International Coastal Cleanup
Come out and join the Maryland Coastal Bays Program, Ocean City Surf Club, and the Town of Ocean City to celebrate the Ocean Conservancy's Annual International Coastal Cleanup on this
Saturday, September 8th at Ocean City Town Hall, beginning 10 am.'
Registration day of will be at the Ocean City Town Hall Gazebo on 3rd Street. Gloves, bags, assignments, and t-shirts while supplies last, will be provided at registration. Funding for shirts has been provided by Sandpiper Energy/Chesapeake Utilities. For more information contact Sandi at
[email protected] or 410-213-2297 ext. 106.
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Osprey Sprint Triathlon
Registration for the 19th Annual Osprey Sprint Triathlon is now open! This year's event will be held on Saturday,
September 29th at Public Landing. There are still two months to train, so start training and register either on our website or
here
!
Please contact Sandi if you would like to volunteer to help with this event at
[email protected]
.
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Children's Day on the Bay
The OC Lifesaving Station's 8th Annual Children's Day on the Bay Festival was a success! This event introduced over 725 attendees to local organizations here on the Eastern Shore. MCBP engaged the public by making seed bombs with the children. Our goal was to promote and encourage the growth of plants native to Maryland. Each attendee who came by the tent left with their very own marsh marigold seed bomb!
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American Fisheries Society Conference
MCBP's environmental scientists, Amanda Poskaitis and Katherine Phillips were able to attend the American Fisheries Society's 148th Annual Meeting, where Katherine presented on fish passage at the Bishopville Stream Corridor Enhancement Project!
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National Night Out
MCBP participated in Berlins' Annual National Nights through an outreach table and bike raffle. New children's bikes were donated to MCBP which we donated to the police department to raffle at the event. Eight bikes were awarded to some very happy attendees. Over 200 people enjoyed visiting vendors while listening to entertainment and enjoying food donated by Sonrise Church.
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MACo Conference
The Maryland Association of Counties (MACo) summer conference was held in Ocean City this August. Since the theme of this year's conference was "Water Water Everywhere", MCBP's Executive Director Frank Piorko attended the meeting. Sessions focused on Climate Resiliency, Stormwater Management, Agricultural BMPs, the Chesapeake Watershed Plan as well as local issues here in the Coastal Bays. Senator Ben Cardin hosted a Town Hall meeting and this year's conference saw the highest number of attendees at 1,264 people.
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Check Out Our Calendar!
Want to know what's happening in the Coastal Bays? Check out our calendar here.
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Join us September 15th at Greys Creek!
Join the Maryland Coastal Bays Program on September 15th at Greys Creek for our third Discover Your Watershed volunteer and education event! Our upcoming event will be Trash and Trails! This will involve identifying some of our local critters by pulling a seine, completing some trail maintenance, and an in-water trash clean up! If you have your own paddle boards, kayak, or canoe feel free to bring it along, we will also have a few provided. This event will be all about learning, having fun, and lending a helping hand to our local ecosystem. The event will be held from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm with lunch provided. RSVP is required by contacting Addie Snyder at [email protected] or call us at 410-213-2297 ext. 107.
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MCBP Welcomes Dr. Nancy Zeller to our Board of Directors!
The Maryland Coastal Bays Foundation Board of Directors are pleased to welcome Nancy Zeller as their newest member. Nancy has been a committed volunteer for MCBP assisting with the water quality and education programs. Dr. Zeller has had a distinguished career in science and education, recently retiring from American University. We look forward to her sharing her wealth of experience and enthusiasm for the bays with our program team.
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Welcome to Our New CCC'ers and Fall Intern!
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Brianna Fragata (left) joined MCBP as one of the 2018 Chesapeake Conservation Corp Members. She left her hometown in Massachusetts to attend Hood College where she received a degree in Environmental Science and Policy with a concentration in coastal and watershed studies. During her time interning at Hood College in the Center for Coastal and Watershed Studies and the Biology department, she conducted bacterial monitoring, a forest recreation study, and helped to implement a vegetable rain garden in the local community. Most recently, she worked for the University of Maryland Horn Point Laboratory as an oyster hatchery intern.
Arianna Russo (middle) joined MCBP as a Chesapeake Conservation Corps Member. She is from sunny San Diego, California and recently graduated from the University of Oregon with a Bachelor's of Science in Marine Biology. After graduating, she left the country to volunteer in the Seychelles to do coral reef restoration and in Northern Cyprus to do sea turtle nest monitoring. Arianna is very passionate about the environment and the different ways she can help it. She prefers being outside as much as possible and am always happy to be working in the field. She is looking forward to the work she'll be doing at MCBP and gaining the skills she needs to further my career in conservation.
Myia Tariq (right) joined MCBP (again!) as an environmental intern. She is a Berlin native and is currently a senior at Salisbury University working on her Bachelor's Degree in Environmental Studies with a minor in Ethnic/Intercultural Studies. Previously, Myia worked as a Coastal Steward at MCBP where she realized her love for nature. On weekends she spends her free time volunteering with B.R.A.V.E., a youth involvement program. After college she hopes to work for the National Park Service or a non-profit organization.
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Lt. Governor Rutherford Tours Assateague Living Shoreline
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Lt. Governor Rutherford Tours Assateague Living Shoreline
The completion of the Assateague Shoreline Resiliency and Restoration Project at the state park location was celebrated on Saturday August 18, with a small ceremony that included Lt. Governor Boyd K. Rutherford, DNR Secretary Mark Belton, Assateague Island National Seashore Superintendent Deborah Darden, State Park Manager Angela Baldwin, Keith Underwood of Underwood and Associates, the project contractor, and Frank Piorko from the Maryland Coastal Bays Program. This innovative joint project with Coastal Bays and DNR seeks to enhance habitat, improve public access and reduce erosion through the use of nature based structures including boulders, cobble, sand, and native wetland vegetation. The project was funded by the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund.
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MCBP bids adieu to Zach and Liam!
As summer comes to an end, we are saying farewell to our summer environmental intern, Liam Batchelder, and to our Chesapeake Conservations Corps member, Zachary Garmoe. During his year-long service at MCBP, Zach worked on numerous projects such as anadromous fish monitoring, oyster gardening, environmental education, afterschool programs, and being our resident photographer! For his capstone project, Zach created the Ocean Pines Canal Challenge, a volunteer water quality initiative to test the water quality of the canals around Ocean Pines
as part of our Ocean Pines Bay Day. Zach has been a wonderful asset to MCBP and will be sorely missed. Zach will continue his environmental aspirations by joining the Chesapeake Bay Foundation as an Island Center Educator.
During Liam's summer with MCBP, he participated in our dual internship program, where he completed a biological stream assessment research project with the science team, and assisted the education team with weekly programming such as our Estuary Explorers summer camp, Castaways bay discovery program, and our Bay-Friendly Field Guide. Liam will be going to work as an endangered species observer aboard dredge vessels. We will greatly miss Liam and his
exuberant personality.
Thank you both for all of your hard work at MCBP! We wish you the best of luck in all of your future endeavors!
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