Maryland Sea Grant
@mdseagrant.bsky.social
We’re a partnership with NOAA and administered by UMCES, funding #research, #education, & #outreach throughout the state of #Maryland. RTs ≠ endorsements.
Website: mdsg.umd.edu
Chesapeake Quarterly magazine: chesapeakequarterly.net
Website: mdsg.umd.edu
Chesapeake Quarterly magazine: chesapeakequarterly.net
Pinned
What makes a shoreline “living”—and lasting? Explore how engineered living shorelines are helping to stabilize shores around the Chesapeake Bay in the latest issue of Chesapeake Quarterly magazine → https://arcg.is/1GTfaa5
📸: Logan Bilbrough / UME MDSG
📸: Logan Bilbrough / UME MDSG
It's #NationalTakeAHikeDay! 🥾 From mountain overlooks to winding rivers, the #ChesapeakeBay watershed offers endless trails to explore. Celebrate the day by getting outside and discovering a new favorite spot. Need ideas? Start here: https://loom.ly/LWBbzdQ
#NationalHikingDay
#NationalHikingDay
Places to Go Hiking
Get off the beaten path with these Maryland hiking trails.
www.visitmaryland.org
November 17, 2025 at 3:18 PM
It's #NationalTakeAHikeDay! 🥾 From mountain overlooks to winding rivers, the #ChesapeakeBay watershed offers endless trails to explore. Celebrate the day by getting outside and discovering a new favorite spot. Need ideas? Start here: https://loom.ly/LWBbzdQ
#NationalHikingDay
#NationalHikingDay
Blue crabs are prized for their taste, but their shells are valuable too. In 2022, Univ. of Maryland scientists found that chitosan from crab shells, combined with zinc, can power a new kind of battery. Inside and out, Maryland’s crabs are a precious resource! Learn more: https://loom.ly/F9I9_GY
UMD Engineers Get Cracking on Sustainability With With Crab Shell-based Battery
Biodegradable Electrolyte Could Lessen Pollution Burden of Electric Vehicles
today.umd.edu
November 13, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Blue crabs are prized for their taste, but their shells are valuable too. In 2022, Univ. of Maryland scientists found that chitosan from crab shells, combined with zinc, can power a new kind of battery. Inside and out, Maryland’s crabs are a precious resource! Learn more: https://loom.ly/F9I9_GY
Does your water come from a well? Join Extension specialist Andy Lazur for a free webinar Nov. 19 at noon! He'll share info on well design, wellhead protection measures, water quality testing, and basic water filtration. Register here: https://loom.ly/bDsMbyc
📸: US EPA
📸: US EPA
November 12, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Does your water come from a well? Join Extension specialist Andy Lazur for a free webinar Nov. 19 at noon! He'll share info on well design, wellhead protection measures, water quality testing, and basic water filtration. Register here: https://loom.ly/bDsMbyc
📸: US EPA
📸: US EPA
In the 1970s, the #ChesapeakeBay was home to just 60 breeding pairs of bald eagles. Today, it hosts one of the largest populations in the US! The Bay supports year-round eagle residents, summer visitors from the south, and winter visitors from the north. Learn more: https://loom.ly/Gk1A978
A Soaring Success: Maryland’s Bald Eagle Population Recovery (Maryland DNR)
The Chesapeake Bay is now home to one of the largest populations of bald eagles in the US
news.maryland.gov
November 11, 2025 at 3:10 PM
In the 1970s, the #ChesapeakeBay was home to just 60 breeding pairs of bald eagles. Today, it hosts one of the largest populations in the US! The Bay supports year-round eagle residents, summer visitors from the south, and winter visitors from the north. Learn more: https://loom.ly/Gk1A978
Research fellow Ebram Victoria works at the intersection of ecological and human health, representing the next generation of environmental leaders—an interdisciplinary coalition committed to preserving natural resources. Read Ebram’s reflections in his new blog post: https://loom.ly/bDsPYxk
Lessons in Supporting the Bay’s Next Seven Generations
By Sea Grant Research Fellow Ebram Victoria
www.mdsg.umd.edu
November 10, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Research fellow Ebram Victoria works at the intersection of ecological and human health, representing the next generation of environmental leaders—an interdisciplinary coalition committed to preserving natural resources. Read Ebram’s reflections in his new blog post: https://loom.ly/bDsPYxk
Experience is the best teacher, in life and in the classroom. MDSG develops hands-on projects to teach science to Maryland students. In Biofilms and Biodiversity, students examine organisms like this barnacle growing on aluminum discs suspended in local waters.
