Horn Point Laboratory Director Mike Sieracki and Carin Starr organized a nice event at the Cambridge Packing House. The Cambridge Mayor and various friends of the laboratory from Dorchester and Talbot County were invited. The Packing House is a renovated warehouse from the Phillips Packing Company in the industrial section of Cambridge, Maryland. It is an incredible space, with high ceilings, large windows, and interesting architectural features.

The 2 June 2023 event featured eight graduate students and their advisors from Horn Point Laboratory. Each graduate student had nice displays, including videos, live organisms, and colorful posters. But the real attraction was the enthusiasm of the students. I loved the diversity of students from Asia, South America, Europe, and Maryland and the diversity of projects that were being undertaken:

• Imani Black, who founded Minorities in Aquaculture, described her graduate school project in the following way: “I am on a mission to navigate the past and direct the future.” Imani is in the Environment & Society Foundation of the Marine Estuarine Environmental Science program which combines social and natural science. Her advisor is Dr. Matt Gray.
• Kerry Burns is investigating the movement of microplastics through the environment with her advisor Dr. Jamie Pierson.
• Bruna Sobrinho is studying red tides in the Gulf of Mexico along the Florida coast with Dr. Pat Glibert. Bruna said this about her research: “Since my first contact with phytoplankton, I have been enchanted by their beauty and their importance for the health of the planet.”
• Ben Malmgren was demonstrating his use of drones to track changes in coastal vegetation, and he is working with Dr. Lorie Staver.
• Michael Kalinowski is building a benthic microbial fuel cell to study oyster biological deposits—the stuff that oysters filter out of the water, but do not consume. Michael is working with Drs. Sairah Malkin and Andrew Thaler.
• Shayna Keller is looking at the ecological effects of a filamentous Cyanobacteria (blue-green alga) that blooms in the amazing submerged aquatic vegetation meadow in the Susquehanna Flats at the head of Chesapeake Bay. Shayna is working with Dr. Judy O’Neil.
• Limin Sun is studying shoreline erosion processes to better understand how to design living shorelines that protect coastal resources from the effects of sea level rise. Limin is working with Dr. William Nardin.
• Iacopo Vona is looking at how nature-based solutions can be used to improve coastal resilience. He helped build and deploy oyster castles in a cove near Horn Point Laboratory to investigate their ability to attenuate wave energy. Iacopo is working with Dr. William Nardin.

One of the benefits of attending this event was that I could catch up with our UMCES Board of Visitors attending the event. Tom Buckmaster and his wife Sheila, along with Ron Kreitner and his wife Marianne are great advocates for UMCES and were enthusiastic about helping me in my impending new role at UMCES.

The other program that was announced at the event was Summer Talks — a series of public lectures that will be held at a local iconic restaurant in Cambridge, the High Spot. Various Horn Point Laboratory faculty will share their insights in this relaxed setting with reduced prices for food and drinks. It promises to be an interesting program.