On 22 June 2023, the building housing the Institute for Marine and Environmental Technology (IMET) in Baltimore, Maryland was renamed the Rita Rossi Colwell Center in a gala event. It was a spectacular evening of tributes to Rita, organized by IMET Director Russell Hill and his capable staff.

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On 6 June 2023, we released the 2022 Chesapeake Bay Watershed report card along the shore of the Potomac River in Alexandria, VA. This was the first time that we released the annual Chesapeake report card in Virginia, and we featured speakers from Maryland and Virginia. Following our speakers, I gave my remarks about the report card results and their broad implications.

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At a press conference held by UMCES IAN at Daingerfield Island’s Washington Sailing Marina, the annual Chesapeake Bay and Watershed Report Card was unveiled. Alongside the Chesapeake report card, a Potomac River and Watershed Report Card was unveiled for the first time as a part of the Belmont Forum COAST Card Project. Read more about the new elements included within the report card, and what the 2022 grades have to tell us!

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Horn Point Laboratory Director Mike Sieracki and Carin Starr organized a nice event at the Cambridge Packing House. The 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. I loved the diversity of students and the diversity of projects that were being undertaken.

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The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) holds an annual graduation for its Master's and Ph.D. students. The graduation rotates between the four UMCES laboratories and this year it was held in Frostburg, MD at the Appalachian Laboratory on 19 May 2023.

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Every year, the faculty from the various units of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) gather for a day and a half at one of the campuses. This year, the Faculty Convocation was hosted by the Appalachian Laboratory. We had beautiful crisp spring weather in the mountains and a very engaging Convocation with the theme “Research Grand Challenges”.

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On 15 May 2023, a large contingent of Chesapeake Bay advocates, practitioners, and scientists gathered at the Annapolis Maritime Museum in Eastport to celebrate the career of Carin Bisland, who was the Branch Chief, Partnerships and Accountability Branch of the Chesapeake Bay Program.

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Last summer, Global Sustainability Scholar Lawren Caldwell was a rising Junior at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, but she was such a diligent student that she actually finished her undergraduate program early and graduated on 13 May 2023. I was invited to her graduation, which was a splendid event held in the Greensboro Coliseum.

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Sharing experiences, finding out about each other, building a shared vision about the future of Chesapeake Bay—these are the best things about the biennial meeting.

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The insight I gained from Andrew was that if we can figure out how to create sustainable food systems, we can make significant progress on three separate fronts: 1) Climate change adaptation and resilience, 2) Water security and 3) Nutrient management.

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