The Chesapeake Bay Program’s Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) is administered by the CRC and funded through a cooperative agreement with the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) Partnership – currently spanning the period 2016-2022. The CRC has had a long-standing role of administering all activities of STAC, an active committee with 38 members from academic and scientific institutions around the watershed.
STAC held its third quarterly meeting of FY2017 on December 5-6, 2017 at the Westin Hotel in Annapolis, MD. The meeting featured presentations and discussion on sources of contaminants of emerging concern and the risk they pose to the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed. The meeting also featured report-outs from STAC and CBP representatives on recent STAC reviews for the Partnership’s 2017 Midpoint Assessment and the introduction of new STAC members Thomas Johnson (EPA) and Tess Thompson (VA Tech). Presentations and more information can be found on the meeting webpage. STAC will host the fourth quarterly meeting of FY2017 on March 13-14, 2018 at a location to be determined.
STAC has hosted three workshops over the last quarter:
- On November 14-15 2017, STAC hosted a workshop titled “Consideration of BMP Performance Uncertainty in Chesapeake Bay Program Implementation” in Fairfax, VA. Presentations and more information can be found on the workshop webpage.
- On December 12-13 2017, STAC hosted a workshop titled “Integrating Recent Findings to Explain Water Quality Change: Support for the Mid-Point Assessment and Beyond” in Annapolis, MD. Presentations and more information can be found on the workshop webpage.
- On January 17-19 2018, STAC hosted a workshop titled “Chesapeake Bay Program Modeling Beyond 2025” in Shepherdstown, WV. More information can be found on the workshop webpage.
STAC will be hosting two more workshops over the coming months. Several workshop steering committees are in the process of drafting activity reports and other workshop outcomes that will be distributed to the Partnership over the next few months. For more information regarding recently published and upcoming STAC workshop reports, visit the STAC past workshop webpage. Information regarding recent and upcoming STAC workshops is posted when available on the STAC current workshop homepage.
On December 4, 2017, STAC published a report outlining the findings and recommendations of a STAC workshop held in March 2017: Quantifying Ecosystem Services and Co-Benefits of Nutrient and Sediment Pollutant Reducing BMPs.
STAC will be releasing the following two technical review reports in January: 1) Chesapeake Bay Water Quality/Sediment Transport Model (WQSTM); and 2) CBP Partnership’s Climate Change Assessment Framework and Programmatic Integration and Response Efforts. For more information regarding recently published STAC review reports, visit the STAC review webpage.