Virginia Tech has a long history of supporting CRC's Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC). Brian Benham serves as chair of STAC, and Kurt Stephenson was recently appointed to the Executive Board. In addition, several VT researchers also serve on STAC, including Tess Thompson, Gene Yagow (retired), and Zach Easton, who recently led the review of [...]
Scientists across the Bay have long speculated that oysters improve water quality, leading managers to restore oyster reefs as a best management practice. Researchers Lisa Kellogg and Mark Brush at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) and Jeff Cornwell of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) have developed a web-based, interactive computer [...]
Researchers from University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) joined researchers from Shedd Aquarium in Chicago and University of Florida to study crab population migrations across the east coast. Scientists have generally understood that crabs spawn in Virginia's salty waters and then make their way north to Maryland. Since their movement is determined by weather, [...]
When invasive species enter the picture, things are rarely black and white. A new paper has revealed that some plant invaders could help fight climate change by making it easier for ecosystems to store “blue carbon”—the carbon stored in coastal environments like salt marshes, mangroves and seagrasses. But other invaders, most notably animals, can do the [...]
Since 2014, a team of researchers at Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) has been tracking the migration of cownose rays. The rays are often spotted in the Chesapeake Bay in the summer, but until now nobody knew where the rays went for the winter. During a three-year tagging study published in August, Matt Ogburn and Charles [...]
The Living Filter at Pennsylvania State University features 600 acres of agricultural land and forest, much of which is sprayed with wastewater (called effluent) from a local wastewater treatment plant and has acted as a research site for decades. Researchers recently completed a 5-year study that observed how soils in the Living Filter could act as [...]
Marine organisms with calcium-based shells are at risk from the effects of ocean acidification caused by increased carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions worldwide. Protecting seagrass meadows could be a way to minimize the impacts of ocean acidification at local levels. Richard Zimmerman from Old Dominion University (ODU), partnering with scientists from the Carnegie Institution for Science, University of California [...]
A Johns Hopkins professor is determined to make sure the same pitfalls of agriculture aren't repeated in aquaculture. Jillian Fry, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Livable Future's Seafood, Public Health, and Food Systems Project, is an expert in all things aquaculture. Image created by Paul Garland for Johns Hopkins Magazine This year, the [...]
In June, we hosted the 2018 Chesapeake Community Research and Modeling Symposium (ChesRMS18). It was a huge success, hosting over 200 Bay scientists from across the watershed and beyond. Videos of our plenary and panel speakers are now on Youtube: Rich Batuik - Three Decades of Using Science as the Foundation for Collaborative Bay and Watershed [...]
Four C-StREAM Program Students Have Productive Summer Internships This past summer, CRC and the Chesapeake Bay Program partnership funded four internships for undergraduate students to conduct Chesapeake Bay-related research and management activities. From left to right: Ashley Duncan, Mackenzie Bodman, and Ben Anderson. Not pictured: Nicholas Coleman Nicholas Coleman studies at Coastal Carolina University and [...]
