An Update from the Field: How Science and Policy Intersect in the Preservation of a Complex Ecosystem

As a grad student with the Orphan lab, James Mullahoo studies the microbial ecology of seagrass meadows and its implications for carbon sequestration. Now, in his internship with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, he's seeing how insights from the lab translate to real-world decisions about ecosystem management in the Chesapeake Bay. In the following Q&A, he provides some updates about his experience so far.

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Q: Where are you interning, and what does the office or agency actually do?

I'm currently interning with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) as part of the Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV) Program. DNR is involved in managing, monitoring, and developing regulations and policy related to the environment, with the SAV Program working to track and support SAV within Chesapeake Bay. This involves field surveys, restoration efforts, permitting, and outreach to local communities and organizations.

Q: What's a project or question you're working on right now, and what's it meant to help with?

Aside from helping with field work during the busy summer season, I am working to update minimum habitat requirements (MHR). These are the conditions that SAV generally need to survive in the Bay. They had been developed for stable SAV beds in the '90s and revised in 2000. Now, with the wealth of data that has been produced since then, there is a need to further refine the MHR, particularly determining proper conditions for recovering beds. Recovering SAV are expected to have more stringent requirements for water quality as they try to establish in new areas. Updating the MHR for these beds will improve predictions for restoration success and inform management strategies.

Q: What does a typical day or week look like for you there?

There are two main types of work during the summer; field and office. There is usually at least one day a week in the field on Chesapeake Bay in motorboats or kayaks. We go to long-term monitoring sites that we hope to continuously find SAV, assess species composition and coverage, plus various water quality parameters. I've also been helping with a community science program called SAV Watchers, where we train teachers and community members about SAV and how to monitor it so they can take people out and collect data for us. Office days are much more focused on data analysis, working with GIS experts and data analysts to integrate the long-term and spatially resolved datasets together to develop the MHR.

Q: What's something you've noticed about how technical information is used in the public sector that you hadn't thought about before?

The way the public sector focuses on the appropriate scale and the ability to reliably organize their data has been very eye-opening. Most of the DNR folks were very focused on the scale at which they were managing. This meant that while there was data for single locations, decisions were often made for large segments; more general analyses were frequently preferred when considering policy implementation. But given the time scale of management and how many people would need to utilize their data, clear and consistent documentation was crucial. They not only had robust protocols for data collection but also ensured they shared data widely to both experts and the public, often communicating internally to keep everyone up to date.

Q: Is there a skill from your research or coursework you've leaned on more than you thought you would? Or one you expected to use but haven't?

By far the most used skills have been those from doing fieldwork for my own research. I'm still not as quick as the DNR folks, but being comfortable on the water and taking notes/remembering details on the go has let me immediately be of use to their projects. Close reading of scientific literature has also been a necessary skill, ensuring I make quick use of their resources and identifying new ideas for implementation of my project.

Q: What's something you've come to appreciate about the people your agency serves, or the problem it's working on, that you didn't fully grasp before?

It has been wonderful to interact directly with communities and see their enthusiasm for their local environment. Many of the events DNR holds have students and teachers, but also numerous community environmental organizations. I had expected people to view DNR as regulators that put restrictions on fishing, construction, and other activities, but the team is working very hard to get people on board with simply enjoying the environment and appreciating the resources they work to preserve. The communities have a deep connection to their environment, and the ethos of support is extended both to nature and people.

Q: Is there a person or group outside the agency (e.g., a community member, an expert, someone affected by the work) whose perspective has shaped how you think about your project?

While doing field work, I was fortunate to connect with Prof. Chris Patrick at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science who is also involved with the largest eelgrass restoration in the world. As academics we share common perspectives, but he is deeply ingrained in applying research through various state groups and NGOs. He helped refine my project away from a highly complex and detailed view to a more realistic framework that can direct agencies in making decisions, allowing me to adjust my academic thinking to real-world application.

Q: What are you looking forward to for the rest of your internship? 

I am really looking forward to presenting my work at the Restore America's Estuaries conference in San Francisco at the end of this summer. It is one of the largest gatherings of coastal managers and policy practitioners in the country, offering an opportunity to network with a host of new people. It will be helpful to get more feedback on my project, but also to see how academic research is being implemented in the real world. My hope is that I will continue to build community there and develop new perspectives on impactful research questions I could pursue in the future.

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