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Michael Academia, M.Sc. Biology - William & Mary, won the 2022 William Andersen Award at the International Raptor Research Conference for his research involving ospreys and the potential localized depletion of Atlantic menhaden in the Lower Chesapeake Bay. He is very passionate and dedicated to ospreys and citizen science. He has produced scientific articles regarding osprey diet composition, ecology, demographics, predator-prey relationships, and citizen science.

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A deep learning approach to map shoreline structures with high-resolution imagery and convolutional neural networks

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A deep learning approach to map shoreline structures with high-resolution imagery and convolutional neural networks

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Zhonghui Lv, Karinna Nunez*, Ethan Brewer, Dan Runfola

Contact: karinna@vims.edu

Shoreline structures (e.g., riprap, groins, breakwaters, bulkheads) play a critical role in marsh evolution due to sea-level rise. Structures perpendicular to the shoreline affect the longshore sediment transport; hence influencing the sediment supply that reaches the marshes. In addition, shoreline stabilization structures placed on the back of the marshes, such as riprap and bulkheads, act as barriers for marsh inland migration as sea level rises. Identifying and monitoring the spatial location of these structures is critical to developing strategies for wetland conservation and restoration. The process of mapping shoreline structures is heavily reliant on in-situ field surveys and manual delineation using orthoimagery or aerial imagery. These processes are time and resource intensive, resulting in update times of longer than a decade for larger water bodies. This study explores the effectiveness of a deep learning approach to map shoreline armoring structures from remotely sensed high-resolution imagery. We test a range of architectures using a dataset of over 10,000 observations of four classes of shoreline structure, finding that a ResNet-18 U-Net architecture achieves 73\% overall accuracy (60 cm resolution), with 85\% prediction accuracy in both groins and breakwater. Finally, we present pyShore, an implementation of this deep learning algorithm made available for human coders to apply as a part of a semi-automated workflow.

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Derek Aday, Dean & Director, VIMS

Bio

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Evaluating and enhancing eelgrass resiliency restoration potential in a changing climate

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Evaluating and enhancing eelgrass resiliency restoration potential in a changing climate

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Erin Shields* (CBNERR-VA/VIMS), Jessie Jarvis (UNCW), Stephanie Kamel (UNCW), Cirse Gonzalez (CBNERR-VA/VIMS)

Contact: eshields@vims.edu

In recent years, elevated water temperatures have resulted in large-scale eelgrass (Zostera marina) die-backs of entire meadows in the lower Chesapeake Bay, Virginia (Lefcheck et al. 2017; Richardson et al. 2018; Shields et al. 2019), resulting in a conversion from historically stable, dense meadows to low-density ephemeral ones. In contrast, many eelgrass populations in Back Sound, North Carolina appear to be more resilient to warming water temperatures (Thayer et al. 1984; Bartenfelder 2019). The objectives of this project are to compare resiliency traits of eelgrass populations in North Carolina and Virginia, identify specific meadows in North Carolina that could serve as seed donor beds, and conduct reciprocal test restoration of North Carolina and Virginia eelgrass seeds. Eelgrass restoration without taking into account the resiliency of the meadows to climate change no longer appears to be a viable option for long-term success, so reserves, state agencies, and non-profits in both Virginia and Maryland are in need of information and specific criteria in order to restore this iconic species. This project aims to provide the datasets and analyses needed to better enhance the resiliency of Virginia eelgrass populations, with the goal of informing management decisions related to eelgrass, especially restoration.

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Nicole Cai is a water quality ORISE fellow at EPA Region 3, Chesapeake Bay Program Office. At CBPO Nicole is developing initial fine-scale tributary models of the tidal waters of the Potomac, James, and York Rivers and beginning initial work on the next-generation Chesapeake Bay Model. Nicole received a Ph.D. degree in 2022 from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, William & Mary, where she earned her Master’s degree in 2018. Her study focuses on the interactions of water quality and vegetation at multiple spatial and temporal scales. Instrumental to this study is her ongoing work in developing various water quality modeling tools, including SCHISM-ICM, SCHISM-ICM-SAV, and SCHISM-ICM-VEG. These have been applied to studies of a number of systems, such as the San Francisco Bay-Delta, the Chesapeake Bay, and the North Sea. More information about Nicole can be found on her personal website: https://nicolecx122.github.io/

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Ian Howard is a graduating high school senior who will be attending William and Mary this fall, where he plans to dual major in Biology and Integrative Conservation. For his senior research project at the New Horizons Governor’s School for Science and Technology, he studied the aquatic faunal community at a beach on the VIMS campus where a living shoreline is planned so as to predict how the existing fauna may be impacted by the installation of the living shoreline.

He plans to continue conducting research in the future, both with VIMS and independently using funding from the William and Mary James Monroe Scholars Program to improve the effectiveness and understanding of conservation methods such as living shorelines.

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Shereen Hughes is the Virginia CBLP Program Coordinator and Assistant Director for Wetlands Watch, a founding consortium partner of the Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional (CBLP) program. Through her dual roles, Shereen collaborates with organizations and individuals across the Chesapeake Bay Region and throughout Virginia to engage, train, align and grow a network of green infrastructure professionals focused on climate resilience and watershed health through sustainable landscapes and natural and nature-based practices. She serves on committees for the Upper and Middle James Riparian Consortium, the James River Living Shoreline Collaborative, the Rappahannock Watershed Roundtable, the Norfolk Watershed Task Force, and Chesapeake Conservation Landscaping Council (CCLC) board, and worked with partners to co-developed Native Plants for Southeast Virginia and CBLP’s Native Plants for Stormwater Best Management Practices. Ms. Hughes has a BS in Geology from JMU and Landscape Design certificate from George Washington University.

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I am the agriculture teacher at Gloucester High School. I have been working with the Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional program for two years now, giving the CBLP-A certification to my horticulture students. This program has allowed me to make meaningful connections between my students, their watershed, and professional opportunities that bridge horticulture and environmental science.

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Alexa Labossiere is a first-year graduate student at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. She works with biogeochemical models of the Chesapeake Bay and her work has focused primarily on different physical and biological factors that impact carbonate chemistry. She graduated from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in 2022 with a B.S. in Environmental Science.

