Working Together to Keep Oysters Thriving in the Bay A thriving oyster population is vital to a healthy Chesapeake Bay. As a keystone species, oysters are necessary for filtering water and providing critical habitat for other species in the Bay. The Chesapeake Oyster Alliance is a coalition of partners that includes non-profits, universities, oyster farmers, [...]
How Water Chemistry Changes in Response to Urbanization Scientists have long known that land development can have significant negative impacts on local streams. Instead of focusing on water quality measured with a single grab sample, a team of researchers at University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) looked at water chemistry over a 30-year time span [...]
Major Climate Change Research Synthesis Kicks Off in the Chesapeake Climate change continues to complicate how models of the Chesapeake Bay predict the future. The Chesapeake Bay Program’s Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) recently began a program to support scientists grappling with these uncertainties by funding short scientific syntheses around climate change issues in [...]
Timothy Canty Named Director of UMD’s Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences Graduate Program The University System of Maryland’s interdisciplinary Marine Estuarine Environmental Science (MEES) Graduate Program has found a new director in Timothy Canty, who began this role in August 2019. Timothy Canty. Credit: Lisa Helfert Canty is an associate research professor in the [...]
Small Coastal Birds Can Weather Major Storms People often use shorebirds as the quintessential example of birds affected by hurricanes, oil spills, and other major disturbances. But a research team led by a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Maryland’s National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC) found that shorebird populations are actually quite resistant to these [...]
VIMS Helps State Prepare for Oil Spills on the Eastern Shore Verizon ran additional deployment operations at night, in part to test night vision capabilities. Emily Hein (VIMS) is wearing a helmet-mounted camera streaming live video and audio back to shore and an s-band radio, next to Brian Province (Maersk Line, Ltd). Credit: Aaron [...]
VIMS Professor Receives Odum Award The Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation (CERF) honored Dr. Iris Anderson, a professor at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), with the Odum Award for her contributions to estuarine and coastal ecosystem research. The Scientific Awards Committee note that Anderson “stands out as a trailblazer and leader in the [...]
Understanding how climate change affects sensory pathways Global climate change is affecting marine organism behavior in numerous ways, including alterations in mating, predation, and habitat selection, which could result in major ecological and evolutionary impacts. Emily Rivest from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) led a study synthesizing the results of 120 journal articles [...]
A New Home for the Heart of Virginia's Seafood Industry Virginia's seafood industry has an economic impact of more than $550 million on the commonwealth. With such huge resources at stake, the seafood industry needs to be ready to adapt to global markets and new technologies. That's why the Virginia Seafood Agricultural Research and Extension [...]
C-StREAM Update: Following up on Fellows and Funding Last year, the C-StREAM program provided support for a cohort of students from underrepresented backgrounds to pursue Chesapeake research and work closely with academic mentors. We are excited to host another cohort of C-StREAM fellows in 2020, but we are looking for additional funding. If you are [...]
