Lt. Gov. Miller visit spotlights proposed AgREC building Science Meeting illuminates need for data-savvy grads

BY KARA NUZBACK

The Living Marine Resources Cooperative Science Center held its 2023 annual Science Meeting in March. The event put National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists and LMRCSC students in the same virtual space to encourage collaboration and mentorships.

Samuel Rauch, NOAA Fisheries deputy assistant administrator for regulatory programs, said the Biden-Harris Administration’s 2023 Ocean Climate Action Plan is a core focus of NOAA Fisheries. The plan outlines actions to create a carbon-neutral future, accelerate nature-based solutions and enhance community resilience to ocean change.

Maryland Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller visited the Agricultural Research and Entrepreneurial centers at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore on April 25 on a leg of a tour of Delmarva. UMES' President Heidi Anderson and Director of Government Relations James Mathias were hosts for the campus stops.

Miller got a glimpse of the types of research taking place in the UMES Agricultural Experiment Station some of which in the future will be housed in a new AgREC building with hopes of breaking ground in the near future. The building with a $31.2 million price tag will be an integrated facility for teaching, research and extension to help "support Maryland's goals and serve the citizens of Maryland more effectively," said Dr. Moses T. Kairo, dean of UMES' School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences.

At Top: Sadanand Dhekney, left, professor of plant breeding and biotechnology, talks about the grape biotechnology research program at UMES and explains the techniques for improving disease resistance in grapes to Maryland Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller, far right, during a campus tour as UMES Dean of the School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences Moses T. Kairo and Hawk Ambassador Mya Woods listen.

Rauch said state control of regulations for communities that rely on the fishing industry end 3 miles off the coast, where federal regulations take over. While state regulatory agencies can respond quickly to the changing needs of the industry, federal regulations are more difficult to update. As global warming changes the distribution of marine species, the need for more adaptable federal regulations arises. As a result, Rauch said, NOAA Fisheries is working to craft recommendations for federal regulators for multiple climate change scenarios.

Dr. Cisco Werner, NOAA Fisheries chief science advisor and director of scientific programs, said NOAA Fisheries will need more data collection and a plan to incorporate artificial intelligence and more advanced types of data analysis. “It is a great time to be a graduate student,” he said.

Several LMRCSC fellows presented research projects, including doctoral fellow and UMES graduate student Tahirah Johnson presented research on an emerging pathogen, Shewanella, affecting oysters in the Chesapeake Bay.