Understanding Clam Decline
A team of researchers set out to understand the decline of soft-shell and razor clams in the Chesapeake Bay that has been ongoing since the 1970s. Scientists believe the decline could be due to habitat loss, predators, disease, recruitment, and environmental changes. A team of researchers looked at all of these factors by surveying the Chesapeake Bay over three years and using historical data...
Read MoreNew Books from UMCES Professor
Two new books bring together than 40 years of expertise on Chesapeake Bay Ecologist Vic Kennedy offers baselines for abundance in Chesapeake Bay and a survey of the diamond-backed terrapin Original press release written by Amy Pelinsky for the UMCES website Once described as an immense protein factory, the Chesapeake Bay—along with its fisheries and waterfowl harvests—has changed...
Read MoreChanging Phytoplankton Communities
Sea ice in the Arctic is retreating earlier each year, leaving more open water and changing the community of phytoplankton living in the water. Phytoplankton sit at the base of the food chain and are an important component of all marine ecosystems. In order to understand the changing communities of phytoplankton in the Arctic, Aimee Neeley, a graduate student at University of Maryland Center for...
Read MoreMapping Bay Streams
How do you protect a stream if you do not even know it is there? Matthew Baker of University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) is creating more accurate maps of the Chesapeake Bay watershed with non-profit partner Chesapeake Conservancy. The team was recently awarded $1.2 million from the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) to implement new stream mapping techniques. Baker is a watershed scientist...
Read MoreConquering Climate Change
8 Ways Nature Can Help Us Conquer Climate Change Written by Kristen Minogue for the Shorelines Blog. Original article. The United States may be officially pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement but scientists are still brainstorming ways the country could meet its original goals. They believe that Mother Nature can lend a far more powerful hand than we thought, if given the chance. Led by...
Read MoreNew Hire at MarineGEO
After writing a globally-recognized sea grass study in 2018, Jonathan Lefcheck has joined the team at the Marine Global Earth Observatory (MarineGEO), directed by Smithsonian’s Tennenbaum Marine Observatories Network (TMON). MarineGEO is an international and pan-institutional network, directed by the Smithsonian. The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) is both a foundational...
Read More