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TOOL FEATURE: The CEOS COAST Application Knowledge Hub (AKH): A Web Application for Understanding Coastal Events and Changes

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TOOL FEATURE: The CEOS COAST Application Knowledge Hub (AKH): A Web Application for Understanding Coastal Events and Changes

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Nicole Bartlett (1,4)*, Prasanjit Dash (1,2), Paul DiGiacomo (1), Guangming Zheng (1,5), Nikolay Nezlin (1,3), Rachel Lazzaro(1,3), Seunghyun Son (1,2, Sean Helfrich (1), Merrie Neely (1,3)

1. NOAA Center for Satellite Applications & Research (STAR) Satellite Oceanography and Climate Division (SOCD)

2. Colorado State University, CIRA

3. Global Science and Technology

4. NOAA's North Atlantic Regional Collaboration Team (NART), NOAA Fisheries

5. University of Maryland, ESSIC

E-Mails: firstName.lastName@noaa.gov

In an effort to add value for partners, bring more satellite-derived information to bear in coastal geographies, and integrate existing data, the Satellite Oceanography and Climate Division (SOCD) of NOAA STAR is leveraging existing tools and technology, e.g., the NOAA OceanView and NASA WorldView, to build the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites - Coastal Observations, Applications, Services, and Tools (CEOS COAST) Application Knowledge Hub (AKH). The AKH will enable simultaneous displaying of: [a] satellite-based ocean parameters (biological, physical), [b] social data (population density, land uses, vulnerability), [c] shoreline characteristics, [d] seabed properties (bathymetry, etc.), [e] station measurements (precipitation gauge, etc.), [f] a set of base maps to provide context, [g] waterways, [h] elevation, and [i] a set of curated major coastal events that caused significant damage (storms, HABs, etc.). What separates this from other resources is the simultaneous use of satellite and non-satellite data and a lightweight application that allows users to evaluate the utility of satellite products in context. We expect the COAST AKH to be publicly released sometime in 2023. This intermediate presentation aims at sharing the vision, soliciting suggestions and feedback, and gauging further features of interest.

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Scott has spent over 15 years as the Stewardship Coordinator and Assistant Research Scientist at the Chesapeake Bay Reserve of Virginia. Scott leads CBNERR-VA’s emergent wetland monitoring efforts, helped initiate a project to assess marsh resilience to sea level rise across 16 NERR sites, and was a site lead and project team member on the multi-Reserve collaborative research project evaluating thin layer sediment placement as a climate adaptation strategy.

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Harry is the Lake Anna Civic Association (LACA) Water Quality Committee Co-Chair and program lead for the organization’s Water Quality Monitoring Program (WQMP). LACA is an all-volunteer, non-profit organization with a mission to preserve and protect the Lake Anna watershed. The WQMP consists of multiple, inter-related projects focused on monitoring and improving water quality in the Lake Anna watershed. WQMP projects include water quality monitoring; cyanobacteria mitigation, remediation, and monitoring; sediment sampling; macroinvertebrate sampling; support to academic & state research; and data analysis and analytics. The goal of the WQMP is to inform LACA programming and budgeting decisions that impact the preservation and protection of our water resources.

Harry is retired and lives full-time at Lake Anna. He is a systems engineer with more than 45 years professional experience spread across a 20-year career in the United States Army and a 25-year second career as a defense and intelligence contractor. In the Army, Harry served as a field artillery officer from battery through corps level. He was also trained and educated as a specialist in joint space operations. Harry’s space operations experience included joint operational duties at United States Space Command and space policy, acquisition, and planning duties at the Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command. In the private sector, Harry supported the National Reconnaissance Office, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and the Joint Special Operations Command. He also founded a multi-disciplinary analytical services, intelligence operations, and systems engineering firm that he led for more than fifteen years prior to his retirement. Harry graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point with a Bachelor of Science degree. He also received a Master of Science in Space Operations from The Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.

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Website link here

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Excellence in Environmental Education Awards

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Excellence in Environmental Education Awards

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Winners announced!

Congratulations to Harry Looney, for Excellence in Education - and to Teta Kain, for Lifetime Achievement!

Details in press release here.

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Website

YouTube - w/ Symposium playlist!

Facebook

Instagram

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A CBLP Level Summer training announcement 

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A CBLP Level Summer training announcement 

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Meghan Mulroy-Goldman serves as the Eastern Region Watershed Specialist with the Virginia Department of Forestry (VDOF), where she works to improve water quality through forest management including riparian buffer establishment, afforestation, and urban tree planting. She has been with VDOF since 2018 and has worked in both rural and urban and community forestry. She has a Bachelor’s in Biology from William and Mary and a Master’s in Forest Biology from Purdue. She is also an ISA Certified Arborist. In her spare time, you’ll find her getting outside for a

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Keynote: Youth, Science, and Social Justice

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Keynote: Youth, Science, and Social Justice

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Aaron Mertz, Director, Science & Society Program, Aspen Institute

Bio

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Keynote: Broader Impacts in Coastal Virginia

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Keynote: Broader Impacts in Coastal Virginia

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Lisa Lawrence, Marine Education Program Leader, Marine Advisory Program

Bio

Contact: ayers@vims.edu

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APPLICATION FEATURE: Previewing Virginia’s New Statewide Riparian Forest Buffer Action Plan

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APPLICATION FEATURE: Previewing Virginia’s New Statewide Riparian Forest Buffer Action Plan

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Caitlin Verdu and Meghan Mulroy-Goldman, Virginia Department of Forestry

Contact:  meghan.mulroy@dof.virginia.gov

The Virginia Department of Forestry (DOF) leads the Commonwealth’s efforts to meet the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Improvement Plan Phase III goals for tree planting best management practices. One of these goals is to establish nearly 22,000 acres of new riparian forest buffers, which will help to improve water quality while also providing a host of other co-benefits. In support of this goal, DOF has created a Riparian Forest Buffer Action Plan to plant more buffers across the Commonwealth, especially in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

This presentation will include a discussion around increasing capacity for planting and maintaining buffers, coordinating outreach to better match landowners to cost-share programs that best fit their needs, improving recording and reporting protocols, and setting buffer establishment goals moving forward. We will share examples of work DOF is doing in the watershed to achieve these goals, resources available to fund tree plantings, and opportunities to get involved. This discussion will benefit organizations and individuals with an interest in water quality, forestry, and/or the Chesapeake Bay.

See Bio section for bios! >>

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How does the circulation of Chesapeake Bay's five largest tributaries compare?

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How does the circulation of Chesapeake Bay's five largest tributaries compare?

