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Science News
Maryland Sea Grant Publishes New Directory of Watershed Restoration Assistance
 Are you a citizen or an organization looking for grants or technical
assistance for projects to restore Maryland’s watersheds? Sea
Grant Extension has created a new reference guide to help. The
Maryland Watershed Restoration Assistance Directory
offers one-stop shopping for anyone interested in finding funds or
technical assistance to implement projects that restore Maryland's
streams, shorelines, habitats, and watersheds. Entries are in
alphabetical order by topic and include information on the purpose of
the grant, funding type and range, eligibility requirements, and a link
to the program website.
[more] |
Road Deicers Could Be Making the Region Too Salty
As far as snow storms go, 2013 hasn’t exactly been the winter of our
discontent around the Chesapeake Bay region. Still, even the threat of
snow and ice in recent weeks has sent highway crews out to spread road
salts. On asphalt across Maryland, you can spot the white residue from
these “deicers.” They make winter driving safer but could also present a
growing threat to the environment and to the quality of drinking water
sources, some scientists say. The problem stems from those same
minerals that are in your tabletop salt shakers. Research suggests that
sodium chloride, the most common ingredient in deicers, may have begun
to accumulate in the environment largely because of runoff tinged with
road salts. In some cases, the impacts can be big: high concentrations
of salt can affect the health of Maryland’s most sensitive animals, such
as many amphibians, including the common spotted salamander. And even
at relatively low levels, road salts can substantially change the makeup
of communities living in freshwater habitats, such as streams or ponds.
[more] |
Sea Grant Gets New Watershed Restoration Specialists
Two new watershed restoration specialists have joined Maryland Sea Grant
College’s Extension team. Dr. Amy Scaroni and Mr. Krisztian Varsa will
help Marylanders assist in the planning, implementation, and monitoring
of restoration projects to improve the water quality of local rivers and
streams and the Chesapeake Bay. Scaroni will serve Maryland’s
mid and upper Eastern Shore, including Queen Anne’s, Kent, Cecil,
Talbot, and Caroline counties. Varsa will engage with local governments
and citizen groups in northern Maryland in Baltimore, Carroll, and
Harford counties. The two scientists will assist Sea Grant’s
growing team of watershed specialists who have for several years
educated local governments and citizen groups on the benefits of
watershed restoration. The specialists have aided projects to clean up
the Corsica River, design new rain gardens, and help homeowners install
rain barrels. Such programs not only improve local water quality but
also help communities reduce the nutrients they send down to the
Chesapeake Bay, a requirement under new state and federal rules.
[more] |
Maryland Sea Grant Names Allen New Assistant Director for Research
 Maryland Sea Grant College has named Michael Allen as its new Assistant
Director for Research. Dr. Allen, who served since 2012 as the college’s
Research and Education Coordinator, will bring years of experience as a
research administrator and freshwater ecologist to the position. Allen
will oversee the management of Maryland Sea Grant’s diverse research
portfolio, which includes studies to better understand the dynamics of
the Chesapeake Bay and its watersheds and the sustainable use of
Maryland’s natural resources. He will work with scientists around the
Bay to support research projects that explore, for example, the
population dynamics of striped bass in the estuary and the beneficial
effects of restoring Bay grass beds.
[more] |
When the Dead Zone Grows, It Really Grows; and When It Shrinks, It Shrinks
For the Chesapeake Bay, like mountains prone to avalanches, small disturbances can lead to big shake-ups. Scientists call such snowballing effects “positive feedbacks,” or when a move in one direction builds on itself and becomes amplified. A positive feedback can have negative consequences, and new research says that such feedbacks involving excess nutrients may be counteracting human efforts to clean up the Bay.
[more] |
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