CRC Activities

CRC-sponsored projects have been supported by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, U. S. Department of Energy, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the State of Maryland, and the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Environmental Management Fellowship Program
CRC's Fellowship Program in Environmental Management provides entry-level professional experience to post-graduates for individuals working with the Chesapeake Bay Program's (http://www.chesapeakebay.net) committees and subcommittees. For additional information about the CRC Fellowship Program, please visit our CRC Fellowship Program Website.

Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee
CRC administers the Chesapeake Bay Program's Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC). STAC is an assembly of regional experts who provide scientific and technical guidance to the Chespeake Bay Program. As an advisory body, STAC provides specific input on issues critical to the Bay in order to further the understanding and management of the Bay. For additional information about STAC, please visit the Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee Website.

Chesapeake Bay Ecopath with Ecosim Model
CRC is assisting the Bay community in the development and application of a Chesapeake Bay Ecopath with Ecosim (EwE) model (http://www.ecopath.org). NOAA's Chesapeake Bay Office (NCBO) has committed significant resources to the development of such a model to assist in basin-wide commitments to multi-species ecosystem models useful for managing fish and shellfish stocks (http://noaa.chesapeakebay.net/ecosystem.htm). In this effort, CRC has hired Dr. Howard Townsend. Dr. Townsend's primary duties are to develop such a model, work as a community resource for training, development, and application of the model, assembling data for model use, and reporting to the Fisheries Steering Committee and the Chesapeake Bay Stock Assessment Committee. As a community resource, Dr. Townsend can visit institutions throughout the watershed to transfer knowledge of the model as well as assist the community in formatting data for routine use of the model.

Chesapeake Community Model Program
CRC is developing an open source code Community Model for the Chesapeake Bay watershed and estuary. Through support from CRC member institutions and the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office, CRC modelers have committed to developing an open source code modeling framework that will enable free and open access to code specific to the Chesapeake Bay region. As a complementary activity to the CBP modeling program, the web-based CRC Community Model will strive to develop a base model as well as individual modules covering all aspects of hydrodynamics, ecosystem dynamics, trophic exchanges, and watershed interactions towards a future linked watershed-estuary model. For additional information regarding this activity, please visit the Chesapeake Community Model Program Website.

Freshwater (FW) Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV) Partnership
CRC oversees a multi-institutional partnership, the FW SAV Partnership, to expand research on freshwater SAV and develop and apply new technologies for restoring these taxa. The Partnership is comprised of 20 institutions, organizations, and agencies, including the CRC core member institutions. Among the Partnership's major activities has been work towards the production of a SAV Handbook for Department of Defense installations in the Chesapeake Bay region, with the U.S. Army Environmental Center. The handbook includes contributions derived from Partners, CRC researchers, and DoD installations. In addition, Partnership members are involved in numerous research and outreach activities geared towards FW SAV restoration around the Chesapeake Bay watershed. For additional information on these activities and to access other FW SAV-related resources, please visit the Freshwater SAV Partnership Website.

Grey Literature Website
In 1999, CRC, with the assistance of Ms Angela Haggins of the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater, MD convened a meeting of Information Managers from various research libraries around the Chesapeake Bay. The product of those discussions was the creation of the Grey Literature Website. Funding was obtained by Ms. Ceil Petro of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to initiate this project. Chuck McFadden of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science created and manages the site. Under Mr. McFadden’s supervision, 91,700 pages of research that heretofore had been inaccessible to research scientists, managers, and the general public have been scanned for inclusion on the site including several CRC publications. The acquisition of additional funding will aid in expanding this information site further.

Science Fora
The CRC and its partners are identifying a number of critical areas of interest to the research and management communities where the science has not been recently updated or distributed. In an effort to provide current scientific information for managing our ecosystems and living resources, CRC is convening regional scientific expertise in day-long science fora for open discussion on knowns and unknowns in specific topical areas. Following consensus, the experts will provide simple fact sheets to as clearly as possible define the state of knowledge for given areas, to be distributed for sound, science-based management decisions across the basin. Depending on the topic and partners, additional materials might be produced including newsletters or white papers to elaborate on information assembled. For additional information and details on upcoming fora, please visit the Science Fora Website.

Conferences
The CRC often hosts or co-hosts regional conferences to encourage open exchange of information within the regional community on specific topics and/or to inform potential users of recent regional research results. Conference goals are generally to encourage presentation of most recent research advances and promote transfer of this newest information for consideration in regional policy/management decisions. The conferences have been large, 3-4 day events with accompanying proceedings or smaller, focused conferences. Through these events, CRC hopes to assemble the community’s most active contributors to ensure the rapid distribution of recent research insights, innovations, and products. For additional information and details on upcoming or past conferences, please visit the CRC Conference Website.

Workshops

• National Environmental Observatory Program Data Management Workshop
  March 24, 2005
• Zooplankton/Food Web Monitoring for Adaptive Multi-Species Management
  January 12 & 13, 2005
• Chesapeake Basin Multi-Observatory Workshop
  September 23, 2004
  

Visit the Workshops Page for more information.

Mathias Medal
The CRC and the Maryland and Virginia Sea Grant Colleges sponsor the Mathias Award for scientific contributions that have dramatically altered research and management in the Chesapeake Basin. Named in honor of one of our region's most environmentally conscious senators Mac Mathias, the award has been made to Drs. Don Pritchard, Gene Cronin, Cliff Randall, and Bill Hargis over the last 14 years.

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