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Pierre St-Laurent*, C.T. Friedrichs, M.A.M. Friedrichs, VIMS

Contact: pst-laurent@vims.edu

In estuaries, the spatial distribution of biogeochemical tracers during non-bloom periods is often dictated by the physical circulation and mixing. There is therefore a strong motivation to understand these physical processes and how they can account for differences across neighboring aquatic ecosystems. The York River estuary is the fifth largest tributary of the Chesapeake Bay in terms of riverine freshwater discharge after the Rappahannock, James, Potomac, and Susquehanna Rivers. These tributaries differ in their length, topography, and distance to the continental shelf, and thus allow for an inter-comparative study of what controls their circulation and mixing. The study is based on results of a realistic 3-D numerical simulation over an 8-year period (2007-2014) to characterize the mean state of these tributaries across wet and dry periods. Ten-fold differences are apparent between the tributaries when contrasting the vigor of their circulation defined as the estuarine inflow at their mouth. To a large extent, these differences reflect differences in riverine freshwater discharge but also how much mixing of salt occurs within the tributaries' boundary in order to drive the gravity-driven circulation. Despite this diversity, the "mixing completeness" of a tributary, defined as the ratio between the mixing of salt taking place and a state of complete mixing (no stratification), is found to be remarkably consistent across the five tributaries. This important simplification allows for accurate predictions of the other parameters of the circulation that are more variable and difficult to estimate without extensive data.

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Occurrence and distribution of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances collected in different environmental matrices throughout Virginia

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Occurrence and distribution of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances collected in different environmental matrices throughout Virginia

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Mitchell McAdoo*, Kaycee Faunce, Greg Connock, USGS

Contact: mmcadoo@usgs.gov

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are widely observed anthropogenic compounds found in water supplies worldwide that have been increasingly linked with adverse health effects in humans. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Virginia and West Virginia Water Science Center (VA/WV WSC) has conducted several studies in cooperation with state and federal agencies to sample for PFAS across multiple environmental matrices, including drinking water, surface water, groundwater, sediment, and edible portions of fish tissue. This monitoring can help inform the many public-health and resource-management issues stemming from the long history of PFAS use in the United States and the unknown distribution of environmental releases over space and time.

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TOOL FEATURE: Impacts of sea-level rise on tidal marshes and estuarine biochemical processes

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TOOL FEATURE: Impacts of sea-level rise on tidal marshes and estuarine biochemical processes

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Nicole Cai* (ORISE/CBP, VIMS), Jian Shen (VIMS), Yinglong J. Zhang (VIMS), Qubin Qin (VIMS), Lewis Linker (EPA)

Contact:  xcai@chesapeakebay.net

We use numerical tools to investigate the impacts of Sea-level Rise (SLR) on the biochemical processes in the York River Estuary with extensive tidal marshes. A fully-coupled hydrodynamic-water quality-marsh model is developed and utilized in this study, which accounts for the spatial-temporal variations of the physical-biochemical interactions between tidal marshes and surrounding waters. An idealized SLR scenario is conducted based on the calibrated Base Scenario, in which the marsh platform is assumed to have sufficient vertical accretion to keep up with the SLR. Results show that SLR increases the tidal range and flooding duration, which tends to enhance the exchanges of materials between the tidal marshes and the surrounding waters. With an increase in light utilization and the area of shallow water habitats under SLR, phytoplankton production mostly increases in the shallow water regions of the York River. Therefore, the organic carbon in the open water is fueled by the shallow waters and the enhanced transport of organic carbon from the marsh under SLR. The response of the DO budget in the York River Estuary is controlled primarily by the combination of the water column respiration, net metabolism of the benthic layer, reaeration, phytoplankton production, and enhanced stratification under SLR. Net DO flux out of York River increases at the York River mouth. Diel DO variation, especially in the marshes in the upper estuary, encourages more phosphorus release from the sediment. The changes in dissolved nitrogen under SLR are relatively minor.

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APPLICATION FEATURE:  Quantifying impacts of oyster restoration on alkalinity in the lower York River

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APPLICATION FEATURE:  Quantifying impacts of oyster restoration on alkalinity in the lower York River

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Alexa K. Labossiere*, Marjorie Friedrichs, Pierre St-Laurent, Emily Rivest (VIMS); Raymond Najjar (Penn State Univ.)

Contact: alabossiere@vims.edu

The Chesapeake Bay is home to one of the largest oyster restoration projects in the world. Eastern oysters (Crassotrea virginica) help support a multi-million-dollar seafood industry in Virginia and provide many ecosystem services to their environment. For example, oyster reefs can help improve shoreline resilience against storms and sea level rise, as well as provide habitat for many other species. Oyster reefs can also be a source of alkalinity which can help buffer an ecosystem against the effects of coastal acidification. There has been significant decline of oysters due to disease, overharvesting, and habitat loss in the last century, however in the last ten years, $77 million dollars have been allocated to fund oyster restoration projects in the Chesapeake Bay which have contributed to local oyster population growth.  The 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement established oyster restoration goals in ten Chesapeake Bay tributaries, including a goal of establishing 200 acres of healthy oyster reefs by 2025 in the lower York River. This study seeks to quantify the impacts of the restored oyster reefs on alkalinity by using a coupled 3-D high resolution hydrodynamic-biogeochemical model. Oxygen and alkalinity fluxes from previous laboratory studies of oysters will be scaled up to the expected oyster coverage based on the successful attainment of restoration goals. Impacts of these fluxes on the carbonate chemistry of the lower York River will be evaluated to indicate how oyster restoration may impact local water quality.

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Featuring: Chesapeake Monitoring Cooperative (Parrish¹); Characterization of habitat suitability in Chesapeake Bay: Integrating carbonate chemistry variability and ocean acidification thresholds (Rivest²); and Communities Combating HABs (Looney³).  Moderator: Sarah Nuss⁴, CBNERR-VA.

Contacts:

1. parrishd@vims.edu

2. ebrivest@vims.edu

3. harry.looney@lakeannavirginia.org

4. mcguire@vims.edu

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Oyster Restoration & Replenishment in the York, Piankatank and Mobjack Bay

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Oyster Restoration & Replenishment in the York, Piankatank and Mobjack Bay

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Andrew Button - VMRC; Andrew Larkin - NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office

Contacts:

andrew.w.larkin@noaa.gov

andrew.button@mrc.virginia.gov

The Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC), in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and The Nature Conservancy, has been engaged in a multi-year effort to restore and protect “sanctuary” oyster reefs in the Lower York River, the Piankatank River, and Mobjack Bay. These actions are part of the Commonwealth’s efforts to 1) support the oyster restoration goal of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement, which called for restoring oyster populations in five tributaries (including the Lower York and the Piankatank) in Virginia by the Year 2025 and 2) support the new NOAA Middle Peninsula Habitat Focus area objective of “restoring sub-tidal and shoreline oyster reefs in the York and Piankatank Rivers, and Mobjack Bay to enhance fish habitat for commercially and recreationally important species.”

In addition to these restoration efforts, VMRC has conducted oyster replenishment activities in these 3 tributaries in areas set aside to support commercial harvest of either mature oysters or oyster seed. VMRC has also continued to expand its monitoring program to assess the health of restored and replenished reefs in these tributaries.

