Fellowship Experiences

On a small tributary of the Patapsco River in Pasadena, Maryland, an avid community of fishermen and boaters frequent the waters daily during the spring and summer. This river, Rock Creek, is home to the Maryland Yacht club and sees a high volume of boat traffic.  Read more...

It was a chilly December morning in Baltimore as I boarded a plane bound for San Francisco. I held tightly my carry-on bag and poster tube, which contained the poster I would be presenting later in the week at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting. I had never attended AGU, and this was actually my maiden voyage to California.

Three years ago, I was beginning my final semester as an undergraduate and facing the daunting task of student-teaching high-school classes about earth and environmental science full time for 10 weeks. I often thought about what students should take away from my class. What do I want students to remember in ten years?

I recently sat down with a local waterman on one of the old weathered pews of the Joshua Thomas Chapel in Deal Island, Maryland. I was there to learn about the local heritage of the small fishing and farming communities that are spread across the low-lying marshy islands of the Deal Island Peninsula. 

Storm surge is one of the most dangerous natural hazards in America, and it happens frequently. Just a few months ago, Hurricane Matthew generated significant storm surges from Florida to North Carolina, which caused extensive flooding and damage in coastal communities along its path.