#NationalSTEMDay
#STEMSTEAMDay
#NationalSTEMDay
#STEMSTEAMDay
November 8, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Experience is the best teacher, in life and in the classroom. MDSG develops hands-on projects to teach science to Maryland students. In Biofilms and Biodiversity, students examine organisms like this barnacle growing on aluminum discs suspended in local waters.
#NationalSTEMDay
#STEMSTEAMDay
#NationalSTEMDay
#STEMSTEAMDay
University of Maryland Extension seeks a Regional Watershed Specialist to lead outreach efforts that improve water quality across Maryland’s Lower Eastern Shore. They will provide community-based programs, technical assistance, and applied research. Master’s or PhD required: https://loom.ly/7x9rqtk
November 6, 2025 at 3:40 PM
University of Maryland Extension seeks a Regional Watershed Specialist to lead outreach efforts that improve water quality across Maryland’s Lower Eastern Shore. They will provide community-based programs, technical assistance, and applied research. Master’s or PhD required: https://loom.ly/7x9rqtk
📆 Nov. 19
🕙 4-5:30 p.m. ET
🎟️ Free, virtual and in-person
👉 Learn more and register: https://loom.ly/QVTp25I
This series is hosted in part by University of Maryland Sea Grant Extension.
🕙 4-5:30 p.m. ET
🎟️ Free, virtual and in-person
👉 Learn more and register: https://loom.ly/QVTp25I
This series is hosted in part by University of Maryland Sea Grant Extension.
Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: Session 2: Relational Stewardship Speaker Series - Regenerative Agriculture & Traditional Land Stewardship. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting.
Join us for conversations that explore stewardship and regenerative agriculture practices, as well as environmental legal frameworks informed by Traditional Knowledge. With growing interest in blending ancient technologies with modern science, this series invites us to explore how these ways of knowing can work together—while honoring and giving credit to the Indigenous communities who have shaped and sustained them.
Regenerative Agriculture, a whole-farm approach that aims to restore ecolog...
umaryland.zoom.us
November 5, 2025 at 3:16 PM
📆 Nov. 19
🕙 4-5:30 p.m. ET
🎟️ Free, virtual and in-person
👉 Learn more and register: https://loom.ly/QVTp25I
This series is hosted in part by University of Maryland Sea Grant Extension.
🕙 4-5:30 p.m. ET
🎟️ Free, virtual and in-person
👉 Learn more and register: https://loom.ly/QVTp25I
This series is hosted in part by University of Maryland Sea Grant Extension.
Regenerative Agriculture, a whole-farm approach that aims to restore ecological balance, has its origins in Indigenous farming and stewardship. Conversations will explore stewardship, regenerative agricultural, and environmental legal frameworks informed by Traditional Knowledge.
November 5, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Regenerative Agriculture, a whole-farm approach that aims to restore ecological balance, has its origins in Indigenous farming and stewardship. Conversations will explore stewardship, regenerative agricultural, and environmental legal frameworks informed by Traditional Knowledge.
Join us Nov. 19 for the next Relational Stewardship Speaker Series—Regenerative Agriculture & Traditional Land Stewardship. Explore how Traditional Knowledge and modern science can work together, while honoring Indigenous communities who shaped and sustain these practices: https://loom.ly/QVTp25I
November 5, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Join us Nov. 19 for the next Relational Stewardship Speaker Series—Regenerative Agriculture & Traditional Land Stewardship. Explore how Traditional Knowledge and modern science can work together, while honoring Indigenous communities who shaped and sustain these practices: https://loom.ly/QVTp25I
While the #ChesapeakeBay lies within the Atlantic Coastal Plain, its watershed includes parts of the Piedmont, Blue Ridge, Valley and Ridge, and Appalachian Plateau. Waters that flow into the Bay have chemical identities based on the geology of the places they originate. https://loom.ly/CxyvmnQ
The Watershed
The Chesapeake Bay watershed spans more than 64,000 square miles and includes hundreds of thousands of creeks, streams and rivers.
www.chesapeakebay.net
November 4, 2025 at 5:14 PM
While the #ChesapeakeBay lies within the Atlantic Coastal Plain, its watershed includes parts of the Piedmont, Blue Ridge, Valley and Ridge, and Appalachian Plateau. Waters that flow into the Bay have chemical identities based on the geology of the places they originate. https://loom.ly/CxyvmnQ
November is American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month. The history and heritage of #Indigenous peoples are woven throughout the US, including here in the #ChesapeakeBay. Learn more about the Bay’s Indigenous communities from the National Park Service: https://loom.ly/AnzhlYA
Chesapeake Tribes Today (US National Park Service)
It is a common misconception that Native Americans no longer live in the Chesapeake Bay region. There are tens of thousands of people in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia who identify as Indigenous.
