How do we see the Chesapeake Bay? If we don't boat or fish on it, if we don't live along its shores or work on its waters, we usually see the estuary as we drive across the Bay Bridge, enjoying a panoramic view across the water. Perhaps we glimpse a tanker or coal ship sitting at anchor. Perhaps we spot a cargo ship standing against the horizon, its decks stacked with containers. We can see the Bay through the work of great photographers. They take us places: to winter wetlands where wildfowl gather at dawn or dusk, to workboats where watermen are hauling oysters or crabs or striped bass out of dredges and tongs and pots and traps and half a dozen different kinds of netting. And they give us more than a glimpse. Their images educate us. When we see the beauty and drama of our Bay and the ways men and women and birds and fish and water and weather all interact — we understand something vital about our connection with this place. And we feel the importance of preserving it. That's why Maryland Sea Grant, a science program founded 40 years ago, has from the start featured great photography in our publications and films.   more . . .

Walter Boynton was awarded the Mathias Medal on December 2 to recognize his groundbreaking research showing that excess nutrients degraded the Chesapeake Bay’s water quality and habitats. The medal is given jointly by Maryland Sea Grant, Virginia Sea Grant, and the Chesapeake Research Consortium to recognize outstanding researchers whose work informed environmental policy to improve the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed. Boynton is only the seventh recipient of the Mathias Medal since it was established in 1989.   more . .