FEATURED TOPICS AND EXPERTISE

The Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES) is dedicated to informing sustainable cities through advancing an understanding of urban ecosystems. Since 1997, BES has fostered a collaborative network of scientists, sociologists, urban planners, public health professionals, and educators.

Today, more than 45 experts are working on dozens on projects examining everything from storm water runoff and the flow of nutrients to urban biodiversity and infectious diseases. BES insights have broad applications. Some 80% of the U.S. lives in an urban area and this number in on the rise.

Experts are available to speak with the media and interested citizens on a range of topics. They include:

Water quality (pharmaceutical pollution, runoff and waterborne pathogens, green infrastructure and storm water, stream restoration and nutrient delivery to Chesapeake Bay)

Disease ecology (emerging infectious diseases such as Zika and mosquito management)

Urban biodiversity (bats, birds, pollinators, tree species, mosquitoes, stream and soil microbes )

Environmental justice (environmental inequalities between neighborhoods, community engagement via citizen science, ecological legacies of racism)

Vegetation (documenting the urban forest canopy of metropolitan Baltimore, mapping street trees, benefits of green spaces and community gardens, invasive species)

Land use change (long-term land use and forest change in Baltimore, impact and uses of vacant lots, residential land use patterns, lawns)

Built environment (urban design and ecology, urban redevelopment)

Urban ecology education (teacher training workshops, K- 12 curriculum, summer jobs for teens, Baltimore Data Jam)

Media tours are available upon request; please direct inquiries to Lori Quillen at quillenl@caryinstitute.org or (845) 677-7600 x121.

The Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES) is funded by the National Science Foundation’s Long –Term Ecological Research Network and managed by the Cary Institute of Ecosystems Studies. BES conducts research on metropolitan Baltimore as an ecological system, integrating approaches from the biological, physical, and social sciences and collecting the long-term data needed for effective management.

 
https://baltimoreecosystemstudy.org