This report summarizes papers from this three-day conference that brought together scientists, resource managers, and citizens to discuss the scientific basis for restoring the environmental integrity of the Chesapeake Bay. Two goals of the conference were to improve our understanding of the complex forces that control the Bay and to strengthen the partnership between scientists, citizens, managers, and legislators working to protect the Chesapeake Bay. In order to achieve these goals, the conference aimed to integrate management issues into the scientific ideas discussed among participants.
The conference had a series of 13 plenary sessions in which speakers outlined the boundaries of our current understanding of the physical, chemical, biological, and social forces that define the health and control the functions of this watershed. Over 450 participants from diverse scientific and management backgrounds came to listen to nearly 100 speakers from 35 institutions. Many topics were covered in the sessions from coastal ecosystem models to toxicological perspectives. Therefore, many topics of interest to managers protecting the Bay were discussed in a scientific perspective in this report and provide a valuable resource for this information.