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Collaboration
Collaboration
on the Chesapeake
on the Chesapeake
New Building for the Smithsonian
Environmental Research Center
by Mary Jane Bolle
People sailing on the Chesapeake Bay might fantasize that if they History has shown, however, that if a cause is noble enough
could just focus intently enough, they could see clearly through to ignite passions, a simple act can start a positive chain reaction.
the water to the multitude of creatures swimming below. This happened in 1962, when Robert Lee Forrest, a bachelor
In reality, however, the bay’s water long ago lost its clarity. Its farmer from Edgewater, Maryland, died and left his estate—a 368-
oysters—natural water filters with an unfortunate reputation for acre dairy farm plus $1.7 million—to the Smithsonian Institution.
being tasty—have been decimated by human consumption. Just as Resisting the temptation to sell the land, the Smithsonian instead
importantly, other factors, including general overfishing and the established a modest field-collection operation at the picturesque
influx of toxic nutrients, chemicals, and invasive species, have led site, located along the Rhode River not far from the Chesapeake’s
to further degradation of the bay. As a result, it has turned murky
and sick, to the point of sprouting dead zones where oxygen
deprivation has snuffed out all marine life.
Charles McC. Mathias Laboratory, with new wing to the left
and renovated wing to the right.
30 COLLABORATION ON THE CHESAPEAKE
