Kristin Saunders, a University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science at the Chesapeake Bay Program (UMCES@CBP) employee, organizes regular mini-retreats for the Goal Implementation Team chairs and Chesapeake Bay Program leadership. The Goal Implementation Team chairs included Sean Corson (Sustainable Fisheries), Christine Conn (Habitat), James Davis-Martin (Water Quality), Chuck Hunt (Fostering Chesapeake Stewardship), and Dave Goshorn (Enhance Partnering, Leadership and Management).

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We held a press conference for the release of the 2017 Chesapeake Bay report card on 15 June 2018 on the Potomac River. We used the Hyatt Hotel as the press conference venue in a new development on the Wharf area of Washington, D.C. It was a great venue in that it showcased the social and economic opportunities that a clean waterway can afford. There were new water taxis plying the river, floating wetlands alongside a nice pier, and lots of restaurants and pubs along the waterfront.

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The Integration and Application Network annual retreat was held at the Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center on Kent Narrows on May 31. Two dozen IAN staff spent the day introducing themselves to each other, discussing the IAN report card and the IAN brand. This annual gathering includes our University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science and Chesapeake Bay Program staff (UMCES@CBP).

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The cover of the 2016 Chesapeake Bay Report Card. Image credit:

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I spent an enjoyable day in Chesapeake Beach overlooking the Bay in a workshop entitled 'Webstock 2015: One day of Peace & the Internet". Guy Stephens, one of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science at the Chesapeake Bay Program (UMCES @ CBP) staff organized this amazing event. I knew something was different when I heard strains of rock music as I approached the workshop site.

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On 16 July, the Integration and Application Network staff met in Solomons, Maryland for a three hour cruise aboard the R/V Rachel Carson followed by a tour of the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory. The R/V Rachel Carson, skippered by Michael Hulme and crewed by Rob Nilsen, took us out to the center of the Bay for a hydrocast in 33 meters of water. Dave Loewensteiner helped out with the various scientific samplings and Jeremy Testa helped with the interpretation of the data.

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At the June Science and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) meeting and at the Science and Technical Analysis and Reporting (STAR) meeting, we were presented with the scenarios of a $1.1-1.2 million dollar cut to the Chesapeake Bay monitoring program. This would be a nearly 25% reduction of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) funding for the tidal and non-tidal monitoring. This monitoring program, which has been occurring continuously since ca.

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On 27 June 2013, Caroline Wicks presented the STAR seminar in anticipation of the 2012 Chesapeake Bay report card release. The seminar was entitled 'Enhancing the Chesapeake Bay report card with new indicators and new methods'. In capturing the discussion following the seminar, I have converted the discussion into a series of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). Caroline Wicks presenting at the STAR seminar on June 27, 2013. Credit:

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In order to create a map of stream health in the Chesapeake watershed, Katie Foreman, Scott Phillips, Claire Buchanan and colleagues in the Non Tidal Workgroup of the Chesapeake Bay Program generated a data set of benthic macroinvertebrate condition using data collected by state agencies in the Chesapeake watershed. The original map created by Katie and her team in 2009 had approximately 3,200 data points, distributed throughout the watershed.

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