August 11, 2019

Dear Colleagues,

TRANSITION is a very definite theme this year here for both the Chesapeake Bay Program partnership and the CRC. Within the CRC and its cooperative programs with EPA and NOAA, 2019 has or will bring:

  • A new CRC Director before the end of the year as yours truly steps down to make room for new blood and participate in other ways. (In that regard, our Board is finalizing its selection of our new Director from a truly impressive list of applicants, such that I expect to be in position to contribute a “Note from the Outgoing Director” for our next [November] newsletter!)
  • A new STAC Coordinator since July 1, 2019, in Annabelle Harvey. Although Rachel will be very sorely missed (see our article in this newsletter offering her our farewell wishes!), Annabelle is already an experienced hand at coordinating STAC workshops, has led our recommendation database development, and is up-to-speed on all of our on-going activities to support STAC. STAC members and CRC staff are all looking forward to working closely with her in the coming years.
  • As Melissa Fagan describes well in her update on the CRC’s EMCDP (or “staffer”) program, this has also been a year of transition at the “staffing” level of the Chesapeake Bay Program Office, where we have welcomed quite a few new college graduates and early career scientists (7 by the end of September!) to 3-year positions at the CBPO in Annapolis.

Within the wider partnership:

  • EPA has welcomed Dana Aunkst as the new Director of their Chesapeake Bay Program office (CBPO).  Mr. Anukst will now also be  the new chair of the partnership’s Management Board.
  • Rumor has it that the US EPA will also hire a new “Associate Director for Science, Analysis and Implementation” at the US EPA CBPO (Rich Batiuk’s prior position) by early 2020.
  • With the 2017 TMDL Mid-Point Assessment behind us and Phase 3 Watershed Implementation Planning in final stages, the partnership is now focusing even more intensely on other goals and outcomes of the 2014 Chesapeake Watershed Agreement, even while intensifying work toward better understanding and adapting to climate change and  future visioning of Chesapeake Bay Program Modeling in 2025 and Beyond. (The latter initiative is a joint product of CRC-CCMP and STAC efforts.)
  • The USGS has been implementing its revised Chesapeake Science Strategy for 2015-2025, with a new emphasis on “improving the understanding of fish and wildlife population and health, and the factors affecting their condition.” (See the published USGS report for details.)
  • This is a year during which STAC membership has undergone some changes, and several new members have been welcomed. In addition, this is the end of Professor Brian Benham’s tenure as STAC chair.  Professor Andy Miller (UMBC) will be stepping into that position at the September meeting, and Dr. Kathleen Boomer will be stepping in as the new Vice Chair, scheduled to move up to chair.
  • In the last regard, Dr. Boomer has had her own transition, moving from her position at The Nature Conservancy in Maryland to a new role Scientific Program Director for the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, where she can remain deeply engaged in Chesapeake related issues, through STAC and otherwise. Congratulations, Kathy!
  • Finally, two major CBP partnering federal agencies (EPA and NOAA) will have moved to new offices, still in Annapolis, but sadly out of their wonderful commonly shared complex on Spa Creek. Specifically, the NOAA CB Office (NCBO) has relocated (just a few weeks ago) to a location west of Riva Road and the EPA CBPO will be relocating (in early 2020, I have heard) to a location on Forest Drive, a few miles east of the new NCBO. These are major transition of a physical kind, and have been long loathed by many people.   The Spa Creek location been appreciated by our community for decades, with multiple agencies leasing together in one location with an efficiently organized working environment that had developed wonderful facilities over time.  In particular, the convenience (and water view!) of the CBPO Conference Room (aka Fish Shack) will be sorely missed by many. As with so many other current government happenings, this decision makes me scratch my head and sigh. But this challenge, like the others, is one that I’m certain our strong community can weather!

Finally, I would just like to say what pleasure I have had this summer in getting to better know quite a few of our new staffers and interns, including our eleven C-StREAM interns, who I have had the pleasure of finally meeting, and getting to know better, e.g. through some fun sails on the Bay and informative seminar events. This is a bright and energetic group of young people who, with the other students and young staff I know, make me optimistic about the future.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this newsletter, which our communications team worked very hard to produce.  The article on the Odums and their legacy is especially interesting and points to the kind of impact that good research and education can have.

Please help our team stay current with your own institutions’ research and education contributions by remembering to send us your news and encouraging colleagues to do the same!

Cheers and warm regards to all our subscribers!

Bill

 

P.S.:  As always:  If you know individuals with  Bay-relevant scientific expertise to contribute to the CBP partnership and have not yet registered, please encourage them to register with our CBED expertise database.   It is quick and easy to do so, with a guided form and pull-down menus.