The Baum Foundation Mission

The mission of The Baum Foundation is to improve the quality of people’s lives by supporting programs for the arts, education and the environment. The Baum Foundation contributes its time and resources to nurture artistic talent, to provide youth with educational opportunities, and to support the conservation and preservation of the planet’s biodiversity.

Embodied in this commitment is a fundamental belief that people can imagine, learn and act through the arts, education, and the environment to improve the human condition. At the heart of The Baum Foundation mission is the idea that, by supporting creativity in the arts, providing educational opportunities for youth and putting programs in place to preserve the environment, we can collectively enrich the quality of life of contemporary society.

 

Environment Programs

The Baum Foundation’s environmental programs focus on creating a healthy, sustainable, and bio-diverse environment. Many of The Baum Foundation’s environmental programs strive to raise awareness, among a broad range of people, the importance of taking care of the earth’s natural resources. Our intention is to motivate people to take action to protect and conserve the environment through positive messages and solution oriented recommendations.

The Baum Foundation provides programmatic grants that focus on research, constructive recommendations for preservation, and assistance to implement change programs. The Baum Foundation’s goal is to help those who are managing resources in the field, by giving them critical and time-sensitive resources, tools, and access to a broad network of educators, park managers, community leaders, nongovernmental organizations, and policy makers.

The Baum Foundation works to enhance the environmental literacy of people and facilitates public participation in environmental activities using six principles: Empowerment, Justice, Education, Communication, Partnership, and Credibility. Based on these ideas, the Foundation funds, connects, and energizes a diverse global community that is working actively on next-generation conservation projects to protect biodiversity, conserve the planet’s resources, and educate a broad audience on the importance of creating sustainable solutions for the environment.

 
 

America’s Ocean Challenge

 

Covering more than two-thirds of the earth’s surface, the seas were once thought to be an inexhaustible resource, too vast to be damaged by human activity. However, recent reports by U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy (2004) and the Pew Oceans Commission (2003) have documented that many aspects of human activity adversely impact U.S. oceans; both reports concluded that the oceans are in crisis, and major changes are urgently needed.

 

Educating the Next Generation of Youth in Ocean Conservation

The America’s Ocean Challenge public awareness program will reach 100 million people over 5 years, and is specifically targeted to connect with Americans to bring about increased awareness of the importance, value, and vulnerability of our nation’s oceans, and how every individual has a stake in their conservation.  The Ocean Project, The Baum Foundation, and Summerhays Films will collaborate to deliver this program to inspire and motivate the public toward better stewardship of our oceans.  America’s Ocean Challenge (AOC) received planning grants from the National Science Foundation and The Ocean Foundation and other organizations. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has partnered with AOC on program development with contributions of expert advice and research by NOAA’s scientists. The AOC lead advisors include Dr. Sylvia Earle, the world-renowned marine biologist, Time magazine’s first “hero for the planet”, and former NOAA Chief Scientist; Dr. Kathleen Sullivan, NASA Astronaut and former NOAA Chief Scientist, and Dr. Paul Boyle, Chairman of The Ocean Project. Billy Causey, Superintendent of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, is serving as the America’s Ocean Challenge spokesperson.

 

America’s Ocean Challenge will constitute one of the most comprehensive ocean awareness programs of this type ever launched in the United States. The program will include large format films and complementary educational materials for visitors to museums, aquariums, zoos, and K–12 schools throughout the U.S., and members of 500 non-profit organizations.

 

Anticipated Outcome and Timeframe

The outreach will include delivering ocean science information materials in the form of a workbook, tied to a short film and website that in its first year will directly reach and educate at-risk students through Liberty’s Abbott Partnership Program, which annually serves 200,000 students and their families. In subsequent years, after adaptation for use by the 24 other facilities, the materials are anticipated to reach approximately 1,000,000 students per year. When used in combination with free admission and other outreach strategies, the educational tools will help drive attendance at zoos, aquariums, and science centers, thus maximizing these institutions’ service to their communities.  AOC’s educational tools will fill a critical gap in ocean science curricula nationwide, since most states have little if any ocean science content in their core curricula.  Disseminated throughout the twenty-one states with whom AOC is now seeking partnerships, and extended beyond that number over time, these educational tools can reach a broad majority of the next generation of citizens whose everyday decisions will determine the health of ocean ecosystems.