NCSE Teacher Ambassador Jeff Grant is a teacher at Downers Grove North High School just outside of Chicago. Each year his Regional Office of Education hosts a county-wide institute day offering dozens of different workshops for teachers. Several years ago, Grant realized there were no opportunities for science teachers to learn more about climate science, so he decided to make that a reality. He worked with his colleagues to launch Climate of HOPE (How Our Planet is Evolving) in 2024. The conference offers middle and high school teachers the chance to learn about the latest climate research and classroom resources. NCSE’s Executive Director, Amanda Townley gave a keynote address titled “Every Classroom is a Climate Classroom” at the inaugural Climate of HOPE on March 1, 2024. The event, attended by over 300 area teachers, was a resounding success.
NCSE was thrilled to sponsor Climate of HOPE 2.0 on February 27, 2026. Staff members, Amanda Townley, Glenn Branch, Jill Wilber, and Wendy Johnson attended the event — this time, with nearly 500 area teachers. There was also a small army of student volunteers helping to register teachers, check-in with presenters, and help with logistics.
Grant’s vision for Climate of HOPE is to connect teachers to each other, to the research community, and to organizations that provide classroom resources. “Sure science teachers can read or watch a documentary to learn more science, but there is something to be said about being in the room with scientists or doing an activity with a group,” he explained. “You absorb the content more — just like our students do from us.”
The conference was bookended by keynote addresses from researchers who study glaciers and ice sheets to understand climate change. Erich Osterberg, Associate Professor of Earth Sciences at Dartmouth University, gave a talk titled, “Why I Have HOPE.” A father-daughter team delivered the second talk, “Hope for the Future.” Karen Alley is a Associate Professor of Environment, Earth, and Resources at University of Manitoba, and her father, Richard Alley, is a Professor of Geosciences at Penn State University and the recipient of NCSE’s Friend of the Planet award.
In between, attendees could choose three different breakout sessions throughout the day to explore how climate science, community connections, and conservation intersect in understanding our rapidly changing planet. With over 70 different sessions to choose from, there was something for everyone. I presented three sessions sharing NCSE’s classroom resources for teaching climate change, evolution, and data and media literacy.
Organizing an event of this size is no small feat. Grant recruited many colleagues from his school as well as representatives from Education and Outreach for the National Science Foundation Ice Drilling Program at Dartmouth College to join the effort. When asked whether there would be a Climate of HOPE 3.0, Grant answered candidly, “That is hard to say. It takes a lot of work. This current conference took well over a year of planning. But, yes, the goal would be to have a Climate of HOPE 3.0 because I think teachers want it and need it.“
Grant added that while planning an event of this size is daunting, his experiences as an NCSE Teacher Ambassador prepared him to meet the challenge.
