Engaging community members at Nature Everywhere Week
On May 1st, IAN hosted an interactive exhibit at the Nature Everywhere Week event at Druid Hill Park in Baltimore, MD. This was a week-long event aimed at fostering community participation with hands-on stewardship and promoting environmental literacy. Similar to previous listening sessions, our table featured activities meant to engage the community and understand their perspectives about the Chesapeake Bay and watershed. We also had kid-friendly activities that educated kids about the Chesapeake Bay and allowed them to express their creativity. Our continued engagement efforts are part of a broader initiative to improve our annual Chesapeake Bay and Watershed Report Card.
Fun at the 2025 IMET Open House
On Saturday, May 10th, IAN joined IMET at their annual open house, this year in partnership with Baltimore Public Works's Big Truck Day. The event was hosted across IMET's parking lot and Pierce's Park, and featured trash, recycling, and construction trucks, education about public works, hands-on STEM activities, microscopes, touch tanks, and more. The IAN team surveyed attendees on their concerns and hopes about the Chesapeake Bay, and educated through a Fishing for Chesapeake Bay Facts game. It was a beautiful day with a great turnout. Thank you to IMET for hosting, and we'll see you there next year!
IAN speaks at Blacks of the Chesapeake event in Annapolis
Vanessa Vargas-Nguyen and Heath Kelsey were invited to talk to high school students about the linkages between our environment and human health. About 75 students from four schools attended a series of events designed to connect them with their environment, including African American cultural history in the bay region. IAN’s role was to summarize the Coastal Environment and Community Health course that Vanessa and Heath taught in Fall 2024, which explored the impacts of environmental conditions on human health. Health effects related to water quality, air pollution, intense heat, flooding and sea level rise, harmful algal blooms, plastics, environmental justice, and community capacity were discussed. Many of the students were familiar with environmental justice concepts, water quality, and sea level rise issues, which is very encouraging. It was great to be able to have these discussions in the context of environmental justice and climate change. Thank you to the Blacks of the Chesapeake for arranging the event and for including UMCES!
Beach cleanup for UMCES centennial
On Monday, May 19th, IAN celebrated the UMCES 100 challenge by picking up 100 pieces of trash from the historic Carr’s Beach in Annapolis. We all got together at the office, got our gloves, shades, and other UV protection, and carpooled to Carr’s beach. During the short walk through the forest leading to the beach, we came across some signage that discussed the significance of Carr’s Beach, once the only accessible beach for African American beachgoers during the time of segregation. The beach then went on to be an outdoor music venue that hosted hundreds of Black musical icons such as Billie Holiday, Tina Turner, The Temptations, and more. We collected many cigarette butts, foam pieces, and bottle caps, and found a few pieces of construction materials, including a rusty piece of rebar, as well as an intact chimney. We were able to collect more than 100 pieces (and pounds) of trash, and we enjoyed spending some time outside appreciating the weather.
Congratulations, Veronica!
Veronica Malabanan Lucchese, a PhD candidate and NOAA-LMRCSC Fellow II at IAN-UMCES, was recently awarded the Bill Huppert Endowed Student Award in Marine, Estuarine, and Environmental Sciences. Funded by the Maryland Saltwater Sportfishermen's Association (MSSA) Scholarship Foundation, this recognition celebrates her contributions to community engagement and invasive fisheries management in Chesapeake Bay. Her research focuses on conducting a socio-ecological network analysis of invasive blue catfish alongside native striped bass and blue crab fisheries to enhance stakeholder participation in decision-making processes. This summer, she will be conducting paid surveys with fishery stakeholders to further inform her work and research efforts. Those who complete the survey will be entered into a raffle to win $50! To take the survey and enter the raffle, CLICK HERE or email Veronica at vlucchese@umces.edu
Coming soon: 2025 Chesapeake Bay & Watershed Report Card
We're pleased to announce that the 2025 Chesapeake Bay & Watershed Report Card will be released on Tuesday, June 10th at 10am EDT! Please join us in person at the Annapolis Maritime Museum in Annapolis, MD or virtually through livestream to learn about the latest health status of the Bay and its Watershed! This year marks the 19th year we have released this report card and also the centennial celebration of UMCES, so we are excited to also unveil a special edition of the Chesapeake Bay Report Card along with our annual report card. We are also excited to release this report card during Chesapeake Bay Awareness Week 2025, which is being held from June 7–15 this year. If you would like to stay notified about the report card release, please click here to RSVP for the event.
Coming soon: Charles County, MD Adaptation Report Card
The Charles County, MD Adaptation Report Card will be released and distributed for the first time at the Southern MD Blue Crabs game at Regency Furniture Stadium (Waldorf, MD) on Friday, June 13th. This is the first adaptation report card to assess resilience alongside vulnerability, and is being used to develop resilience strategies for the County. UMCES IAN stickers and materials from the Resilience Authority of Charles County will also be on offer. We hope you can make it out!
20 years of the IAN E-newsletter
Believe it or not, the first IAN e-newsletter was published in June 2005! From our very first issue, we’ve grown, adapted, and thrived through two decades of change and innovation. This journey wouldn’t have been possible without the incredible support of our partners over the years—your collaboration has helped us make meaningful impacts both locally and around the world.
To our readers and supporters: thank you for staying with us, engaging with us, and believing in the value of what we share. Your continued interest fuels our passion and purpose. We look forward to keeping you informed and inspired for many more years to come.