The National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science's Cooperative Oxford Laboratory (COL) recently conducted an open house in conjunction with the Town of Oxford's yearly Oxford Day event. The Cooperative Oxford Laboratory is a partnership among NOAA, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, and U.S. Coast Guard. The open house is a means to inform the public of the Laboratory's mission to bring together the unique combination of science, response, and management capabilities of its partners to improve and protect the ecological health of the Chesapeake Bay and provide science for ecosystem management relevant to ecosystems worldwide.
On Saturday April 28, 2012 COL opened its gates and hosted hundreds of interested citizens. Visitors were presented with an overview of COL's mission as well as various activities that relate to research efforts. The event showcased COL's unique partnership Maryland Department of Natural Resources, NOAA's NMFS, NOAA's NOS and the US Coast Guard Station Oxford.
As part of the open house, visitors were provided access to view rare Chesapeake Bay fish species, get hands on experience building remote control underwater vessels, seine the local watershed, see and touch bay critters, make prints of local marine species, and learn about the health of the Chesapeake Bay.