Chesapeake Bay marsh. Credit: Maryland Sea Grant.

Earlier this month, NCOOS Cooperative Oxford Lab Director, Suzanne Skelley, and NCCOS scientist, Suzanne Bricker, participated in the NOAA National Sea Grant College Program 2018 Quadrennial Site Review of the Maryland Sea Grant College. The review considers all aspects of Maryland Sea Grant to gauge the success of the program and redirect it as appropriate to serve the needs of the state’s residents.

The review focused on the program's 2014–2017 performance, but included activities prior to 2014 that contributed to broad reaching impacts during the review period. Suzanne Bricker was part of the Stakeholder Engagement Panel: Supporting Aquaculture Production in Maryland, and Suzanne Skelley participated in the Collaborative Networks Panel: Reaching Beyond Maryland: Regional Collaborations.

Other panels included: a review of activities focused on education and training of young scientists, science collaborations to improve water quality and resilience to climate change, science to support sustainable fisheries, collaborative science, policy and management partnerships for restoration and sustainability of Chesapeake Bay, and building a diverse and talented science next generation workforce. The six-person review team included national, state, and university NOAA and Sea Grant program officers. Panelists included university researchers and program directors, public school and university faculty and administrators, oyster growers and state shellfish resource managers, and regional and local environmental NGO representatives.