The Maury Project was the first AMS education program focusing on ocean education. In its nearly eleven-year tenure, approximately 275 educators from kindergarten through university levels have attended one of its two-week summer workshops at the U.S. Naval Academy. This unique partnership of AMS, the Naval Academy, SUNY College at Brockport with significant support from the National Science Foundation, the Navy and NOAA, has provided a program of instruction that focuses on the physical foundations of oceanography. This paper summarizes how the Maury Project promotes the study of the marine and coastal environments, areas of vital interest to the agencies sponsoring this program.

The unique feature of the Maury Project is its focus on physical processes. Teachers who attend the Maury Project summer workshops are provided with a learning experience that enables them to understand the structure and dynamics of the oceans and methods for measuring its physical properties. They learn about the agencies that are involved with oceanic research and operational activity and why the oceans are important to these agencies. In addition, resource materials in the form of modules are provided to the workshop participants so they can conduct workshops for their peers. These peer-training sessions have been a highly effective mechanism to distribute instructional materials to teachers both nationally and internationally. Modules include such topics as shallow ocean water waves, ocean tides and coastal upwelling. To date, over 1200 Maury peer-training sessions have reached over 20000 teachers both nationally and internationally. This partnership comprised of a professional society, scientific and operational agencies working as colleagues with the precollege educational structure provides an excellent model for enhancing the study of the marine and coastal environments.