Kai Hardy

Maryland Law and Policy Fellowship

Fellowship Institution:

Agriculture Law Education Initiative and Maryland Sea Grant College

Start Year

2023

Kai Hardy is Maryland Sea Grant's Maryland Law and Policy Fellow. He works on providing legal education to diverse stakeholders throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed in Maryland, including government agencies, industries, and coastal communities. Hardy focuses on legal issues concerning aquaculture and coastal resilience, specifically the installation of “living shorelines” in Maryland’s critical areas (i.e., areas within 1,000 feet of the Chesapeake Bay, the Atlantic Ocean, and tidal shorelines).

Hardy studied at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and earned a bachelor of science in natural resources and environmental sciences. During his undergraduate studies, Hardy took several courses in environmental law and policy, and gained field experience with wildlife. Specifically, his field projects involved conducting surveys of forest and grassland birds in Illinois and Texas. Hardy attended Vermont Law School and earned a juris doctor in May of 2023. While in law school, he took courses in environmental law, environmental justice, natural resources law, and water resources law. Hardy served as the environmental justice managing editor for the Vermont Journal of Environmental Law. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, playing basketball, reading, playing guitar, and watching movies.

Program Announcements

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News and Blogs

September 1, 2026

Science Illustration and Its Role in Science Communication

August 17, 2026

The Chesapeake Bay Legacy Act’s Impacts on Aquaculture and Commercial Fisheries

August 17, 2026

Baltimore City Teens Dive into Aquaculture, Science, and Sustainable Food Systems

Video Gallery

Sea Grant Film Explores a Diminishing Smithville

Smithville is a community on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, on the edge of the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. A century ago, Smithville had more than 100 residents. Today, it has four, in two homes: an elderly couple, and one elderly woman and her son, who cares for her.

Featured Fellow

Nina Santos

Nina Santos is a Ph.D. student at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. For her dissertation, she is focused on small shrimp-like crustaceans called mysids – an understudied yet important part of many estuarine and coastal food webs.

Featured Research Project

Geochronology Study of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances Deposition and Ecosystem Response in the Chesapeake & Maryland Coastal Bays

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are environmentally persistent contaminants linked to adverse health outcomes in humans and wildlife. In Maryland's Chesapeake Bay and Coastal Bays, PFAS accumulation in sediments and biota, as well as their ecological impacts, remain poorly understood. This project will reconstruct multidecadal PFAS deposition histories using sediment cores, apply microbial community profiling to assess benthic ecosystem responses, and translate findings into practical guidance for aquaculture and environmental management.

View Project

The Blue Crab: Callinectes Sapidus

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