International Coastal Cleanup
Join MCBP, Ocean City Surf Club, and the Town of Ocean City this
Saturday, September 7 at the Ocean City Town Hall located on 3rd Street for the International Coastal Cleanup. Registration begins
10:00 am. We will be providing gloves, bags, and t-shirts while supplies last. Hours spent at this event count for community service and Day to Serve. For more information or pre-registration contact Sandi at
[email protected] or 410-213-2297 ext 106.
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2018 Report Card Release
Join us for the 2018 Report Card release on Monday, September 23rd at 11:00 am. The event will be held at the Marlin Club in West Ocean City at 9659 Golf Course Road, Ocean City, MD.
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Tizzard Island Resiliency Project
The resilience project at Tizzard Island is in full swing as contractors from Sustainable Science and Underwood and Associates work with DNR to survey the eroding shoreline. Equipment includes aerial and floating drones along with the latest in land surveying gear.
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Horseshoe Crab Survey
Thanks to all of our horseshoe crab survey volunteers for a great season! This summer we counted over 6,500 horseshoe crabs at 5 different survey locations throughout the Coastal Bays.
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BEETLES Leadership Institute
Earlier this spring, MCBP Education Coordinator, Liz Wist, and Amy Barra, Delaware Center for the Inland's Bays Education and Outreach Coordinator, were accepted into the 2019 BEETLES Leadership Institute for program leaders. The institute was organized by the Lawrence Hall of Science through University of California Berkley. At the beginning of August, they traveled to Portola, CA for six intensive days of building expertise, incorporating effective practices into professional learning, and thought-provoking, inspiring discussions on creating the most transformative outdoor experiences. The institute placed focus on nature-based, student-centered outdoor learning, emphasizing that exploration and curiosity are the necessary building blocks for a student's discussion and critical thinking skills. They will be facilitating workshops using BEETLES resources this fall, so stay tuned for more details.
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MACo Meeting
Frank Piorko attended the annual Summer Conference of the Maryland Association of Counties held in Ocean City from August 14-17. Among the topics discussed at the Conference was the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan and a meeting was also held with Maryland Coastal Bays Program and MD DNR and MDE Cabinet Secretaries to discuss program budgets.
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Join us this Sunday!
We are less than one week out from our 2nd Bay Day celebration -
this
Sunday, September 8
from
11:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
at White Horse Park
, located at 235 Ocean Parkway! As our largest outreach events for the year, we have a little something for everyone. The day will include free bay boat tours, 32+ environment exhibitors, live animals, a workshop pavilion, native plant giveaway, interactive bottle cap art, food and drink vendors, and live music. We hope that you and your friends and family come out to enjoy the day's activities, have fun, learn about the environment, and take home knowledge that will help restore and protect the Coastal Bays. See you there!
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Welcome to our new Chesapeake Conservation Corps Members!
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We are thrilled to welcome two new Chesapeake Conservation Corps (CCC) members to MCBP! Through a continued partnership with the Chesapeake Bay Trust's CCC program, Chandler Joiner and Virginia Parker were matched with MCBP and will work on various science, restoration, education, and outreach projects for the next year. Read on below for more about each.
Chandler is a recent graduate from Rhodes College in Memphis, TN with a degree in Environmental Studies. During her time at Rhodes she had internships with the Shelby County Office of Sustainability and the Memphis Zoo. She also spent two summers working as an Environmental Educator for Montreat Camp and Conference Center in Black Mountain, North Carolina. At MCBP, Chandler will develop educational lessons to contribute to the first-ever Maryland Coastal Bays specific curriculum that will be accessible to the public on their website. Chandler will mentor middle and high school students on school environmental projects to empower youth and promote energy conservation and habitat restoration. Chandler would like to continue research on inter-generational and adult environmental education programming.
Virginia is a recent graduate of Washington College with a degree in environmental science. During her time at Washington College, she has had internships with NOAA at the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory researching ocean acidification and with the Center for Environment and Society assisting in data collection for the Summer Grassland Bird Study. At MCBP, Virginia will assist with the Ilia Fehrer Wetland Restoration and Assateague Island Living Shoreline Projects. She will also assist with the Oyster Gardening Program and water quality monitoring efforts. Virginia wishes to pursue graduate school after her year with the Chesapeake Conservation Corps and would like to continue to research on water quality and the anthropogenic impacts on the Chesapeake Bay.
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Eagle Scout project helps local osprey!
Earlier this year, homeowner Spiro Buas was told to place monofilament line on his dock to discourage gulls and other birds from sitting on his dock. Unfortunately, his source failed to understand that there is a second step to discouraging birds, and that is placing something on the monofilament every foot as birds, like us, can't see the clear line. Unfortunately, an osprey was lost and the homeowner felt terrible. Griffin Smith heard about the story and decided to focus his eagle scout project on creating platforms for Buas to install to encourage osprey nesting away from his dock.
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Join us for Discover Your Watershed!
Summer is coming to an end but that doesn't mean you can't get outside and enjoy nature! The third series of Discover Your Watershed is approaching and will be held on Saturday, October 12th from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm. Mark your calendars, bring your friends and family, and help us improve our watershed through a backroads cleanup and a tour of one of MCBP's restoration site. RSVP to [email protected] or 410-213-2297 ext. 107. See you there!
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