This presentation will focus on a summary of the oyster restoration and replenishment actions in the York, Piankatank, and Mobjack Bay to date, as well as early monitoring data on the success of those reef construction and replenishment projects. Finally, we will share some information about planned oyster restoration projects in Mobjack Bay.

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Valuing shoreline habitats for recreational fishing

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Valuing shoreline habitats for recreational fishing

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Andrew Scheld* (VIMS), Donna Bilkovic (VIMS), Sarah Stafford (WM), Kathleen Powers (WM), Susanna Musick (MAP), and Amanda Guthrie (SCSG)

Contact: scheld@vims.edu

Recreational anglers’ site choices and satisfaction are generally thought to depend on anticipated catch rates and catch composition, regulations, congestion, aesthetics, and costs. Habitat characteristics may influence angling decisions and derived value directly through aesthetic qualities of fishing sites or indirectly by influencing catch rates, fish availability, and travel costs. In Maryland and Virginia, saltwater anglers record over 13 million trips each year, with ~75% occurring in nearshore coastal and estuarine waters and frequently utilizing shoreline habitats. While site choice models are common in the literature, information on utilization and preferences with respect to specific habitat types or features is limited. Improved information on shoreline habitat use and valuation by recreational anglers would increase efficiency in habitat conservation and shoreline management decisions. This project collected information on habitat use and associated preferences from ~1,500 licensed anglers in the Middle Peninsula, Virginia. Open water, marshes and living shorelines, and man-made bottom structure were most frequently selected as habitats visited when fishing for target species. However, differences in habitat utilization and access, as well as tradeoffs between trip expenditures and travel time, were observed for anglers based on primary fishing mode. A mixed logit model was used to estimate habitat preferences from responses to a discrete choice experiment. Marshes and living shorelines were found to be the highest valued shoreline habitat, with preliminary estimates of USD 6.6M in annual benefits provided by this habitat with respect to recreational fishing in this region of Virginia.

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TOOL FEATURE: Saving the Goodwin Islands: Cultural Preservation through Archaeological Survey and Photogrammetry Documentation

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TOOL FEATURE: Saving the Goodwin Islands: Cultural Preservation through Archaeological Survey and Photogrammetry Documentation

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Dave Brown*, Rachel Boyd, Thane Harpole, Fairfield Foundation

Contact: outreach@fairfieldfoundation.org

The Goodwin Islands, located at the mouth of the York River, are threatened by rising sea levels and extreme weather events. Additionally, the cultural resources, spanning the Middle Archaic period (2500 BC to 1000 BC) to an early 20th-century plant that processed fish, are at risk of eroding into the river as a result of climate change. With the support of the CNBERR-VA, DATA Investigations LLC conducted a two-part project to preserve the cultural resources of the Goodwin Islands. The first part involved a pedestrian survey to record site conditions of known sites, identify unknown sites, and document environmental conditions and threats. The objective of the survey was to 1) assess the conditions and degree of integrity of each site and 2) identify additional sites that have not been surveyed previously, thereby informing research priorities in the future. As part of the second part of the project, historical research and drone-based photogrammetry documented the ruins of the fish processing plant, developing a static, yet engaging 3D model of the ruin and current shoreline, which will be made available to the public and curated by Virginia’s Department of Historical Resources (DHR) and DATA Investigations. Overall, the project includes engaging and training VIMS staff on basic artifact identification and soil characterization to document cultural and natural erosion. The long-term benefits include a property steward who is properly informed and trained to monitor the conditions of these significant cultural resources within a highly significant environmental preserve.

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APPLICATION FEATURE: Visitation, value, and environmental justice: A cell phone data application in the Middle Peninsula

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APPLICATION FEATURE: Visitation, value, and environmental justice: A cell phone data application in the Middle Peninsula

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Sarah Gonyo, Seann Regan*, Heidi Burkart, Amy Freitag, NOAA

Contacts: sarah.gonyo@noaa.gov, seann.regan@noaa.gov

Understanding who visits coastal and marine areas and why is crucial for natural resource managers. However, this information is often unavailable and expensive to collect. In this study, we demonstrate how anonymous cell phone data can be used to characterize spatial and temporal patterns of recreation, estimate the monetary value of recreation, and uncover potential sociodemographic disparities between visitors to and residents of the Middle Peninsula (Virginia, USA). This information can be used to understand human pressures on and values of the York River and adjacent parks, as well as potential barriers to access for underserved communities.

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Featuring: Monitoring for change at CBNERR-VA sites (Lerberg¹) and Climate change and oyster growth (Czajka²).  Moderator: Cecilia Lewis³, VIMS.

Contacts:

1. lerbergs@vims.edu

2. crczajka@vims.edu

3. cmlewis@vims.edu

*

Scott Lerberg, CBNERR-VA

Since 2008, the CBNERR-VA emergent wetland monitoring program has focused on intensive and sustained observations to detect and understand physical and biological response to rising sea levels and salinity intrusion in the ecosystems and habitats (primarily the wetlands and low-lying maritime upland habitats) we manage on the York River.   Following NERRS standardized monitoring approaches focused on addressing specific management questions, CBNERR-VA serves as approved NERRS Sentinel Site focused on coastal habitat response to changing water levels and was an establishing partner in NOAA’s Chesapeake Bay Sentinel Site Cooperative (SSC).    The objectives of CBNERRVA’s Sentinel Site Program have included: 1) contributing to scientific understanding at Reserve; 2) assessing current local habitat condition and vulnerability; 3) assess local capability for adaptive management and mitigation; 4) providing local findings to support regional and national assessments; 5) providing a research platform for external researchers, and 6) translating and communicating findings to target audiences.

Catherine Czajka*, Marjy Friedrichs, Emily Rivest, Mark Brush, Pierre St-Laurent, Sara Blachman, VIMS

Anthropogenic climate change and its associated impacts on water quality challenge marine species to acclimatize to their altered environment, particularly in estuarine and coastal systems. Increasing oceanic uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and greater riverine nutrient loads cause decreases in seawater pH and saturation states () of calcium carbonate, a phenomenon known as coastal acidification. Due to the natural spatiotemporal variability of biogeochemistry in estuarine systems like the York River, the effects of acidification and other interacting climate change drivers, such as atmospheric warming, will likely not be uniform throughout the bay. Furthermore, it is still unclear in which regions calcifying organisms, like Eastern oysters, will be most vulnerable to future conditions. To determine how future coastal acidification and atmospheric warming will affect carbonate chemistry and oyster growth in the York River, simulations were run using an oyster bioenergetics model embedded in a 3-D coupled hydrodynamic-biogeochemistry model. Specifically, model runs forced with future (mid-21st century) atmospheric CO2 alone, future atmospheric warming alone, and both forcings together were compared with a realistic 2016 reference run. While increased atmospheric CO2 reduced ambient  and slowed oyster shell growth, atmospheric warming offset this effect and, in some areas, led to an overall increase in shell growth. The results of this work will be used to inform stakeholders of which areas in the Bay will be most suitable for oyster aquaculture and restoration in the future.

