News

Professor Matt Gray on the filtration capabilities of oysters

May 20, 2020
Oysters are filter feeders that can help clean up the Chesapeake Bay, right? Many have seen the various web videos showing a dozen or so bivalves clearing a murky fish tank in just an hour. But are they such ecological superheroes that each one can siphon 50 gallons of water in a day? Is it true? Well, yes, but not so much in the real world, according to Matthew Gray, a scientist at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science’s Horn Point Laboratory.

Chesapeake Bay Health score decreased in 2019

May 19, 2020
For the first time, Chesapeake Bay watershed health was scored as part of the 2019 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Report Card issued today by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES). The overall Chesapeake watershed scored a B- grade for 2019. The Chesapeake Bay health score decreased in 2019, dropping from a grade of C to a C-.

Faculty Spotlight: An Interview with Jamie Pierson

May 19, 2020
I study a type of animal plankton. They’re called copepods, and they are plankton their entire life. These are tiny little animals that are about 1 to 3 millimeter long, usually. Copepods are probably the most numerous animal on earth. There's 15 or 16,000 named species right now, and we think there are probably more than that that we haven't discovered yet,

Zhang presents virtual seminar for FAO

May 18, 2020
Dr. Xin Zhang, an Assistant Professor at the Appalachian Laboratory of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES), recently co-presented a webinar sponsored by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Large rockfish leave Chesapeake Bay to become ocean migrators; smaller fish remain

May 14, 2020
A new electronic tagging study of 100 Potomac River striped bass sheds light on rockfish migration in Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Coast. University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science researchers found that when rockfish reach 32 inches in length they leave Chesapeake Bay and become ocean migrators.

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