Birds are vital to our economy, ecosystems, and cultural heritage. Investing in bird conservation benefits communities, businesses, and working lands while reinforcing our nation’s legacy of stewardship and biodiversity. By valuing birds, we ensure a richer, healthier, and more vibrant future for all Americans.

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Coastal environments face unique challenges that profoundly affect human well-being. Stressors such as pollution, rising temperatures, flooding, harmful algal blooms (HABs), and emerging contaminants threaten ecosystems and disproportionately impact vulnerable communities. This report presents the findings from the Fall 2024 Coastal Environment and Community Health course, by graduate students in the Marine, Estuarine, and Environmental Science program at the University System of Maryland.

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This booklet explores the rich cultural heritage and economic significance of Baltimore Harbor, a cornerstone of Maryland's and the U.S.'s economic vitality. Historically shaped by its waterfront, Baltimore faces environmental challenges stemming from its industrial past and ongoing issues like wastewater contamination and climate change impacts.

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From 2022-2023, the COAST Card project held a series of listening sessions to stimulate community engagement throughout the Potomac Watershed. This poster summarizes the results of the activities at those listening sessions.

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The partners of the Chesapeake Bay are investing billions of dollars in the restoration of critical habitats to improve conditions for people and living resources throughout the Bay and its watershed. However, the recent proliferation of invasive Ictalurus furcatus (blue catfish) in the Chesapeake Bay’s major rivers has the potential to disrupt these restoration efforts and limit the full potential improvement of the ecosystem.

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The Chesapeake Bay Partnership is implementing conservation practices (CPs) throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed to reduce nutrient and sediment delivery to the Bay. This study intends to provide an integrated and detailed understanding of how local streams respond to these CP-driven management efforts. The publication can also be found on the USGS website here.

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From November 17th to 22nd, the COAST Card team met in Tokyo, Japan for the Amamo2023 and JCOAST conference and meeting hosted at the Sasikawa Peace Foundation. While there, team members listened to and presented talks on seagrass, blue carbon, science communication, and the COAST Card Project. They visited various places around Tokyo that are of interest to the COAST Card Project or serve as sites of engagement and restoration events.

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From November 17th to 22nd, the COAST Card team met in Tokyo, Japan for the Amamo2023 and JCOAST conference and meeting hosted at the Sasikawa Peace Foundation. While there, team members listened to and presented talks on seagrass, blue carbon, science communication, and the COAST Card Project. They visited various places around Tokyo that are of interest to the COAST Card Project or serve as sites of engagement and restoration events.

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This report card provides a transparent, timely, and geographically detailed assessment of Chesapeake Bay and its Watershed. Since 2016, UMCES has engaged stakeholders throughout the watershed to transform the report card into an evaluation of the Chesapeake Watershed health. Watershed health includes traditional ecological indicators, but also economic and societal indicators.

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To learn more about best practices for organizing, facilitating, and interpreting the responses from stakeholder engagement events, download our Tool Guide for Stakeholder Engagement in Coastal Communities here.

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