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Biogeochemical cycling across terrestrial-aquatic interfaces in the face of lateral marsh migration

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Biogeochemical cycling across terrestrial-aquatic interfaces in the face of lateral marsh migration

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Allison Lewis*, Stephanie J. Wilson, Patrick Megonigal, Roy Rich, Alice Stearns, Evan Phillips, Erin Fien, Lani DuFresne, Peter Regier, Allison Myers-Pigg, Stephanie Pennington, Anya Hopple, Kendalynn A. Morris, Nate McDowell, Ben Bond-Lamberty, Mike Weintraub, Nick Ward, Ken Kemner, and Vanessa Bailey (affiliations detailed below)

Contact: allewis@lbl.gov

Sea level rise drives spatial migration of coastal ecosystems and can lead to the replacement of coastal forests with tidal wetlands. Stressed or dead trees are well-recognized indicators of the conversion of forest to wetland, but carbon cycling and soil biogeochemistry are also altered significantly during this transition. Changes in soil biogeochemistry and vegetation during marsh migration may occur on different timescales and this potential asynchrony will influence ecosystem function. Here, as a part of the Coastal Observations, Mechanisms, and Predictions Across Systems and Scales - Field, Measurements, and Experiments (COMPASS-FME) project, we determine how biogeochemical cycling of carbon and nutrients shift as upland coastal forest transitions to tidal wetland. Four sites located throughout the Chesapeake Bay represent spatial variation in elevation, soil types, vegetation, and salinity regimes. At each site, monthly measurements of soil methane fluxes, redox profiles, conductivity, and porewater constituents were made in upland forest, forest transitioning to wetland, and herbaceous tidal wetland. Despite live trees in the transition zone, we observed soil biogeochemistry and function deviate strongly from conditions observed in the upland forest with a strong shift toward biogeochemical cycles characteristic of tidal wetlands. For example, transition soils switched from a net sink to a net source of methane, soil redox potential decreased, and soil conductivity and porewater sulfate concentrations increased along the gradient from upland forest to wetland. Our results indicate that transition zone soils function similarly to tidal wetland soil prior to mass tree mortality, suggesting that by the time ghost forests are identified, soil function and biogeochemistry has changed drastically. This has important implications for understanding the impacts of sea level rise and marsh migration on greenhouse gas emissions and carbon storage along the terrestrial-aquatic interface at the ecosystem scale.

Author affiliations: Lewis, COMPASS; Wilson, Megonigal, Rich, Stearns, Phillips, Fien, DuFresne, Hopple: Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, MD, USA; Regier, Myers-Pigg, Pennington, McDowell, Ward, Bailey: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, WA, USA; Morris, Bond-Lamberty: Joint Global Change Research Institute, MD, USA; Weintraub: University of Toledo, OH, USA; Kemner: Argonne National Laboratory, IL, USA

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Historic Upland Slope and Underlying Topography can Help Explain Variations in Rates of Marsh Migration at Goodwin Island, York River, VA

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Historic Upland Slope and Underlying Topography can Help Explain Variations in Rates of Marsh Migration at Goodwin Island, York River, VA

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Tyler C. Messerschmidt* and Matthew L. Kirwan, VIMS

Contact: tcmesserschmidt@vims.edu

Sea level rise, enhanced flooding, and saltwater intrusion are driving the conversion of forests to marshes in many low lying coastal landscapes. Since the late 19th century, more than 400 km2 of Chesapeake Bay uplands have been replaced by marshes (Schieder et al. 2018), with a rate that has accelerated in parallel with relative sea level rise (Schieder and Kirwan 2019). On long-time scales marsh migration into uplands is tightly coupled with rates of relative sea-level rise and the upland slope, but varies widely on shorter time-scales. As sea levels continue to rise, it is important to better understand the complex environmental factors, such as the local hydrologic, edaphic, and geologic conditions that control the rates at which marshes can move to higher elevation. Here we reconstructed historic marsh-forest boundaries at two rapidly retreating coastal forests (Goodwin Island, York River, VA and Brownsville Nature Preserve on Virginia’s Eastern Shore) and took cores at these known locations.  Using these cores we can determine how historic upland slope and underlying topography can influence rates of marsh migration.

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Potential Impacts of Living Shoreline Installation on Estuarine Fauna at Gloucester Point

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Potential Impacts of Living Shoreline Installation on Estuarine Fauna at Gloucester Point

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Ian Howard, Lafayette High School and New
Horizons Governor's School for Science and Technology

Contact: ian.howard@nhrec.org

An increasingly popular method of preventing shoreline erosion while maintaining native habitats are living shorelines. Living shorelines consist of protective sills sheltering communities of live marsh plants. These structures provide a diverse array of habitat elements, making them home to a higher variety of species than other anti-erosive structures such as seawalls, whose installation can destroy important vegetated marsh habitat (Davis et al., 2006). This study aims to analyze the existing faunal community of a location at Gloucester Point on the York River, and to predict the possible impact of living shoreline installation on this community. Additionally, few studies look at the long-term faunal shifts of sites before and in the years following living shoreline installation, so the data contained within this study may be used in studies analyzing this site in the future. To analyze the faunal community at this Gloucester Point site, seine sampling was conducted from late summer to spring. The species caught were recorded for each sampling day. This data was used to calculate a Shannon-Weiner Diversity Index to quantify the faunal diversity at the site. Additionally, this study analyzes the habitat preferences of each species present to find if their populations are likely to benefit from living shoreline installation, if they may be detrimentally impacted, or if they are likely to be unaffected. This study may be significant in the planning of a living shoreline at this site, as it could help determine what habitat elements are important to include to maximize future species diversity. It was anticipated that the faunal community would overall benefit from the additional habitat elements provided from a living shoreline. With living shorelines becoming more widely used, it is important to determine what faunal shifts will result from their creation, and how they can be designed to best benefit the local faunal communities.

