The A Look in the Lab: Behind-the-Scenes Video Series will invite viewers to discover aspects of UMCES Chesapeake Biological Laboratory research that they cannot typically experience at in-person events, like the annual Open House. These videos will take viewers into restricted lab areas, feature longer procedures then can be demonstrated in-person, and share place-based field research activities. In the videos below, you will see science in action!
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory scientists will be filming these videos themselves while adhering to social distancing and other health-related guidelines.
A Day In Animal Care: CBL's Visitor Center Aquarium
Have you ever wondered what it takes to maintain an aquarium to the standards required by a research university? Go behind-the-scenes with Research Assistant Skyler Golt, as he describes the set-up of the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory's Visitor Center aquarium, and how he cares for its fish and invertebrates. He also shares how the creatures featured in the aquarium are collected through a Patuxent River seine study. The Visitor Center aquarium shows what life looks like under the water right across the street from the CBL campus!
The Chesapeake Biological Laboratory's Library Archive
"For fully three decades now, there has been an almost steady decline in Maryland’s oyster production until those charged with the industry's welfare, indeed those who have the state’s interests at heart, are alarmed for its future.” These words are just as true today as they were when they were written in 1927 by the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory’s founder Dr. Reginald V. Truitt.
For almost 100 years now, generations of Chesapeake Biological Laboratory scientists have conducted fundamental research on the Chesapeake Bay and the environment to help inform environmental policy. Their research and publications are preserved in the institution’s library archives. Join director Dr. Tom Miller as he explores these historic resources and shares some of the archive highlights.
A Look in the Lab: Terrapin Hatchlings
How might climate change impact diamondback terrapins? At UMCES Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, Dr. Chris Rowe is conducting egg incubation experiments to examine how terrapin nests and hatchling development are impacted by warming temperatures.
Get a behind-the-scenes look at how Rowe notches and marks terrapin hatchlings before releasing them at the nesting site where they were collected. Notching and marking is a technique that will allow Rowe and his colleagues identify individual hatchlings if they are recaptured in the future.