www.nps.gov
November 3, 2025 at 3:08 PM
November is American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month. The history and heritage of #Indigenous peoples are woven throughout the US, including here in the #ChesapeakeBay. Learn more about the Bay’s Indigenous communities from the National Park Service: https://loom.ly/AnzhlYA
Researchers at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center are studying Loxo with the help of community volunteers. Find out more—if you dare: https://loom.ly/9S6rAko
Chesapeake Bay Parasite Project
About the Project White-fingered mud Crabs (Rhithropanopeus harrissi) are native to the Chesapeake Bay. These scavengers are small, and live in oyster reefs and woody debris in the water. Mud crabs typically live less than 2 years, which means they don’t have a long time to reproduce. The parasitic barnacle that infects these mud crabs is called Loxothylacus panopaei (Loxo, for short). Loxo infects and castrates the crabs, which means they can no longer reproduce.
serc.si.edu
October 31, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Researchers at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center are studying Loxo with the help of community volunteers. Find out more—if you dare: https://loom.ly/9S6rAko
Mud crabs are #ChesapeakeBay natives. Loxo infects these small scavengers with a sac-like growth filled with thousands of eggs. The crabs lose their ability to reproduce, and are tricked into caring for the parasite's larvae.
📸: Will Parson/Chesapeake BayPProgram
📸: Will Parson/Chesapeake BayPProgram
October 31, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Mud crabs are #ChesapeakeBay natives. Loxo infects these small scavengers with a sac-like growth filled with thousands of eggs. The crabs lose their ability to reproduce, and are tricked into caring for the parasite's larvae.
📸: Will Parson/Chesapeake BayPProgram
📸: Will Parson/Chesapeake BayPProgram
This trick’s no treat—it turns crabs into zombies! 🦀🧟 This is no horror movie script; it's the real-life story of the invasive barnacle Loxothylacus panopaei ("Loxo") infecting white-fingered mud crabs and turning them into caretakers for its own larvae. The result: so-called "zombie crabs."
October 31, 2025 at 4:11 PM
This trick’s no treat—it turns crabs into zombies! 🦀🧟 This is no horror movie script; it's the real-life story of the invasive barnacle Loxothylacus panopaei ("Loxo") infecting white-fingered mud crabs and turning them into caretakers for its own larvae. The result: so-called "zombie crabs."
In a world of pocket-sized cameras and AI-generated images, scientific illustration still plays a vital role in showing the tiny details and complex processes that a photo alone can’t capture. Find out how intern Talia Mastalski uses art to bring science to life: https://loom.ly/G_k_L88
October 30, 2025 at 3:18 PM
In a world of pocket-sized cameras and AI-generated images, scientific illustration still plays a vital role in showing the tiny details and complex processes that a photo alone can’t capture. Find out how intern Talia Mastalski uses art to bring science to life: https://loom.ly/G_k_L88
The Sustainable Aquaculture Systems Supporting Atlantic Salmon conference recently brought 80 #aquaculture researchers, educators, and professionals to Baltimore. Participants are working on new technologies and methods to develop land-based #salmon aquaculture. Read more: https://loom.ly/R5WH1Ow
October 29, 2025 at 2:09 PM
The Sustainable Aquaculture Systems Supporting Atlantic Salmon conference recently brought 80 #aquaculture researchers, educators, and professionals to Baltimore. Participants are working on new technologies and methods to develop land-based #salmon aquaculture. Read more: https://loom.ly/R5WH1Ow
#BlueCatfish are invasive in the #ChesapeakeBay and will eat almost anything. Fortunately, this bounty of blues has led to a new fishery & they're showing up on menus more often. Every bite helps protect native species like rockfish and blue crabs. Learn more: https://loom.ly/9A7BEu8
#SeafoodMonth
#SeafoodMonth
October 28, 2025 at 3:24 PM
#BlueCatfish are invasive in the #ChesapeakeBay and will eat almost anything. Fortunately, this bounty of blues has led to a new fishery & they're showing up on menus more often. Every bite helps protect native species like rockfish and blue crabs. Learn more: https://loom.ly/9A7BEu8
#SeafoodMonth
#SeafoodMonth
Happy #BatWeek! 🦇 The eastern red bat (Lasiurus borealis) is the #ChesapeakeBay watershed's most common tree bat! These small, solitary bats are most active at dusk and feed on moths and other insects. Learn more about them ➡️ https://loom.ly/SZ4mVUo
📸: Anita Gould/USGS
📸: Anita Gould/USGS
October 27, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Happy #BatWeek! 🦇 The eastern red bat (Lasiurus borealis) is the #ChesapeakeBay watershed's most common tree bat! These small, solitary bats are most active at dusk and feed on moths and other insects. Learn more about them ➡️ https://loom.ly/SZ4mVUo
📸: Anita Gould/USGS
📸: Anita Gould/USGS
Big wins for fish migration! 🐟 Between 2022 and 2023, #ChesapeakeBay Program partners removed dams, replaced culverts, and installed fish passages—opening 303 stream miles for trout, alewife, and shad to return to their historic spawning and feeding grounds.
