Oyster Reef Ecosystem Services Project Principal Investigators Meet, Collaborate The NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office’s Oyster Reef Ecosystem Services project—including NCBO field work, NCBO-funded research by academic institutions, and computer modeling—is exploring the ecosystem benefits that restored oyster reefs provide. Throughout the years in which institutions have received funding for their work, primarily in researching fish utilization [...]
Researchers at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) have developed a yearly report card to gauge sea-level trends around the country. As annual tide-gauge data becomes available, the report card shows trends and projected sea-level rise to 2050 in 32 localities along all US coasts. Each report card shows recent trends, projections, and explanations of [...]
Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) researchers Robert "JJ" Orth and Deborah Bronk have both recently won major awards for their contributions to the scientific community. Northam named Orth one of three Virginia Outstanding Scientists for 2018. Orth was named one of Virginia's three Outstanding Scientists for 2018. Gov. Ralph Northam and Richard Conti, Chief [...]
An environmental chemist at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science Chesapeake Biological Laboratory is using an artificial sweetener to track pollution in local streams. Michael Gonsior testing one of the streams. Photo by Mindy Forsyth Michael Gonsior is developing chemical tracers "to identify the presence of septic wastewater in streams" and linking [...]
Old Dominion University (ODU) oceanography professor Tal Ezer has been looking at how changes in the Gulf Stream could prove to be a wildcard in predicting flooding in Hampton Roads. In a recent article written in The Virginia-Pilot, Ezer explains how tides in the fall of 2015 rose 3 feet above predictions. During Hurricane Joaquin, winds [...]
Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences' Center for Professional Development has partnered with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation to educate agriculture teachers from across the state on the importance of watershed education. 170 high school agriculture teachers visited Harrisburg to learn about Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences, which are investigative or experimental projects focused on teaching students about [...]
Researchers at Penn State University and the US Dept. of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) have developed a new technology that removes phosphorous from manure, which could have a huge impact on water quality issues. Image: Hristov Research Group / Penn State The system is called Manure Phosphorous Extraction (MAPHEX for short) and uses a [...]
Contaminants from pharmaceuticals, antibiotics, and steroids are becoming increasingly common in surface and drinking water sources, having an effect on human and aquatic health. To reduce this pollution, researchers at Penn State University have developed a filtration system that removes contaminants from hospital wastewater. "Biogenic manganese oxide-coated coir fiber collected from the coal mine drainage [...]
Smithsonian marine biologists have launched Invader ID, an online citizen science project calling on people to help identify invasive species. The project started on the San Francisco Bay, where the majority of species identified by researchers are invasive. "SERC marine biologist Brianna Tracy holds a plate with marine life pulled from a dock in San [...]
Scientists at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) are stumped by missing crabs. Back in 2006, a crabber caught a Chinese mitten crab, and shortly after scientist confirmed its identity, reports from all over, including as far north as the Hudson River, found hundreds of the crabs. SERC even set up a hotline to report the sightings as [...]