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The Challenges of Incorporating Fluorescence-based Chlorophyll Measurements into an Emerging Estuarine Observing System Focused on Harmful Algal Blooms

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The Challenges of Incorporating Fluorescence-based Chlorophyll Measurements into an Emerging Estuarine Observing System Focused on Harmful Algal Blooms

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Parker, K.*, J. Baber, G. Brooks, C. Friedrichs, E. Miles, B. Neikirk, L. Ott, D. Parrish, W. Reay, K. Reece , and S. Snyder. CBNERR-VA/VIMS

Contact: kparker@vims.edu

The Virginia shellfish aquaculture industry, with a farm gate value in excess of $53.3 M, is ranked first in the United States for hard clam production and on the East Coast for oyster production. As with industry growth, negative impacts of harmful algal blooms (HABs) have dramatically increased globally over the last several decades resulting in negative industry, human health and ecosystem level impacts. Factors that contribute to bloom timing, distribution, and density are, in many cases, not well understood. To increase understanding and support decision-making, water quality monitoring programs must address the spatial and temporal complexities of HABs in a timely and relevant matter. Central to this effort is to maximize the value of in situ chlorophyll fluorescence (ChlF) measurements. This can present a challenge given the array of environmental factors that can influence sensor performance, as well as algal physiology and behavioral dynamics. An environmental monitoring study was conducted using a dynamic surface mapping (DataFlow) platform to assess spatial variability of Chl a in a multi-species dinoflagellate bloom, based on an empirical relationship between in situ ChlF and Chl a. We also highlight an opportunity for adaptive sampling of verification samples to improve future bloom assessment.

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Lake Anna Cyanobacteria Monitoring, Mitigation, and Remediation

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Lake Anna Cyanobacteria Monitoring, Mitigation, and Remediation

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Harry Looney, Lake Anna Civic Association

Contact: harry.looney@lakeannavirginia.org

The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has identified water quality impairments in the Upper York River basin since 1998 and most recently in their Draft 2022 305(b)/303(d) Water Quality Assessment Integrated Report (IR). Lake Anna is significantly impacted by Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) resulting in recreational advisories issued by the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) during the past five recreational seasons. The advisories were issued based on high cyanobacteria cell counts of potentially toxic species in multiple locations on the northern portion of Lake Anna. The 2022 IR marks the first time DEQ has included the cyanobacteria impairments in the biennial report.  This presentation focuses on past and current water quality projects designed to understand, monitor, and improve cyanobacteria conditions in the watershed. The presentation addresses the history of cyanobacteria monitoring at Lake Anna by both DEQ and LACA focusing on the wealth of data resulting from this monitoring investment. The data generated from more than 10 years of cyanobacteria monitoring provides significant insights but data gaps still exist and the presentation reviews activities scheduled for 2023 and 2024 that will close these data gaps. Notwithstanding these data gaps, LACA is engaged in research on cyanobacteria near-term mitigation and remediation techniques that can be implemented at the homeowner/local level to reduce the impacts of cyanobacteria on recreational activities. The presentation provides an overview of these mitigation and remediation techniques with findings and insights from 2022 research and planned research activities for the 2023 recreational season.

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Living Shorelines in The Chesapeake Bay: How VDOT Is Using Shoreline Stabilization to Help Meet its Chesapeake Bay TMDL Goals

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Living Shorelines in The Chesapeake Bay: How VDOT Is Using Shoreline Stabilization to Help Meet its Chesapeake Bay TMDL Goals

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Joseph Parfitt (Virginia Department of Transportation), Andrew Tiefenback, PE (Stantec Consulting Services Inc.)

Contacts: joseph.parfitt@vdot.virginia.gov, andrew.tiefenback@stantec.com

Since 2017, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) has been actively pursuing shoreline stabilization through living shorelines as a key element of its toolbox for meeting its water quality improvement requirements within the Chesapeake Bay watershed. VDOT has completed living shoreline projects on the York River and Rappahannock River, with a project in the James River under construction and a project on the Potomac River in the final stages of design. Living shorelines can be an effective means of improving water quality through reduced shoreline erosion while also representing an efficient use of taxpayer funds and providing additional benefits such as habitat creation and protecting infrastructure.

This poster describes how VDOT became involved in living shorelines, the process by which the selected sites were determined, the partnerships VDOT has been able to achieve with other state agencies and private non-profits, and summaries of the projects that have been or are being implemented throughout the Commonwealth. A particular focus is taken on the living shorelines at York River State Park in James City County where VDOT stabilized two shoreline areas using very different practices.

Author affiliations: Joseph Parfitt (Virginia Department of Transportation), Andrew Tiefenback, PE (Stantec Consulting Services Inc.)

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Impacts of future climate change on York River carbonate chemistry and oyster growth

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Impacts of future climate change on York River carbonate chemistry and oyster growth

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Catherine Czajka*, Marjy Friedrichs, Emily Rivest, Mark Brush, Pierre St-Laurent, Sara Blachman, VIMS

Contact: crczajka@vims.edu

Anthropogenic climate change and its associated impacts on water quality challenge marine species to acclimatize to their altered environment, particularly in estuarine and coastal systems. Increasing oceanic uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and greater riverine nutrient loads cause decreases in seawater pH and saturation states () of calcium carbonate, a phenomenon known as coastal acidification. Due to the natural spatiotemporal variability of biogeochemistry in estuarine systems like the York River, the effects of acidification and other interacting climate change drivers, such as atmospheric warming, will likely not be uniform throughout the bay. Furthermore, it is still unclear in which regions calcifying organisms, like Eastern oysters, will be most vulnerable to future conditions. To determine how future coastal acidification and atmospheric warming will affect carbonate chemistry and oyster growth in the York River, simulations were run using an oyster bioenergetics model embedded in a 3-D coupled hydrodynamic-biogeochemistry model. Specifically, model runs forced with future (mid-21st century) atmospheric CO2 alone, future atmospheric warming alone, and both forcings together were compared with a realistic 2016 reference run. While increased atmospheric CO2 reduced ambient  and slowed oyster shell growth, atmospheric warming offset this effect and, in some areas, led to an overall increase in shell growth. The results of this work will be used to inform stakeholders of which areas in the Bay will be most suitable for oyster aquaculture and restoration in the future.

