Maryland Water Monitoring Council (MWMC) Conference

The Maryland Water Monitoring Council’s 31st annual conference was held on November 20th at the Maritime Conference Center in Linthicum, MD. Nearly 475 students, professionals, and academics working to monitor and improve water quality gathered to learn about new approaches and ideas around this year’s theme of “Embracing Innovation to Protect and Restore Maryland’s Waters.” In the opening plenary, Jeremy Werdell, from NASA highlighted how satellite images are changing our understanding of phytoplankton across the planet and transforming our ability to monitor these critical species. Rich Ortt, from Maryland DNR, followed by outlining the Resource Assessment Service’s “One Water” vision, which highlights the need to monitor and restore water quality across the whole water cycle and tackle emerging issues. He also highlighted the importance of people’s creativity as our greatest resource for innovation. There were some great sessions throughout the day, and it was wonderful to see how forward-thinking Maryland is in its approach to monitoring and restoring water quality throughout the state.