Chesapeake Global Collaboratory Retreat
On March 11–12th, IAN supported the Chesapeake Global Collaboratory Retreat in Solomons, MD. This event inaugurated the brand new building that houses the Collaboratory and hosted state agencies and UMCES scientists, with the aim of fostering collaboration and determining viable research projects that can tackle the environmental challenges that are persistent throughout the state. We started the first day with lightning talks, followed by breakout group discussions. Participants identified critical sustainability and restoration issues for different categories, such as water systems, land use, ecosystem health, cross-cutting issues, and climate resilience and mitigation. The following day, the participants prioritized the challenges and identified how they align with Collaboratory goals, along with the resources and key people needed to tackle each challenge. To wrap up the event, everyone voted on the potential projects that are most necessary and have the largest impact with existing resources and leadership.
Maryland Climate Tech+ Conference
On March 19th, Conor Keitzer joined “America250: The Underground Underwater Bus Tour” as part of the Maryland Climate Tech+ 2026 conference. This was a wonderful event that included lunch at the Hyatt Regency in Cambridge, MD where we learned about their wide-ranging sustainability efforts. For instance, using sustainable tees at their golf course and planting native grasses to reduce water use. After lunch, we took part in a guided tour of Harriet Tubman’s Dorchester County. The tour is a powerful example of how climate change will impact so many different aspects of our lives, including eroding our history. Much of Harriet Tubman’s world will be underwater before the end of the century. The last stop was a tour of the oyster hatchery at UMCES Horn Point Lab, where it’s always incredible to see their efforts to restore the Bay’s oysters. It was inspiring to meet so many resilience leaders and practitioners working to make the world more resilient, and we are looking forward to next year’s conference!
Engaging Communities at the Maple Syrup Festival
On March 21st, we tabled at the annual Maple Syrup Festival held at Cunningham Falls State Park in Thurmont, MD. The festival featured demonstrations on the process of making maple syrup and provided an overall fun experience with their pancake breakfast, bluegrass and folk music, and hayrides to the maple grove. We had a great time talking to attendees about the Chesapeake Bay and Watershed Report Card and answering any questions they had about our assessment and its implications.
Chesapeake Bay Workshop on Tidal Ecological Indicators
On March 24th, we hosted a workshop to focus on developing tidal ecological indicators for the Chesapeake Bay and Watershed Report Card. Over the last few years, our engagement with different communities and interested parties provided us with a comprehensive list of indicators to further explore, and in this case, we are applying them to expand our suite of tidal indicators. The workshop attendees included a mix of scientists and practitioners, and together we generated ideas for indicators in eight broad categories. We discussed each possible indicator, ranked the indicators in each category, and identified the needed resources for each priority indicator. We also formed working groups to help guide the indicator development process. We intend to host more workshops soon to discuss tidal indicators that cover societal, economic, and management and governance topics.
35th Annual Zosterapalooza Conference
Two IAN scientists and several MEES students, past and present, attended the 35th Annual Zosterapalooza conference in Boston last month. The meeting was filled with talks by seagrass scientists, including a MEES student currently in IAN’s Science Visualization course. She included visualizations she developed for the class in her presentation, which was very well-received!
Science at the Crossroads – Fostering Trust in Research
Heath Kelsey participated in a panel discussion at a symposium titled, “Science at the Crossroads – Fostering Trust in Research,” at the University System of Maryland, at the new University of Maryland Baltimore facility 4MLK. The event was hosted by Dr. Michele Masucchi, Vice Chancelor for Research and Economic Development for the University System of Maryland. The keynote speaker was Dr. Brian Kennedy from the PEW Research Center, who illustrated an alarming decline in trust of the science community, largely driven by the political right. Importantly, the survey results showed that scientists are not good communicators! Heath spoke at the first panel, which discussed using communication to foster trust. The panel also ventured into both the massive potential and the ethical pitfalls of using advanced AI in research and education.