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Changing foundation species in Chesapeake Bay: implications for faunal communities of two dominant seagrass species

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Changing foundation species in Chesapeake Bay: implications for faunal communities of two dominant seagrass species

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Lauren Alvaro*, Christopher J. Patrick, & Marc Hensel, VIMS

Contact: lealvaro@vims.edu

Foundation species, such as seagrasses, provide many ecosystem functions in coastal habitats and support diverse food webs. Environmental changes and anthropogenic activities are strongly impacting coastal ecosystems globally. When these changes cause shifts in foundation species, whole food webs can be transformed. Thus, there is a need to understand how these changes are affecting coastal ecosystems. Seagrass meadows in the Chesapeake Bay are an ideal study system for studying these impacts, because a shift in the dominant foundation species of two structurally different seagrasses is occurring in the lower bay. Due to rising water temperatures over the last few decades, the once-dominant species, Zostera marina, has been declining, while Ruppia maritima has been expanding on large spatial scales. To understand how the structure and function of faunal communities differ between Z. marina and R. maritima meadows, we performed quantitative surveys on epifaunal, nektonic, and infaunal communities associated with these species. Preliminary results indicate that Z. marina meadows had higher diversity and richness of epifauna while R. maritima meadows had a higher total abundance of individuals. Nekton also had a higher total abundance in Z. marina meadows compared to R. maritima meadows. Overall, this study advances our understanding of how the shift occurring in the lower Chesapeake Bay impacts the food web and serves as a case study for predicting how changes in the identity of foundation species may affect community structure in other estuaries.

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Click on above link for audio description that accompanies poster!

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Food Supplementation Increases Reproductive Performance of Ospreys in the Lower Chesapeake Bay

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Food Supplementation Increases Reproductive Performance of Ospreys in the Lower Chesapeake Bay

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Michael Academia* and Bryan Watts, The Center for Conservation Biology

Contact: macademia@wm.edu

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), the governing body responsible for managing fisheries on the U.S. East Coast, formally adopted the use of Ecological Reference Points (ERPs) for Atlantic menhaden. Scientists and stakeholders have long recognized the importance of menhaden and predators such as ospreys that support the valuable ecotourism industry and hold cultural significance. Landings in the reduction fishery are at their lowest levels and menhaden is facing potential localized depletion. Mobjack Bay has been a focus of osprey research since 1970 and represents a barometer for the relationship between osprey breeding performance and menhaden availability. Since local levels of menhaden abundance were not available, we conducted a supplemental feeding experiment on osprey pairs during the 2021 breeding season. Our main objective was to determine if the delivery rate of menhaden had an influence on nest success and productivity. Nest success (χ2 = 5.5, df = 1, P = 0.02) and productivity (β = 0.88, SE = 0.45, pseudo r2 = 0.14,  CI = 0.049, 1.825, P = 0.048) were significantly higher within the treatment group. The added average biomass/d/nest (β = 0.03, SE = 0.009, Pseudo r2 = 0.59, CI = 0.01, 0.05, P = 0.02) and energy content/d/nest (β = 0.02, SE = 0.005, Pseudo r2 = 0.64, CI = 0.006, 0.03, P = 0.02) had an influence on pairs reaching maintenance reproductive rates (1.15 young/pair). Reproductive rates within the control group were low and unsustainable suggesting that current menhaden availability is too low to support a demographically viable osprey population.

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Improving Our Understanding of Habitat Changes in the Chesapeake Bay with a York River Ecosystem Model

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Improving Our Understanding of Habitat Changes in the Chesapeake Bay with a York River Ecosystem Model

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Amanda T. Bevans*, Muhammad Sulyman, Matthew S. Woodstock, Scott Knoche, Thomas F. Ihde; *Morgan State University, Patuxent Environmental and Aquatic Research Laboratory

Contact: amanda.bevans@morgan.edu

Eastern Oyster (Crassostrea virginica) and Eelgrass (Zostera marina) serve as important living habitats for species in the Chesapeake Bay. A 200-acre oyster restoration effort is nearing completion in the York River, the 5th largest tributary of the Chesapeake system; concurrently, the eelgrass population continues to decline due to increasing water temperatures. Population biomasses of commercially, recreationally, and ecologically important species associated with these habitats are also expected to change. An ecosystem model can improve our understanding of the synergistic effects of simultaneous habitat changes by simulating varying degrees of oyster and seagrass restoration separately and in combination overtime. The Ecopath software was used to develop an ecosystem model of the York River, which integrates food web and fisheries interactions. Preliminary model results show secondary consumers (e.g., Atlantic Croaker, Micropogonias undulatus) and apex predators (e.g., Striped Bass, Morone saxatilis) exert the largest proportion of predation mortality on fished species. The top two fisheries (87% of total landed biomass) are Eastern Oyster and Blue Crab (Callinectes sapidus).

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Seasonal movements of a native species, Bowfin (Amia calva), and an invasive species, the Northern Snakehead (Channa argus) in the Piankatank River, Virginia

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Seasonal movements of a native species, Bowfin (Amia calva), and an invasive species, the Northern Snakehead (Channa argus) in the Piankatank River, Virginia

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Patrick McGrath*, Eric Hilton, VIMS

Contact: patm@vims.edu

Bowfin, Amia calva, are a native, carnivorous fish inhabiting freshwater systems throughout eastern North America. Although Bowfin are one of the top predators in these systems, little research has been conducted on its seasonal movements. Northern Snakehead, Channa argus, are native to eastern Asia but have been introduced throughout the world, and was first documented in the Piankatank River, Virginia, in 2013. The Northern Snakehead is also a top predator, overlapping the ecological niche of Bowfin. In this study, 14 Bowfin and 8 Northern Snakeheads were acoustically tagged to compare their spatial overlap and seasonal movements. In the winter, both species inhabited the same deep (3-4 m) portion of the river. In March, almost every bowfin moved upstream 9.5-25.8 km, presumably to spawn. The movement upstream correlated with a rain event that significantly increased water levels allowing access above beaver dams and other obstructions. Northern Snakeheads during this time did not have a directed upstream movement, instead moved rapidly upstream and downstream 0-6.5 km. During April and May, 7 tagged bowfin returned to the original tagging area. The other half remained upstream during the summer, likely confined in sections of the river due to low water levels restricting movements. This past fall an additional 4 Northern Snakeheads and 1 Bowfin were tagged, as well as 5 more receivers put in service to increase coverage of upstream habitat. The results of this study will contribute to the understanding of how native and invasive species that occupy similar niches interact spatially.

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Adding Capacity Through NOAA's Middle Peninsula Habitat Focus Area

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Adding Capacity Through NOAA's Middle Peninsula Habitat Focus Area

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Lauren Taneyhill, NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office

Contact: lauren.taneyhill@noaa.gov

With the selection of the Middle Peninsula region of Virginia as a Habitat Focus Area, NOAA is providing additional capacity through coastal science, environmental education, partner network development, and technical assistance to connect partners with opportunities such as collaborative restoration projects and resilience funding programs.

