University of Maryland
Center for Environmental Science

1oo Stories

Impact

Grateful for Philanthropists Brian Hochheimer and Margie Wax

We are deeply grateful to Brian Hochheimer and Margie Wax for their generous $1 million donation to establish the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory’s (CBL) first-ever endowed professorship, honoring Tom Miller, CBL’s former Director. This transformative gift will help attract top-tier faculty and advance cutting-edge environmental research.

Brian and Margie’s long-standing support for CBL, including their past contributions to toxicology research in Chesapeake Bay, has made a lasting impact. Their personal connection to Solomons Island and CBL further strengthens this meaningful legacy.

As we celebrate our centennial, this endowment will ensure that UMCES and CBL will continue to lead in environmental science for generations to come. We are incredibly fortunate for their support and thank them for their commitment to our mission.

1OO Stories

The New Generation of Leaders

Throughout its history, UMCES has graduated hundreds of new environmental leaders. Today’s UMCES alumni are able and eager to take on the mounting challenges facing our natural world. Here’s just one example of an UMCES alum making a difference.

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The Bay Gets a Grade

In 2007, UMCES Integration and Application Network released the first Chesapeake Bay Report Card. Take a look at how far we’ve come.

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No One Anticipated This

Longtime water quality monitoring in the Chesapeake Bay watershed revealed unintended benefits of the Clean Air Act of 1990.

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Meet the Rachel Carson

Flagship of UMCES’ research fleet, the Rachel Carson makes Chesapeake Bay science happen on the water.

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A Win-Win Partnership

The need to dispose of Baltimore ship channel dredge material created an unprecedented partnership opportunity for a 20+ year study on ecosystem restoration on the Chesapeake Bay’s Poplar Island.

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A Visionary Founder

Who was Reginald Truitt, founder of what would become UMCES? “IN THE SUMMER OF 1919, a brand new graduate student carried a borrowed microscope to a creek north of Solomons Island, Maryland, a knob of land near the meeting point of the Patuxent River and the Chesapeake Bay. In a cramped fisherman’s shack, he set up a makeshift laboratory, installed his microscope, and began studying oyster biology.”