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Strategic Plan
We live in a region with abundant coastal resources, diverse environmental challenges, and a complex institutional landscape. In order for Maryland Sea Grant to serve this region effectively, we place importance on developing and adhering to a sound strategic plan.
To develop the foundation for our strategic planning, we have engaged stakeholders representing a wide spectrum of Maryland’s coastal communities and interests. Synthesizing their input, we identified clear priorities. These priorities are aligned with overarching themes articulated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), one of our major funders, and with regional and national needs brought to the forefront by broader policy analyses.
Our strategic plans are both a catalyst to foster achievement and a guide for program evaluation. They represent our commitment to excellence in all aspects of our program.
2024–2027 Strategic Plan
- Focus Area 1
Environmental Literacy and Workforce Development - Focus Area 2
Healthy Coastal Ecosystems - Focus Area 3
Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture - Focus Area 4
Resilient Communities and Economies
2018-2023 Strategic Plan
- Focus Area 1
Healthy Coastal Ecosystems - Focus Area 2
Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture - Focus Area 3
Resilient Communities and Economies - Focus Area 4
Effective Environmental Science Education
2014-2017 Strategic Plan
- Focus Area 1
Resilient Ecosystem Processes and Responses - Focus Area 2
Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture - Focus Area 3
Resilient Communities and Economies - Focus Area 4
Effective Environmental Science Education
Program Announcements
News and Blogs
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
Developing a habitat model for mysids, an important link in Chesapeake Bay food webs
Mysids are important mesozooplankton prey for many species of fish in Chesapeake Bay and are an important link in transferring energy from lower to upper trophic levels. Mysids also serve as biological vectors for benthic-pelagic coupling due to their diel vertical migration and omnivorous prey-switching behavior, which makes mysids important regulators of food web architecture. Despite their central role in coastal food webs, surprisingly little is known about mysid ecology and dynamics in Chesapeake Bay.