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Taneyhill: NOAA Habitat Focus Area - 2023 symposium poster

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Environmental Literacy Planning Happening Now in the Middle Peninsula with Project W2onder

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Environmental Literacy Planning Happening Now in the Middle Peninsula with Project W2onder

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Lesley Newman* (Friends of the Rappahannock), Meredeth Dash* (Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay), Karen Fetty (Hanover Caroline SWCD)

Contact: lesley.newman@riverfriends.org

Project W2onder is a two-year grant funded by NOAA’s Bay Watershed Education and Training (BWET) program. The local Project W2onder partners are Hanover-Caroline SWCD, Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, and Friends of the Rappahannock, as well as the school divisions of Caroline, Essex, and Middlesex counties. During the first year of the grant, partners are working to connect community stakeholders with the environmental literacy planning in their school divisions in order to build sustainability and accountability into the environmental plans. We will present how we built a stakeholder network and formed local steering committees, and the information we learned from an initial round of community surveys. We will also discuss the importance of environmental literacy planning in the area and the intersections and opportunities where watershed scientists can work to develop broader impacts.

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Website

Facebook

Linkedin

Join our listserv

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Bio here

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Joe Parfitt has been working as a project manager with VDOT Environmental’s TMDL program since 2017 and in early 2023 became VDOT's TMDL Program Manager.  In that time, he has managed many projects including stream restorations, BMP retrofits, shoreline stabilizations, reforestations, and others.  Joe has over 13 years’ experience working on construction, maintenance, and environmental projects for VDOT and prior to that many more years working in Cultural Resource management for The Louis Berger Group.  In his work to help VDOT meet their obligations for the Chesapeake Bay TMDL he aims to create multiple benefits with the projects he manages including reducing maintenance costs and creating a cleaner, greener environment for the Commonwealth.

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As a team member of the Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Virginia, I manage the Environmental Data Center and support the water quality monitoring program conducted at our reserve sites and throughout the shallow waters of the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia. My research focuses on the assessment of water quality conditions and associated ecological implications in shallow water, estuarine and coastal environments. As part of this scope, I am interested in the spatial and statistical analysis of water quality monitoring datasets, working closely with our state, federal, and local partners to support management decisions, and developing web application platforms that serve as an interface between science and the community.

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Seann is a human geographer with CSS, supporting NOAA NCCOS’s (National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science) social science portfolio. He is passionate about interdisciplinary science and analyzing the world through a spatial lens. His work is primarily focused on the vulnerability and resilience portfolio, Human Use Mapping and NOAA's Integrated Ecosystem Assessments, as well as providing geospatial expertise to the social science team.

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Dr. Scheld’s research uses econometric, statistical, and simulation modeling approaches to investigate fisher decision-making and behavior in recreational and commercial fisheries, the economic effects of rights-based fisheries management, ocean use-conflict and spatial management, and the economic costs of marine debris and derelict fishing gear. He collects primary data to inform model development through interviews, focus groups, participatory processes, and stated preference surveys. Dr. Scheld is a member of the Scientific and Statistical Committee of the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and the Committee on Economics and Social Sciences of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, a research advisor to the Responsible Offshore Science Alliance, and a science advisor to the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project. He teaches graduate courses in fisheries science and management, marine policy, and marine resource economics.

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Pierre is a marine scientist at VIMS researching the physical and biogeochemical processes governing the lower trophic levels. His main research tools are computers which he views as an increasingly capable and cost-efficient complement to fieldwork. He particularly enjoys multidisciplinary collaborations that teach him new things about the wonderful biota and fauna of the Bay and its tributaries.

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Andrew Tiefenback is a graduate of Old Dominion University with a degree in Civil Engineering. A native of Coastal Virginia, Andrew has a lifelong interest in the preservation of coastal habitats. In his time at Stantec he has focused on living shorelines, stream restoration, and stormwater BMP design.

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Caitlin Verdu serves as the Watershed Program Manager for the Virginia Department of Forestry. She and her team believe that “trees are the answer” to many of the world’s environmental challenges. Prior to VDOF, Caitlin led the Arlington 4-H program with Virginia Cooperative Extension. She has her Bachelor’s from the College of William and Mary and a Master of Public Administration from Virginia Tech.

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Featuring: Watershed Health, Workforce Development, and Horticulture Sciences at Gloucester HS (Hypes and Hughes ¹); with: Septic Science for Behavior Change (Mitchell²).  Moderator: Karen Duhring³, VIMS.

Contacts:

1. shereen.hughes@wetlandswatch.org

2. molly@vims.edu

3. karend@vims.edu

*

Renee Hypes and Shereen Hughes, Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional Program

In Gloucester County, a partnership between the Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional (CBLP) Program and Gloucester High School, is pulling together people and organizations seeking to create a replicable green infrastructure workforce, professional development, and career pathways system that can be put into place throughout the York River and Small Coast Basins Watersheds and beyond. In 2022, Gloucester Public Schools and Wetlands Watch through a RISE Resilience Innovation Grant Partners, co-funded and piloted integration of the CBLP-Associate program (CBLP-A), a Virginia Board of Education-approved industry credential through the Career and Technical Education program, into the Horticulture Science programs at Gloucester High School. CBLP-A is an experiential learning opportunity designed to fill a growing green industry workforce gap, expose high school students to cross-disciplinary green infrastructure concepts and career pathways, provide entry level job skills, and connect students with jobs in conservation landscape and stormwater BMP maintenance. In the process, students earn an industry credential, CBLP-A, learn more about their local watershed and connect with local examples of resilience and green infrastructure use at facilities like the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and Machicomoco Park. The CBLP-A certificate qualifies youth to pursue other professional level CBLP credentials valued by employers throughout the Chesapeake Bay Region. The CBLP-A program is ready to expand and partner with other high school program and considering ways to partner and deliver other CBLP training and credentialing programs (for maintenance crews, riparian buffers, living shorelines, and the Level 1 professional certification) through the community college workforce development programs.

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Be present and engaged

Listen to understand

Be respectful and inclusive

Critique ideas, not people

Discussion should be constructive and applicable to all

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An information sheet for prospective CBLP-A partners

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An information sheet for prospective CBLP-A partners

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The Chesapeake Conservation Landscaping Council's bi-annual conference planned for December 6-8, 2023 in Kent Island,Maryland.

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Special thanks to:

Sarah Nuss and Lisa Lawrence for envisioning and developing the broader impacts theme.

Sally Wood and Valerie Johnson for being incredible logistics gurus.

In addition to:

Speakers, Creators, Moderators, Timekeepers and Photographers

Production Team, including VIMS event staff, VIMS printing

Gloucester HS Horticulture, WM MakersSpace, catering crew

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Lawrence - BROADER IMPACTS IN COASTAL VIRGINIA

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Click above for Scott's Lightning Talk slides.

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Monitoring Habitat Change at Place Based Sites

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Monitoring Habitat Change at Place Based Sites

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Scott Lerberg's lightning talk slides.