 with hands-on, high-quality science learning that will happen at the aquarium, in neighborhoods, in classrooms and out in nature. The aquarium will instill environmental literacy and agency in young people across the city, with programs that activate aquatic science and restore connections to nature through animals.
“Every young person in Chicago should experience the wonder of the aquatic world barrier-free – everything from planting native seedlings along the shores of Lake Michigan to kayaking the Chicago River or counting the suckers on an octopus right here at Shedd Aquarium,” said Lisa Junkin-Lopez, Vice President of Learning & Community at Shedd Aquarium. “By expanding access to environmental education, we can empower Chicago’s next generation to be the changemakers for tomorrow’s blue futures.”
Anchoring On-site Learning
Shedd Aquarium already serves as a vital access point to nature and the aquatic world for millions of guests a year, but current capacity and spaces have limited the delivery of facilitated learning experiences for many of those guests – including school groups. Now, the aquarium is substantially evolving and expanding its learning spaces and galleries, and launching a suite of new programs to provide more of those valuable and formative environmental education opportunities to every learner and curious guest who visits the aquarium.
The aquarium will soon break ground on a new home for learning just steps away from Shedd’s galleries. The newly designated Morgridge Family Lakeside Learning Studios, opening in 2026, will feature flexible, buzzing classrooms that will be home to animal encounters and aquatic investigations. On any given day, students could be getting eye to eye with a yellow-footed tortoise, chatting virtually with Shedd researchers from the Caribbean, Great Lakes or Latin America, building native bug hotels to house native bees and monarch butterflies, and more.
Made possible in part by a $10 million donation from the Morgridge Family Foundation, the Morgridge Family Lakeside Learning Studios will help the aquarium say yes to more school groups and reach up to 50,000 more students annually with deeper science learning programs.
“As an organization focused on transforming communities, elevating conservation and empowering youth, we saw the impact that Shedd Aquarium could make for so many young people here in Chicago and around the globe. We were inspired to act,” said Carrie Morgridge, co-founder of the Morgridge Family Foundation. “We are immensely proud of this gift to Shedd, which will be felt for generations to come."
At the same time, the aquarium is reimagining new, immersive, bilingual and science-forward galleries that will offer novel ways to explore and commune with aquatic biodiversity. All parts of Shedd’s Experience Evolution, two of those new exhibits – Wonder of Water and Amazon Rising – are expected to open later this year.
"Shedd Aquarium is one of our District's amazing and longstanding community partners," said CPS CEO Pedro Martinez. “We are thrilled by the aquarium’s dedication to welcoming more CPS students each year for hands-on learning and awe-inspiring exhibits and events. These new investments and this important focus on environmental education will only continue to enhance opportunities and education for our students."
Activating an Off-site Learning Ecosystem
Mirroring its on-site learning evolution, Shedd Aquarium is partnering with schools and community groups to reimagine programming that bridges the growing nature gap and brings high-quality environmental education to Chicago youth, teachers, families and community leaders.
More than 25 programs for K-12th grade students, taking place in and out of school, pair nature-based experiences with hands-on science learning to increase compassion for wildlife develop important skills like collaboration and communication, and build self-efficacy to use their voices and hands as changemakers. Youth will test water in local lagoons and compare them to habitats at Shedd, practice field survey techniques to identify insects and plant native seedlings to support restoration efforts or campaign local restaurants to reduce their plastic waste.
By deepening engagement with Chicago youth through expanded touchpoints and unique school and community partnerships, Shedd will be a more constant, supportive presence in the lives of learners, centering equity in who these programs reach as well as the content and engagement methods within the learning environment.
“Shedd Aquarium has been a fantastic partner in co-creating out-of-school environmental education programs that are relevant to the learners themselves and the communities they represent,” said Natasha Smith-Walker, executive director of Project Exploration. “The work of the aquarium fits in perfectly with our efforts to build youth-science pathways and skills for youth in Chicago’s westside neighborhoods.”
Centering Equity in Science Learning
Located along the shores of Lake Michigan, in the country’s third largest city, Shedd recognizes that longstanding inequities mean young people do not enjoy equal access to nature and its many benefits.
In response, Shedd’s investments and environmental education programs are intentionally focused on better serving communities in Chicago’s south and west side neighborhoods, where communities tend to live farther from nature and bear disproportionate environmental burdens.
“Historically, not all Chicagoans have benefitted from everything our city has to offer,” said Alderman Lamont Robinson. “I am proud to have institutions like Shedd Aquarium in the 4th Ward who are taking steps to correct those disparities and give all Chicago students meaningful opportunities to learn about and be inspired by the world around them.”
By rooting environmental education programs in the neighborhoods where youth live, learn and play, the aquarium can leverage existing community resources and assets to make science learning easier to access and more personally relevant. These community connections also help the aquarium adjust the content, location and instructions based on the specific needs of the individual learners and what they need to succeed – informed by those who know them best.
Alongside the generous donation by the Morgridge Family Foundation, transformational support for Shedd Aquarium’s environmental education spaces and programs has been provided by the Haerther Trust and the Pepper Family Foundation. Most recently, lead contributions have also been generously provided by Bank of America, Dana Waud, and The Montgomery Foundation.
VISUALS: Find high-resolution photos and broadcast quality video of Shedd’s environmental education programs here: https://personal.filesanywhere.com/guest/fs?v=8e6f66895e5e6da77366&C=50. Photo Credit: ©Shedd Aquarium/Brenna Hernandez