Claire Anderson
Executive Director and Co-founder
Claire Anderson is co-founder and executive director of Ripple Effect Water Literacy Project, a New Orleans-based environmental education nonprofit whose mission is to empower the next generation with the knowledge, skill, and ethical grounding they need to strengthen communities in an era of climate change and sea-level rise. Drawing from her past experiences as a teacher and business and content developer for museum exhibition design consultancies, Claire has helped grow Ripple Effect from a one-time experiment in her own classroom to a multi-school initiative. The organization partners with school districts and charter networks to provide wraparound support for water literacy course development—including curriculum design, assessment design, and teacher professional development—for schools that want to incorporate locally relevant water issues into their everyday science instruction. Under Claire’s leadership, Ripple Effect has expanded from elementary to middle and high school, and is growing its reputation as a boundary organization that thoughtfully integrates educational research with on-the-ground realities of classroom teaching, with particular focus on addressing the needs of Title 1 public schools.
In 2020, Claire conceived of and led facilitation for a region-wide interpretive planning process to define a shared vision for justice-centered water literacy, including establishing a consortium of leading environmental education organizations, and engaging with over 70 educators, water researchers, practitioners, and community members across South Louisiana. Currently, the organization is focused on three multi-year initiatives with New Orleans-based charter networks and teachers, with support from the National Academies of Sciences. Claire is a member of the Education Advisory Board for Louisiana Sea Grant. She lives in New Orleans with her husband, John, their son, and their pit bull, Rosa.
Past and Current Projects
-
Led curriculum writing process, and contributed to unit-level storyline development; led teacher professional development in Year 1, planned and facilitated curriculum development workshops
-
Project lead, responsible for establishing partnerships, planning and co-facilitating curriculum workshops, and conceiving and executing teacher professional development; contributed to unit storylining and lesson-level development
-
Co-conceived and implemented teacher fellowship experience with Mondo Bizarro, wrote 4th grade science curriculum, provided project management and financial oversight
-
Led initial workshop with consortium members, led interviewing process with over 70 water-focused educators, practitioners, researchers, and community leaders, contributed writing and content development in the culminating reports
-
Led concept design and strategic planning; provide financial oversight and project management; guide long-term strategy and provide backbone administrative support, to ensure long-term viability of the initiative
-
Conceive and direct teacher professional learning, lead curriculum writing for Louisiana mini-units, liaise with KIPP New Orleans regional administrators,
Publications & Presentations
Anderson, C., Henderson, J., Johnson, S., Marshall, K., & Sprague, B. (in press). Puddles to Floods: Field-based investigations on flooding in New Orleans. Science & Children.
Anderson, C., Henderson, J., Johnson, S., Marshall, K., & Sprague, B. (2024). Moving Through Uncertainty: Supporting Teachers and Students in Shifting to Inquiry-based Science while Learning about Stormwater Flooding in New Orleans. www.rippleeffectnola.com.
Anderson, C., & Davis, N. (2023, April 13-16). Murky Waters: Designing for Critical Water Literacy & the Self-Determination of Black Children Living with Environmental Instability [Presentation]. 2023 AERA Annual Meeting, Chicago, Illinois.
Anderson, C., & Sprague, B. (2021). Water Literacy: A Shared Vision For K–12 Environmental Education. www.rippleeffectnola.com.
Anderson, C., & Sprague, B. (2021). Ripple Effect Water Literacy Stakeholder Reports 1-6. www.rippleeffectnola.com.
Anderson, C., & Nicholas, L. K. (2019). Water Literacy: Transdisciplinary Methods for Strengthening K–12 Science Education. SUS-RURI: Proceedings of a Workshop on Developing a Convergence Sustainable Urban Systems Agenda for Redesigning the Urban-Rural Interface along the Mississippi River Watershed Held in Ames, Iowa, August 12–13, 2019. https://doi.org/10.31274/3d9ea6a4.9ddf8c7b
Anderson, C., Carpenter, A., & Mauch (Kelsch), K. (2019, September 4-6). Ripple Effect Water Literacy Project [Poster]. 2019 Planetary Health Annual Meeting, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California.