By Jennifer Adkins, Executive Director, Partnership for the Delaware Estuary

Published on March 6, 2008
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In an area as large and diverse as the Delaware Estuary, there are hundreds of scientists, managers, and organizations working to better understand, manage, and protect some aspect or component of the watershed. For example:

• Scientists at Rutgers University’s Haskins Shellfish Research Laboratory are working to better understand the viruses and habitat conditions affecting the recovery of Delaware Bay oysters.
• Conservationists at the Brandywine Conservancy are modifying dams in the Brandywine Creek in an effort to restore shad, a culturally important species of fish.
• Scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey are studying data collected at gauging stations to better understand the impact abandoned mine drainage has on the Schuylkill River’s water quantity and quality.
• Researchers at the University of Delaware’s College of Marine and Earth Studies are analyzing the impacts dredging has on sediments and erosion in the Delaware River.
• Resource managers at the Philadelphia Water Department and Delaware River Basin Commission are assessing the impacts of freshwater flows on salinity in the Delaware River.

These are just a few of the stakeholders currently working to advance our understanding of the Delaware Estuary and how best to manage its resources.

A critical role of the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary is to bring people like these together to share information that may help us collectively improve our understanding of issues in the Delaware Estuary. One way the Partnership fulfills this role is through its biennial Delaware Estuary Science and Environmental Summit. Since early 2005, the Partnership has hosted a large summit every two years in an effort to bring scientists and managers together that otherwise might not have the opportunity to share their work with each other. This meeting is held during mid-winter in a retreat-like atmosphere to encourage cross-sector communication and the fertile exchange of ideas.

In 2007, this event was expanded to include practitioners and teachers from the nonprofit and education sectors. This event hosted almost 300 scientists, resource managers and environmentalists from 10 different states throughout region. These participants engaged in more than 100 presentations, roundtable discussions, and regular- and special-topic sessions to “Link Science, Management, and Policy to Set Achievable Environmental Goals in the Delaware Estuary.” Sessions were organized in two tracks: one focusing on science and another focusing on environmental projects and programs.

The scientific program was kicked off with a keynote address given by one of the preeminent leaders in the field of estuarine ecology: Dr. Scott Nixon of the University of Rhode Island. During his speech, Dr. Nixon zeroed in on “The National Importance of the Delaware Estuary.” This was followed by brief lectures designed to ensure that any presentation would find a home at the meeting, thus providing a regular outlet for students and scientists to report on their research to a regional, watershed-based audience. In 2007, these sessions included: hydrology, hydrodynamics, sedimentation, living resources and ecological processes, wetlands, and various types of environmental monitoring and assessment.

Highlights from the environmental summit included two sessions led by Christine Heenan, founder and president of the Clarendon Group. Heenan spoke at length about strategies environmentalists can use to communicate messages to critical audiences, including members of the media.

Each summit also contained special sessions that focused on issues of contemporary importance, such as bivalve shellfish ecology, management and restoration. Meanwhile, a special panel focused on links between science and policy, and a “hot-topics” session featured wide-ranging talks on wind farms, emerging contaminants and climate change.

Conference and summit participants were encouraged to attend sessions from either track, and audiences were combined for both the opening keynote address and closing hot-topic sessions. This helped to foster interaction between scientists, managers and practitioners.

Materials from the 2007 Delaware Estuary Science Conference and Environmental Summit are currently available on the Partnership’s website. These include:

• The event’s program
• Session abstracts
• Contact information for presenters
• Presentations for most of the sessions
• A “conference proceedings” document
• A “Who’s Who” resource directory

Planning for the 2009 Delaware Estuary Science and Environmental Summit is already underway. We invite you to join us January 11 to 14 at the Grand Hotel in Cape May, New Jersey, for an exciting new program focused on “Working Toward a Healthy, Sustainable Environment in Tomorrow’s Delaware Estuary.”