Bay Optimism Lecture Series
The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) hosts monthly lectures on Bay Optimism on the third Tuesday of every month, March through October. This month’s lecture features Amy Jacobs from The Nature Conservancy (TNC). On May 15th, Jacobs will give the lecture, “Clean Water, Healthy Habitats: Accelerating Wetland Restoration in the Bay,” and will be discussing how TNC...
Read MoreWelcoming Back Underwater Grasses
A landmark paper authored by a power-house of Bay scientists has rocked the Chesapeake Bay for the past two months. The paper looks at the long-term effects of nutrient reductions in the Chesapeake Bay watershed on underwater grasses, or submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV). It was published in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) and written by Jonathan Lefcheck,...
Read MoreODU Hosts Forum
On March 5th, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam served as a panelist at the Blue Planet Forum at Old Dominion University (ODU). The forum is an annual event by ODU and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation that seeks to educate and engage the public on environmental issues. Northam spoke on his opposition to offshore drilling, citing sustainable energy concerns and pointing to potential harm to military...
Read MoreODU Scientist Writes Op-Ed
Old Dominion University (ODU) scientist Richard Zimmerman published an op-ed in The Virginia-Pilot in March on how federal budget cuts could harm the Chesapeake Bay and the ocean at large. He discusses the proposed federal budget that cuts funding to NOAA by $1 billion, which could have huge effects in Hampton Roads. Zimmerman warns that cutting funding to programs designed to help the area cope...
Read MoreNew Faculty Member
Carsten Prasse joined the Dept. of Environmental Health and Engineering at Johns Hopkins as an assistant professor in February. Prasse’s research focuses on the fate of organic chemicals in the urban water cycle and the assessment of their impacts on environmental and human health. His research group applies high-resolution mass spectrometry for the identification of the chemical structures of...
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