Learn more: https://loom.ly/a2gGk_s
Learn more: https://loom.ly/a2gGk_s
Removing stream blockages opens 303 miles for fish passage in 2022-2023
The collaboration of Chesapeake Bay Program partners helps migratory fish reach their spawning grounds
www.chesapeakebay.net
October 24, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Big wins for fish migration! 🐟 Between 2022 and 2023, #ChesapeakeBay Program partners removed dams, replaced culverts, and installed fish passages—opening 303 stream miles for trout, alewife, and shad to return to their historic spawning and feeding grounds.
Learn more: https://loom.ly/a2gGk_s
Learn more: https://loom.ly/a2gGk_s
Oyster growers, meet Yumeng Pang—oyster aquaculture outreach specialist and manager of Horn Point Laboratory's Oyster Demonstration Farm. Need guidance on #oyster growth, biofouling, or gear and equipment use? Contact Yumeng at ypang@umces.edu for help!
#SeafoodMonth #OysterAquaculture
#SeafoodMonth #OysterAquaculture
October 23, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Oyster growers, meet Yumeng Pang—oyster aquaculture outreach specialist and manager of Horn Point Laboratory's Oyster Demonstration Farm. Need guidance on #oyster growth, biofouling, or gear and equipment use? Contact Yumeng at ypang@umces.edu for help!
#SeafoodMonth #OysterAquaculture
#SeafoodMonth #OysterAquaculture
Maryland Sea Grant Extension specialists were there to share how they can help people use scientific research to navigate local environmental challenges—and @UMdExtension unveiled a brand-new native plant guide for the Piedmont region!
October 22, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Maryland Sea Grant Extension specialists were there to share how they can help people use scientific research to navigate local environmental challenges—and @UMdExtension unveiled a brand-new native plant guide for the Piedmont region!
Watershed stewards and community members gathered this week for the H2O Summit in Montgomery County, hosted by My Green Montgomery. 🌿 Experts shared insights on stormwater runoff, flooding, water quality, native plants, and how to build meaningful community partnerships.
October 22, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Watershed stewards and community members gathered this week for the H2O Summit in Montgomery County, hosted by My Green Montgomery. 🌿 Experts shared insights on stormwater runoff, flooding, water quality, native plants, and how to build meaningful community partnerships.
Happy #ReptileAwarenessDay! 🐢 Eastern box #turtles rare familiar reptiles in the #ChesapeakeBay watershed. They thrive in forests, meadows, and wetland edges. Unfortunately, many are injured or killed each year while crossing roads. Learn how you can help: https://loom.ly/q7AlOro
October 21, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Happy #ReptileAwarenessDay! 🐢 Eastern box #turtles rare familiar reptiles in the #ChesapeakeBay watershed. They thrive in forests, meadows, and wetland edges. Unfortunately, many are injured or killed each year while crossing roads. Learn how you can help: https://loom.ly/q7AlOro
US seafood consumers love salmon, but 95% of the country's salmon supply is imported from other countries. The Sustainable Aquaculture Systems Supporting Atlantic Salmon project is developing land-based salmon production in the US. Learn more at salmononland.org. 📸: Melissa Penley Cormier/UMBC
October 20, 2025 at 3:24 PM
US seafood consumers love salmon, but 95% of the country's salmon supply is imported from other countries. The Sustainable Aquaculture Systems Supporting Atlantic Salmon project is developing land-based salmon production in the US. Learn more at salmononland.org. 📸: Melissa Penley Cormier/UMBC