June 2026 STAC Meeting

June 15, 2026 - June 17, 2026
Shepherdstown, WV

The June 2026 STAC Meeting was held in-person on Monday, June 15th through Wednesday, June 17th at the National Conservation Training Center (NCTC) in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.

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Meeting Agenda

• FINAL_STAC June 2026 Meeting Agenda

Meeting Materials

• STAC Business
  • Attendance Record: June 2025 – April 2026
  • Current Membership Contacts
  • STAC Membership Term List
  • STAC Membership Expertise
  • STAC Bylaws (current)
  • STAC Operational Guidelines (current)
• CBP Decisions, Actions, and Emerging Priorities
  • Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement 2025 
  • DRAFT Goal Team Membership and Structure PPT (June 11, 2026 – MB materials)
  • DRAFT Governance and Structure Two-Pager (June 11, 2026 MB materials)
• Panel: Indigenous Science and Tribal Perspectives
  • Presenter, Facilitator: Desiree Shelley (ICC); Panelists: Victoria Ferguson; Kelsey Leonard, PhD; Martin Saniga; Casey Thornbrugh, PhD
    Presenters and Panelists Handout
  • Suggested pre-reading for panel discussion
    • Wiederkehr and Tupponce 2026: Returning to Indigenous Knowledge: Coastal Preservation Success Stories in Tribal-Federal-State Partnerships.
    • Lyver et al. 2017: An indigenous community-based monitoring system for assessing forest health in New Zealand
    • Leonard 2021: WAMPUM Adaptation framework: eastern coastal Tribal Nations and sea level rise impacts on water security
    • Carroll et al. 2020: The CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance
    • Armstrong et al. 2021: Historical Indigenous Land-Use Explains Plant Functional Trait Diversity
    • Saavedra et al. 2025: On tap, not on top: An urgent call for academia to support Indigenous science and equitable conservation.
  • CBP-related materials
    • Chesapeake Executive Council Charge to the Principals’ Staff Committee: Charting a Course Beyond 2025 (December 2025)
      • Charge: Tribes as a Formal and Enduring Partner in the Chesapeake Bay Program 
      • Backgrounder on CBP Executive Council Tribal Nations Charge
• Partnering Efforts with Advisory Committees
  • Backgrounder on CBP Advisory Committees (December 2025)
  • AAC Subcommittee Updates  (May 2026)
  • AAC Workplan Development  (May 2026)
• Topical Meetings 2025-2026 
  • Publication: November 2025 Topical Meeting Synthesis document: Governance and Decision-making
    • Link to meeting page with related materials and recordings
  • Publication: February 2026 Topical Meeting Synthesis document: Integration of Social Sciences into Water Management Programs
    • Link to meeting page with related materials and recordings
  • Reminder: STAC Meeting Restructure (effective June 2025)
• 2025-2026 Workshop Developments 
  • 2025 Workshop, Blueprint for Building Partnerships and Recommendations for Scaling Brook Trout Restoration in Stronghold and Persistent Patches, workshop webpage
    • Report: STAC Publication Number 26-003, Edgewater, MD. 63 pp.
    • May MB presentation on findings and recommendations
  • 2025 Workshop, Leveraging Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to Advance Chesapeake Bay Research and Management: A review of status, challenges, and opportunities, workshop webpage
    • Report: STAC Publication Number 25-005, Edgewater, MD. 45 pp. 
    • December ’25 MB presentation on findings and recommendations
      • Management Response to STAC AI Publication
    • March 2026 CRC Roundtable on Workshop Findings: Link to recording
  • 2025 Workshop, Striped Bass Survey Assessment and Habitat Connections, workshop webpage
    • Report: STAC Publication Number 25-006, Edgewater, MD. 46 pp.
    • April MB presentation on findings and recommendations
    • Communication Two-Pager: State of Striped Bass – A Guide to Science (May 2026)
  • All STAC workshops planned for 2026 have now been convened. Links to workshop webpages and related materials are provided below.
    • February 24-25th: Healthy Forests: Proactive Strategies for Managing Threats and Promoting Conservation
    • March 26-27th: Challenges and Opportunities in Operationalizing Coupled Human and Natural Systems (CHANS) Research in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
    • May 26-27th: State of the Science of Salinity Risks in the Chesapeake Bay and Its Tributaries: Connecting Monitoring, Modeling and Management

Presentations

• Introduction to Phase 7 Model Review
• Overview of Goal Teams
  • Healthy Landscapes
  • Clean Water
  • Thriving Habitat, Fisheries, & Wildlife
  • Engaged Communities

Meeting Summary

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Please contact STAC Projects Manager Tou Matthews (matthewst@chesapeake.org) with any questions.